Injured Driving for Work in NSW

Plenty of people are on the road for work: tradies driving between sites, couriers and truck drivers, sales reps, and health and community workers doing home visits. When a crash happens during work, both the workers compensation scheme and the CTP scheme may apply to the same injury.

They're separate schemes, with different insurers, forms and rules. This site covers the CTP side. If workers compensation applies to you, tell us what happened and we can point you to the right help for that part.

How the two schemes generally fit together

If your motor accident is also a work-related injury, for example because you were driving for work, you generally need to claim workers compensation through your employer's insurer first. CTP statutory benefits are generally not payable where workers compensation is available, which stops the same loss being paid twice.

Separately, if another driver caused the crash, you may be able to bring a common law damages claim against that driver's CTP insurer, provided you weren't mostly at fault and your injury is more than a threshold injury. Workers compensation payments you've received may need to be accounted for in any damages.

These rules are technical, and the details depend on your employment, what you were doing, and when the accident happened. Treat this as a general outline only.

Were you actually working?

• Driving between job sites, to a client, or on a work errand is usually treated as part of work.
• Professional drivers, such as couriers, truck and delivery drivers, are working while they drive.
• The ordinary trip between home and work is treated differently. Journeys to and from work are covered by workers compensation in NSW only in limited circumstances, so whether a commuting crash is a workers compensation claim, a CTP claim, or both depends on the facts.
• If you're a contractor or gig worker, whether workers compensation applies depends on your real working arrangement, not just the label or whether you have an ABN. Where it doesn't apply, CTP is generally the path.

What a specialist lawyer typically does

• Works out whether your crash is a work injury, a CTP claim or both, so nothing is lodged in the wrong place or too late.
• Where the CTP scheme applies, lodges the CTP claim within its time limits.
• Assesses a damages claim against the at-fault driver's CTP insurer, and how any workers compensation payments affect it.
• Handles CTP disputes through the insurer's internal review or the Personal Injury Commission.
• Advises before you settle anything, because settling one claim can affect the other.

Do you actually need a lawyer?

Early advice is often worthwhile here, because two schemes and two sets of time limits can apply. On the CTP side, advice matters most for a damages claim against the other driver, a CTP dispute, or settling one claim while the other is still running.

For treatment, your doctor will usually complete a certificate of capacity if workers compensation applies, and a Certificate of Fitness if your claim runs through CTP. We can point you to doctors and allied health either way.

Questions to ask a lawyer

• Is my crash a work injury, a CTP claim or both?
• Can I claim damages against the other driver, and how would my workers compensation payments be treated?
• If I settle one claim, what happens to the other?
• What will it cost, and can I have your costs disclosure in writing?

Costs

Our claim check is free and there's no obligation. Legal costs in CTP claims are regulated, so ask how the CTP side of your claim would be charged. Many motor accident lawyers offer no win, no fee arrangements for damages claims; generally, that means no professional fees unless the claim succeeds. Get the details in a written costs disclosure before you sign.