Car Accident and CTP Claims in Australia

What can you claim after a car accident?

A CTP claim covers people, not vehicles. Drivers, passengers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians can claim for injuries caused by a registered vehicle. Repairs and property damage are a separate insurance matter.

Depending on the scheme and how badly you are hurt, a claim can include:

• Treatment and rehabilitation: ambulance, hospital, GP, physiotherapy, medication and aids.
• Income support: weekly payments while you cannot work, usually a percentage of pre-accident earnings.
• Care and domestic help: paid or unpaid assistance with daily tasks.
• Lump-sum damages: for more serious injuries where someone else was at fault, covering future economic loss and, above a threshold, pain and suffering.

Every state runs its own scheme with its own benefits. Two of them, New South Wales and Queensland, are described in detail below because their rules illustrate how different the deadlines and thresholds can be.

Which scheme applies: state by state

The scheme is the one for the state or territory where the crash happened, not where you live. Report the crash to police where the scheme requires it, then lodge with the insurer of the vehicle at fault or, in no-fault schemes, your own insurer or the scheme.

If the accident happened interstate, the scheme of that state usually applies even though you live elsewhere. Say where the crash happened when you enquire.

New South Wales: how a CTP claim works

New South Wales runs a hybrid scheme under the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017. Everyone injured, including the driver at fault, can claim statutory benefits from the CTP insurer of the vehicle most at fault. Those benefits cover treatment and care and weekly payments for lost income.

Deadlines are tight. A claim for statutory benefits must be made within 3 months of the accident. Weekly payments are not payable for any period before the claim unless it is made within 28 days. A late claim can be accepted with a full and satisfactory explanation, generally within 3 years (s 6.13).

The scheme draws a line between threshold injuries and everything else. A threshold injury is a soft tissue injury, or a psychological injury that is not a recognised psychiatric illness (s 1.6). If your only injuries are threshold injuries, or the accident was wholly or mostly your fault, weekly payments stop after 52 weeks (s 3.11). A claim for damages has its own time limit under s 6.14 and is only open where someone else was at fault. Our whiplash guide explains how the threshold injury rules affect soft tissue injuries.

Queensland: notice deadlines that catch people out

Queensland’s CTP scheme is fault-based. You claim against the CTP insurer of the vehicle at fault, and the first step is a Notice of Accident Claim Form. It must reach the insurer within 9 months of the accident, or of the first appearance of symptoms, or within 1 month of your first meeting with a lawyer if you engage one, whichever comes first. If the vehicle cannot be identified, the form goes to the Nominal Defendant within 3 months (MAIC).

The court limitation period is 3 years from when the cause of action arose (Limitation of Actions Act 1974 s 11). Children generally have until their 21st birthday to start proceedings. General damages are scored on an injury scale value from 0 to 100 under the Civil Liability Act 2003, which is why the medical evidence of severity drives the outcome.

What to do in the first week

1. Get medical help and keep the records. A GP visit within days creates the first evidence that links the injury to the crash.
2. Report the crash. Police reports, event numbers and crash reports are required or expected by most schemes.
3. Collect details. Registrations, drivers’ names, witnesses, photographs and dash cam footage.
4. Notify the insurer or scheme. In NSW that means the CTP insurer within 28 days to protect weekly payments; in the ACT within 13 weeks; in Queensland the notice form within the deadlines above.
5. Tell your employer if you cannot work, and keep certificates of capacity.
6. Write things down while they are fresh: symptoms, days off, expenses and help you needed at home.

Our blog post on the first week after a car accident has a printable checklist.

When does a lawyer make a difference?

For a straightforward no-fault claim you may not need a lawyer at all. Legal help earns its place when:

• Liability is disputed or the insurer says you were mostly at fault.
• A damages claim is possible because someone else was negligent.
• An impairment threshold decides whether you can claim non-economic loss.
• The insurer disputes treatment, stops weekly payments or makes an offer.
• The accident involved a work journey, an unidentified vehicle or an interstate vehicle.

Ask about experience with the scheme in your state, who will handle your matter and the full costs agreement. Our No Win No Fee guide lists the questions. To see the scheme, deadline and heads of claim that appear to apply to you, try the claim pathway calculator.

Frequently asked questions