Motor vehicle accidents occur on Queensland roads every day, and often causing significant disruption to the parties involved. In Queensland, compulsory third party (‘CTP’) insurance is mandatory insurance through your vehicle registration which will provide cover to the driver of an at-fault vehicle if they have caused injury to other people whilst driving a motor vehicle.
If you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident that was not your fault, and you have sustained injuries as a result, you may be entitled to claim to seek funding for the medical treatment and/or rehabilitation for your accident-related injuries.
Who can claim?
Being involved in a motor vehicle accident can include:-
- Being the driver of a motor vehicle;
- Being a passenger in a motor vehicle;
- Being a pedestrian;
- Being a cyclist;
- Witnessing a motor vehicle accident; and
- Witnessing a motor vehicle accident scene.
Seeking funding for the treatment and/ or rehabilitation of your injuries
Once your claim has been lodged with the applicable CTP insurer, and you have received a response from the insurer that they are satisfied the claim complies with all requirements under the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994, they may offer to provide funding for the reasonable and appropriate rehabilitation of your accident-related injuries. This is often dependent on the CTP insurer accepting that their insured driver is responsible for the accident, either in part or in full.
What treatment/rehabilitation can be funded?
The CTP scheme provides for the insurers to fund any reasonably necessary treatment and rehabilitation expenses that have arisen due to your accident-related injuries. This can extend to:-
- medical/allied health treatment for physical and psychological injuries;
- gym programs;
- rehabilitation/mobility aids and equipment;
- home modifications; and
- any other expenses that are reasonably attributed to the accident.
The goal of the CTP scheme is to return the injured person to their pre-accident condition and, if this is not possible, to optimise the quality of life of an injured person when considering the nature or extent of their injuries.
The scheme does not extend to the expenses associated with property damage, which can be claimed through other avenues.
We note that if you are a participant of the National Injury Insurance Scheme as a result of a motor vehicle accident, the obligation for the CTP insurer to provide rehabilitation services will not apply to you, as you are already in receipt of reasonable treatment, care and support of your accident-related injuries under the scheme.
Can anything else be claimed for?
Compensation can also be claimed for pain and suffering, economic loss, out of pocket expenses and care provided to an injured person, in addition to the payment of rehabilitation expenses.
Tips if you are considering making a claim
We understand how stressful life can become following a motor vehicle accident and the impact this has on the everyday life of the injured person.
If you are considering making a claim, we recommend you take the following steps to make the process simpler down the road:-
- Keep copies of receipts for any expenses, that you would not have incurred, but for the motor vehicle accident (eg. GP appointments, specialist appointments, pharmacy expenses, radiology expenses etc);
- Keep a diary record of the km travelled, that would not have been required, but for the motor vehicle accident (eg. travel to medical appointments, travel to collect medications);
- Keep a diary record of any care and assistance provided to you by family and/ or friends during your recovery from the accident-related injuries that you would have generally done yourself, but for the motor vehicle accident (eg. washing, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, attending to the dressing of injuries etc).
Contact our Personal Injury Lawyers
Strict time limits apply to bringing a claim, so we recommend that should you be considering making a claim, be sure to speak to one of our practitioners without delay.
If you are unsure whether you can make a claim, contact our Toowoomba, Roma or Warwick office so we may assist you with your enquiry.
Talk to our personal injury lawyers for expert legal advice. Call today on 07 4637 6300 or contact us.
