If you have been involved in a car accident, it is important to seek medical assistance as soon as possible. Some of the most common injuries that can occur in a car accident include:

• Whiplash
• Head and brain injuries
• Spine and neck injuries
• Shock and anxiety
• Broken bones and fractures
• Friction burns
• Internal bleeding

It is crucial to seek legal advice, regardless of how minor your injuries are. Our car accident compensation lawyers will guide you through the process of understanding your entitlements to compensation, based on the circumstances of the incident, the extent of your injuries and the financial impact.

In Queensland, all motor vehicles have Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance. The National Injury Insurance Scheme (NIIS) can help people with serious injuries if the driver responsible for the accident is uninsured. Our expert team will prepare your claim, and evidence reports and attend any informal settlement meetings or Court proceedings, so you can focus on recovering.

To receive compensation for a car accident, complete a Notice of Accident Claim form. Then, provide the form to both the car owner and their CTP Insurer.The details in a

Notice of Claim must be 100% accurate. Incorrect information can negatively affect the chances of getting compensation. We strongly recommend that you seek legal advice from a lawyer with experience in this area of law before submitting the Notice of Claim to ensure it is completed accurately.

Our personal injury lawyers can help ensure you document everything correctly.

A person injured in a road or car accident is entitled to be compensated for:

1. Their pain and suffering;
2. Any sick leave or wages and superannuation that have been lost as a consequence of being injured;
3. The likelihood of the loss of wages and superannuation in the future;
4. All medical treatment costs (both past and future);
5. The costs of travel to and from medical treatment;
6. The expenses of family or loved ones caring for the injured person (only in certain situations); and
7. Legal costs in making the claim (in most cases).

Calculating car accident compensation is complex and requires analysing medical evidence and the injured person’s situation.

A compensation lawyer can assist you if you were injured, lost money, or incurred expenses from a car crash. They can assist you in obtaining compensation for your present and future needs. Sometimes people are not immediately aware of the financial impact of a motor vehicle accident. These effects can vary and are specific to your circumstances, however, they can include:

• Medical expenses
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of income or earnings
• Rehab expenses
• Loss of quality of life

Other costs associated with your accident such as travel to and from medical centres, the expenses of family members and legal fees will also be considered.

Under Queensland law, there are extremely strict time frames associated with making a claim for compensation for a car accident injury.  To make matters more complicated, there are cascading time frames for the commencement of formal legal proceedings in a Court, and the delivery of a Notice of Claim.  Generally speaking:

• A Notice of Claim is required to be served on the CTP Insurer. This needs to be served within one month of first consulting a Lawyer for compensation advice or nine months after the accident (whichever is earlier). However, this is not the case in claims involving unidentified vehicles against the Nominal Defendant. For these, the Notice of Claim must be delivered within three months of the accident date.
• In the case of legal proceedings, three years from the accident date unless the injured person was under 18 when the accident occurred. For those under 18 the injured person has until their 21^st birthday to make a claim.

Failure to meet the time frames (particularly in the case of the three-year limitation in the case of legal proceedings) will almost always result in you losing your right to make a claim for car accident compensation.

In our experience, most claims for car accident compensation are completed within 9 to 18 months of a client first engaging our firm. This time frame can be longer in limited cases, such as where our clients have suffered multiple or catastrophic injuries.

We will provide you with an estimated time frame when we first sit down with you to discuss your claim.

The costs of bringing a claim for compensation for a car accident injury vary. The costs depend on how long it takes to prepare and present the claim to the CTP Insurer.

Our firm handles all claims for car accident injury compensation on a no-win no-fee basis, This means our clients pay nothing for legal fees or costs associated with their claim.

It also means that we pay for all medical reports and other costs that are incurred. We cover all costs as we work through the claims process until we successfully obtain compensation for our clients. If you don’t receive any compensation, we don’t get paid.

Generally, we provide an estimate of the fees and costs that we anticipate our clients will likely incur in respect of the claim. This will be issued once we have received a response from the CTP Insurer outlining whether they accept or reject liability.

We also provide clients with updated confirmation of their fees and costs prior to participation in a compulsory conference or mediation.

Talk to our car accident lawyers about your insurance claim to find out more.