Personal injuries occur in day-to-day life and can have an immense effect on a person’s life. People who have suffered an injury or trauma as a result of being involved in an accident (either as a driver or passenger) often suffer on-going pain, disability, emotion and/or financial distress as a result of the injury or accident.
The law of negligence operates to protect people who have suffered an injury and Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 and Compulsory Third Party (“CTP”) Insurance are there to support those injured as a result of a motor vehicle accident.
CTP Insurance is the insurance that forms part of your Vehicle Registration and indemnifies the registered owner/s and driver in the event of an accident. The CTP Insurance covers personal injury claims made against you by other road users such as drivers, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and pillion passengers. CTP Insurance does not include property damage.
In the event of a motor vehicle accident, regardless of whether you are the driver or a passenger, you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation. A claim for compensation is usually made to the CTP insurer noted on the at fault vehicles registration. If the accident involves an unregistered vehicle or an unknown vehicle a claim for compensation is made to the Nominal Defendant.
At fault drivers and drivers of single vehicle accidents, who have suffered serious injury, have limited cover under the CTP policy in certain circumstances. If you are a passenger of a vehicle of a single vehicle accident, you can make a claim against the driver CTP insurer. At fault drivers who suffer serious injury have limited cover under the CTP policy in certain circumstances.
As a result of an accident, you may be entitled to claim for damages such as past and future loss of earnings, past and future care, out-of-pocket medical expenses and possible future medical expenses including surgery. In additional to these your claims will also be determined by your age and the severity of your injuries.
We recommend seeking legal advice as soon as practical after an injury or motor vehicle accident, as time limits apply to bringing a claim. We also note that you must co-operate with the insurer and ‘mitigate’ your losses.
