Motor Accident Injury Claims
One should be aware that if you are involved in an accident, where you are not at fault, you may be entitled to make a claim under the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994. Drivers, passengers or pedestrians are entitled to make a claim if they sustain an injury due to the negligent driving of another. In the event that the vehicle at fault cannot be identified, a claim may still be pursued for personal injuries.
By law, all the vehicle owners in Queensland must have Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance. This means that the CTP insurer will cover the driver who is at fault or who has caused injury to another.
What you should do
Anyone who is involved in a motor vehicle accident should:
- Alert the police immediately;
- Seek medical attention and rehabilitation as soon as possible; and
- Contact a solicitor to discuss your situation and your rights. This will ensure that your claim is lodged on time and in the correct form.
Further, the CTP insurance company may be obliged to cover the costs of your medical and rehabilitation treatment.
Don’t let your claim ‘slip’ away
Queensland compensation system is such that if you are injured due to the negligence of another, you will be entitled to recover all reasonable medical expenses immediately and larger sums of money at a future time, compensating you for loss of income, loss of opportunity, loss of employment prospects, future care needs etc.
When a member of a community is injured he/she tend to ignore their symptoms and carry on as though nothing has happened. Over time, their symptoms worsen and become chronic in nature as they did not receive the necessary treatment at the initial stages. Sadly, these people who are injured recognize that they need medical treatment but continue without it because they feel they are not in a position to fund this.
Ouch – What you need to tell your doctor when injury strikes
You must make sure that you go to a GP immediately after your accident and report all your injuries. As such, those people who are injured and who are not making a claim due to financial necessity should definitely talk to us so we can assist them in working out how to make their rightful claim whilst making sure that they are financially okay.
The most common injuries I have come across are soft tissue injury, whiplash injury, back and/or neck pain.
Many clients get misled by their doctor who tells them that there is no noticeable injury in the X-Ray or scan. Just because your injury does not show up on the radiology does not mean that you are not injured! Soft tissue injuries are extremely serious if they are left untreated or ignored as they can then become chronic or permanent in nature.
At the very least, you should seek legal advice if you are injured, as soft tissue injuries can have a significant impact on your income earning capacity. So often, I come across students/residents who are too afraid to make a claim as they feel they may lose their job or they keep working as they need the income to support themselves and others. It may be the case that this injury has developed over time due to the nature of your work such as heavy lifting or repetitive strain. You might feel alright just now but these injuries have a knack of playing up down the track. So it is best to seek our FREE legal advice as soon as possible.
Our role in your recovery
Our firm functions from the premise that injured people already have enough to deal with an entire claim process. We will guide you the entire way. The only thing you really need to do is obtain the best treatment for your injuries from your local GP, which is all covered by the CTP insurer. It is our job to make sure that the insurance companies will look after you as per your entitlement.
At the end of their claims, so many clients comment on how easy the claim was for them as we took care of all the headaches. All they had to worry about was getting better.
Our firm operates in such a way that it doesn’t cost you anything to make a claim. We pay for all medical reports and any other associated expenses incurred throughout the course of running your claim. These expenses, as well as our professional fees, are then recovered from the insurance company following the successful conclusion of the claim. Essentially you are not out of pocket and if anything, we will be making sure that you get money from the insurance company.
After discussing your injury with us we will be able to advise what you may be entitled to if you should proceed with your claim.
More often than not, insurance companies will offer a bare minimum payout that may not even cover the cost of your medical expenses.
If you have been injured or would like some advice on any issue please contact us for FREE CONSULTATION.
We work on ‘No win No Fee’ basis. This means that we won’t charge any professional fees if you are not successful in claiming compensation.