Motor Vehicle Claims

If you’ve been injured in a motor vehicle accident and want to claim compensation there are a number of things which by law you are required to do.

The first is you must report the accident to the police within 28 days. You need to be careful with this because we have found in some cases even though the police attended the accident no official report is filed.

The second thing you need to do is lodge a claim form. We have the claim forms and will help you fill it out and ensure it is properly served for you. We have found many people come to grief with the claim form and cannot stress enough how important it is to get the whole case off on the right foot.

You have only six months from the date of the accident in which to lodge the claim form so don't delay. This is an important deadline and great care needs to be taken to ensure it is complied with. Here again if you fill it out we can check it and ensure it is properly lodged for you.

Once the claim form is lodged the insurance company will make a decision on liability. They have only three months but sometimes take longer. If they admit liability then they should start paying your medical expenses for you. If they don’t we can help.

If the insurance company denies liability then you can apply for an exemption from the Claims Assessment Resolution Service (CARS) and take your case straight to court.

The other thing the insurance company might do is admit liability but allege the accident was partly your fault. If they allege you were more than 25% responsible for the accident then you can apply for an exemption from CARS and go straight to court.

If they admit liability then in most cases your case will be heard by an assessor at CARS. That is an informal hearing conducted around a table. We will prepare your case for hearing at CARS and ensure that all relevant compensation is claimed for you. We will appear on your behalf before the assessor and present your case.

It is possible that your case might settle before it even gets to a hearing at CARS. Obviously this will only occur if the insurance company makes you an offer that you are prepared to accept. We will advise you about any offer of settlement. In particular we will tell you what you could expect to receive clear to you in the hand if you were to accept the offer. We will also tell you if we believe you should accept the offer or hold out for more.

Basically our job is to achieve the best result in the quickest possible time with the least stress to you. Under the new system that is not easy because the Government has made it very hard for injured accident victims. For example in the old days it was possible to claim compensation for pain and suffering in nearly all cases. Now you are only eligible if you are assessed as having greater than 10% Whole Person Impairment (WPI). This is determined by medical assessors appointed by the Medical Assessment Service (MAS).

We have found that under this system many people with quite severe injuries (such as broken arms and legs) can miss out on any compensation for pain and suffering because they are not assessed as having greater than 10% WPI. This is one area where we can make a big difference because we have developed considerable experience with the relevant guidelines and on many occasions have successfully challenged assessments and ultimately got the client over 10%.

That is another reason why it is more important than ever that you see a firm like us who specialise in the field.

What if your Motor Vehicle Accident occurred during work or on your way to and from work? What happens then? Do you have to choose between Workers Compensation benefits or compensation under the compulsory third party (Greenslip) scheme? In a word “NO”.

Most people and even many solicitors aren’t aware that you are entitled to claim both. This does not mean that you are entitled to be compensated twice for the same injury.

It just means that you are entitled to your workers compensation benefits first and then your third party compensation second.

The reason we always run the case in that order is because once you finalise your third party case that is an end to all your rights arising out of the accident both under the third party scheme and the workers compensation scheme.

Further from whatever result is achieved for you in your motor vehicle claim there will be deducted all the benefits you have received under the Workers Compensation Act to that date.

To ensure that you are not worse off, at Firths we are careful to claim in your motor vehicle claim all the losses you have suffered right from day one.

These claims can be quite involved which is another reason why you should see a firm like us who specialise in the field.