The law relating to injury compensation following a motor vehicle accident changed once again on 1 July 2016, establishing an even higher threshold requirement before compensation accrues.
To help our readers, we’ve put together a ‘step-by-step’ guide on what you should do if you’ve been involved in an accident.
- If you were the driver or owner of the car involved in an accident, you need to let your compulsory third party (CTP) insurance company know, by filling in an Accident Report Form. This can be found here and you can also complete it over the telephone with an insurance claims consultant.
- If you were injured in the accident, you should complete an Injury Claim Form for the approved insurer of the vehicle you believe to be most ‘at fault’ in the accident. Not everyone is insured by the same insurance company anymore; the form you need can be found
- If you’re not sure who’s most at fault, then you should contact the CTP Insurance Regulator on 1300 303 558 and they can help you decide.
- Once your claim form has been allocated and completed, you will be issued with a claim number and your own claims consultant.
- Your claims consultant will contact the other people involved in the accident and will look into who was considered to be at fault at law, based on (for example) Accident Report Forms, witness statements and police reports.
- The claims consultant will also collect medical information and monitor your treatment (if any) and may, in some cases, organise for the allocated insurer to pay some accounts for you prior to a final settlement being reached.
- Once your injury has stabilised (this is established by a medical practitioner), the approved insurer will proceed to finalise your claim.
- Before your claim can be settled, your claims consultant will determine whether you qualify for any other compensation, such as loss of past and future earning capacity, future care and treatment, pain and suffering or travel expenses.
- The amount of compensation awarded depends on the severity of your injury, presuming that you have met the threshold criteria in the first instance.
- A settlement offer will be made by the insurer either directly to you, or if you are legally represented to your personal injury lawyer, who will be able to negotiate on your behalf to reach a mutually acceptable sum.
Our experienced, friendly injury lawyers at Adelaide Legal are happy to help you with your claim, to negotiate the best possible outcome and settlement for you.
If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident and would like some more information, please call us on (08) 8410 9294, or email Ellie on e.douglas@adelaidelegal.com.
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