Motor vehicle & car accident lawyers

Injuries affect everyone in different ways, so compensation payouts for car accidents vary on a case-by-case basis. A minor injury to one person may impact on another to a much greater extent.

With that in mind, the amount of car accident compensation you receive will be influenced by a range of factors, including:

• The extent of your injuries
• The amount of out-of-pocket expenses you’ve had to cover
• Your total loss of earnings as a result of your injuries
• The cost of ongoing care (such as rehabilitation)

The purpose of compensation is to compensate an injured party for the loss and damage they suffer as a consequence of the injury.

The more the injury or injuries impact upon your pre-accident lifestyle and employment, the more compensation you will receive. A brain injury, spinal injury or any other type of injury with serious complications is likely to receive a much higher payout for damages.

Because of the subjective nature of compensation payments for personal injury claims in Queensland, it is not possible to state a specific compensation amount for a certain injury. It will depend on what loss and damage is suffered because of that injury.

Some of the more dominant factors that impact upon compensation payments are the extent of the injury sustained as well as age, occupation, recreational interests and the health of the injured party at the time of the accident occurring.

Most motor vehicle accident claims can be resolved before trial with a personal injury settlement. If your claim does proceed to court, you’ll only need to attend if your presence is deemed absolutely necessary to its outcome.

In some cases, your personal injury lawyer may be able to attend for you.

After the Court calculates what the person would have earned but for the accident, and what their earning capacity is now because of the accident, the Court then makes a monetary award for the gap.

The Court tries to, as much as reasonably possible, put the injured worker, driver, pedestrian, cyclist, shopper etc, back into the position they most likely would have been in but for the car accident.

The important things to remember about how much a lawyer charges for a car accident claim are:

• In most cases the insurance company will pay a contribution towards the legal costs. They don’t pay all of them, but the insurance company often pays up to one third to one half of an injured person’s legal costs.
• A car accident lawyer can never charge more than 50% of the net settlement amount as they are capped under the 50/50 rule guarantee.
• Lawyers charge according to the work they do, personal injury lawyers do not charge a set percentage.

Not only are you likely to get more compensation if you engage a lawyer, even after payment of legal fees, obtaining a lawyer is also important as there are traps and risks in making a personal injury claim yourself.

One person who chose to represent themselves in a liability after admitting he was the at fault driver not only received nothing in his hand after the end of his claim, he was ordered to pay the legal costs of the CTP Insurer. A compensation law expert will help you avoid this situation.

In most cases, the insurer of the person at fault will pay the compensation. Sadly in many cases drunk drivers can be the cause of injury to others.

Unfortunately, being involved in an collision with an uninsured driver can complicate matters.

Throughout Australia, all motorists must have Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance.

The Personal Injury Lawyers can help you access compensation sooner. However, keep in mind it can take several months for a motor vehicle accident claim to settle.

This will depend on the complexity of your situation and how willing the other side is to reach a settlement.

If you do have a motor vehicle accident claim, the types of injury compensation which you may be able to access includes:

1. Compensation for pain and suffering and loss of your amenities of life;
2. Loss of past and future wages or business profits (including loss of superannuation payments);
3. Medical and rehabilitation expenses that you have incurred and are likely to incur in the future;
4. Past and future Care costs;
5. Out of pocket expenses;
6. The Compulsory Third Party Insurer (or “CTP Insurer”) has obligations under the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994, to meet your medical and rehabilitation needs during your motor accident claim, to ensure that you get the treatment and assistance you need for your injuries. They will fund such things as physio treatment, surgery, specialist treatment, hospitalisation costs, medication expenses, counselling, medical aids and devices, home and vehicle modifications as well as the provision of care and assistance where required;
7. Where your injuries stop you from returning to work and you are struggling financially, you may also be entitled to an advance payment on damages to assist you financially whilst you are waiting for your motor accident claim to finalise;
8. If your motor vehicle accident injury occurred on your way to or from work, during a work break, or during the course of your work, you are most likely entitled to claim workers’ compensation benefits (or WorkCover Statutory Benefits as they are also known), whilst you are recovering from your injuries.

To give you an idea of what types of compensation payments are being made in Queensland for motor accidents, we have obtained the following statistical data from the Motor Accident Insurance Commission (otherwise known as MAIC). MAIC is the body that regulates Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance claims in Queensland. In respect to car accident compensation claims made in Queensland during the 2015 financial year (1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015):-

• There were 4731 motor accident claims in Qld in 2015;
• The average compensation payment for minor injuries was $69,365;
• The average compensation payment for moderate injuries was $139,938;
• The average compensation payment for serious injuries was $296,970;
• The average compensation payment for severe injuries was $519,058;
• The average compensation payment for critical injuries was $1,853,200.

Note that these are average payments only and every case is different.

For example, The Personal Injury Lawyers case summary database provides the following case scenarios:

• A 42 year old woman, a sales consultant, who suffered a simple whiplash injury to her cervical spine in a motor vehicle rear-ender achieved compensation of $400,000. This was because of the impact the injury had on her pre-injury lifestyle and employment, despite her whiplash injury being described by doctors as a “minor” injury;**
• In the case of Austin v Parmalat Australia Ltd (2013)QSC 227, Mr Austin sustained a minor head injury when a milk crate fell on his head whilst unloading his work truck. However, the impact of the injury upon Mr Austin’s employment and occupation as a truck driver was such that he was awarded damages of $1,052,000 for his claim.**

If you’re thinking of taking legal action, try to build your case quickly.

Strict time limits apply to motor vehicle accident claims, so it’s important to file your personal injury claim sooner rather than later.

In Queensland, you may be entitled to compensation for your pain and suffering even when a motorist without CTP insurance causes a motor vehicle crash.

The Nominal Defendant is a statutory body established by the Queensland government to protect road users from uninsured drivers. It can be used as a source of compensation.

Most motor vehicle accident claims can be resolved before trial with a personal injury conference.

If your case does proceed to court, you’ll only need to attend if your presence is deemed absolutely necessary to its outcome.

In some cases, our personal injury lawyer may be able to attend for you.

Claiming compensation after a motor vehicle accident involves a number of steps and you should be aware that there are strict time limits that apply to car accident compensation claims.

You can do these steps yourself, or if you’re not confident going through the process on your own, contact us and one of our car accident lawyers can help guide you.

• Generally, you will need to report the accident to the police. The exception to this rule is if your accident didn’t result in a vehicle needing to be towed or if there were no injuries as a result of the crash. Of course, you shouldn’t self-assess. Injuries like whiplash are common and can have long-term implications for your health and quality of life.
• If another vehicle was involved, do your best to get their registration details. If you are unable to get this information (like in the case of a hit and run), or if that vehicle was unregistered (and therefore uninsured) you may need to make a claim against the Nominal Defendant.
• Have a relevant expert complete the appropriate sections of the claim (for example, you may need a doctor to fill out the medical certificate).
• Ensure all sections of the claim form are completed.
• Lodge the form to the insurer of the party who was at fault, whether fully or partially. If you were also partly at fault, then the other party will also likely be making a claim to your insurer.

Due to the complexity of the claims process, it’s crucially important to the outcome of your case that you have an experienced car accident lawyer by your side.

By engaging with a lawyer, you won’t have to worry about missing an important step in the claims process that could affect the compensation payout you receive.

If you’re thinking of taking legal action, try to build your case quickly. Strict time limits apply to compensation claims, so it’s important to file sooner rather than later.