Claiming for injuries against your own CTP?

Has anyone had any experience of, or heard about anyone claiming for
personal injury in an single vehicle accident with the claim made
against their own compulsory third party insurance?

I have just been told that (by a solicitor) that I could claim against
my own CTP for permanent disability caused by an accident where I
crashed after hitting a pothole. The pothole broke my suspension and I
lost all ability to steer and slid over a steep drop. I am permanently
crippled by the injury, the hospital did their best but I had more than
sixty fractures and they can't reattach ligaments and tendons to some of
my joints, even after bone grafts and plating.

A solicitor visiting someone else told me that although I had no
personal injury insurance, I could successfully claim against my own
third party for my medical costs, now and in the future, and my
inability to return to employment.

I have not heard of this and was wondering if he really knows what he is
talking about.

I would really appreciate any knowledgeable response.

Sally

 

You'd be better off going after the council whose responsibility it was for
maintaing that stretch of road (I hope you have everything well documented).

IIRC, CTP will at best cover immediate medical costs.... lost
income/suffering/etc is not covered. At least, this was the case when a
friend's mum looked into it when her neck problems following a rear-ender
put her out of work.

KK

 

Obviously not in victoria than
TaC covers you for all medical costs and a percentage of wages etc lost
and in cases of permamant disability u get compensation though Exactly
how much it is depoends on the severity of your injury and the formula
they use to come up with the final payout.
You don't sue here in vic for this.

--
i might just as well bend over now while the rich, dole bludgers and single
mothers take
turns fist fucking me up the arse!

Corks on a rant

 

Everything is extremely well documented. I have been in "official" hands
since the accident, abulance/fire brigade, police, hospital, etc., all
with full reports, xrays, CT scans, MRI's etc.

No, the council claims that it is not responsible unless they have been
negligent in repairing a road. They claim that the pothole was caused
during heavy rain the previous night and that they hadn't had the
opportunity to repair the road. There were heavy storms the night before
and I believe that they are probably quite correct.

Even that would help. My medical expenses, the gap fees alone, have
exceeded thirty-five thousand dollars with a lot more to come. Most to
do with Xrays and scans being charged at well above the Govt. agreed
levels. I have needed hundreds of them over the past few months. Every
time they operate or do a new graft they take another whole series of
scans and MRI's. I would have been better off not having any private
medical insurance at all, then all costs would have been covered, but
then I would probably have waited months for surgery. It's hard to win.

Sally

 

X-No-archive: yes
Not in Queensland but I think most of the other states have no-fault CTP.
Your solicitor will know better then us.
Knob.
~

 

If you are in VIC the TAC should cover you (I dont think TAC is federal).
They cover all medical costs, loss of income(80% of your wage at time of
accident), rehab, therapy etc.
If you have a permanent injury they should pay out a lump sum amount.
Having recently been in this situation (not quite as bad, 4 months off work)
I should know.
HTH
JB

 

Before spending money which is pretty scarce right now, I wanted to get
an idea about the feasibility. A soicitor could well charge me a few
hundred to say "no way". If it looks like I have a chance, I will go
through a law firm.

What do you mean by not in Queensland? Do you mean that Queensland CTP
doesn't cover you? I am in Brisbane, so I hope that isn't the case. I
can't see how Southern states could have cover but not Queensland.

I have had an email saying that I am covered by QLD CTP, but the poster
was referring to a personal incident dating back to the eighties.
Perhaps things have changed.

Sally

 

The question you have is a very simple one, and no lawyer would get very far
if, like doctors, they tried to run a practice which charged people for
saying hello to them...

Why not? Each state has its own vehicle registration, driver licensing and
roads administration authorities. Why should compulsory injury cover be any
different?

In Queensland and NSW, the compulsory-injury schemes are deregulated and the
cover is provided by the insurance industry, at exorbitant cost and massive
inefficiency.

In the ACT, the scheme is administered by the government and the cover,
through them, is provided by the NRMA.

In Victoria, the scheme is fully government-run and -administered.

Don't know about the rest of the country.

However, consider the name of your insurance policy. CTP=Compulsory
Third-Party. Implicit in that, through the "Third-Party" bit, is that the
cover is provided only for people whom_your_fuck-ups or mishaps land in
hospital or at a box of Band-Aids, ie. by its very name, it excludes_you._

I do rather think that any approaches to the provider of your CTP policy
about covering you for "self-inflicted" injuries will be met with a "Don't
you have private health insurance? The Federal Government runs this 30%
subsidy scheme that props up their ineffective, incompetent arses, you
know."

Short answer; sorry, but I reckon you've just become another example of how
collusion between government and the corporate sector sets out to **** the
citizen over.

 

The question is, were they aware it was there prior to your accident? If so,
it doesnt really matter what excuse they put up, they may have a case to
answer.

Well, at least you can sleep soundly at night knowing the money not being
spent by the govt on healthcare is protecting us from imminent terrorist
threats...

KK

 

X-No-archive: yes
Mustang Sally wrote;

Queensland CTP doesn't cover the at-fault driver so if that's you then you
are up-the-shite!
However;
some CTPs have an added policy that covers the driver for (I think) up to
$200,000 so check with your insurer.
If the fault can be attributed to someone else (the Council roadworks, an
on-coming car dazzled you, a dog ran out, a cyclist was in the way etc
etc..[memory lapse can be your friend here]) you can sue the "Nominal
Defendant" (i.e. an imaginary person) and receive a benefit.

Try asking legal aid if you can't afford a solicitor but one of those
ambulance-chaser "no win no fee" blokes could probably tell you though.
(But don't hire them 'cause the win fee can be atrocious!)
Knob

 

Yes.

Compulsory third party insurance covers anyone injured in an accident
involving your vehicle, including your passengers and yourself.

 

A solicitor won't charge you money to tell you whether they'll charge
you money for basic advice at a first meeting. Ring some and see what
you get.

In Victoria, TAC would already be picking up the bill for your medical
costs automatically.

 

Should be plenty of solicitors around who'll give you a free assessment
interview.

Nev..

 

You'd be better off going after the council whose responsibility it was for

You would have No chance.

 

Surely you would be covered for all medical and rehabilitation costs as a
matter of course.

Are you talking about lump-sum compensation for pain & suffering etc?

Who would be the 'third party' in your CTP claim?

Sorry to hear about your injuries, and I'm not trying to be obtuse ( it
seems to come naturally).

 

In aus.motorcycles on Mon, 24 May 2004 11:36:32 +1000

3rd party means just that. you are the party of the first part....

There are times when a claim can be made against the "nominal defendant"
when there was another vehicle involved but it can't be identified for
example, but this isn't it.

Your only chance is to sue the body responsible for the road, and
therefore for the pothole.

The law on this has changed recently in NSW, not sure about other
places, and it's a lot easier to sue a council for bad roads than it
used to be.

Get a specialist in vehicle crash compensation cases, in NSW that would
be Mark Sternberg I believe. If you aren't in NSW then he might be able
to recommend someone.

Zebee

 

Probably not as surprised as you would be at what gets overturned on appeal
six months to a year after the 6:30pm current affairs shows have all run
their society-gone-mad stories...

 

Tell that to the person that won a big payout from their council when they
lost an eye due to a magpie attack. You'd be surprised what sort of cases
get up in court.

KK

 

Talk to another solicitor.

Compulsory Third Party insurance covers you if you're an innocent driver who
happens to be hit by another car, or other people who may happen to be
injured as a result of your driving (be it the direct or indirect cause of
an accident, or be they passengers in your car or occupants of others).

However, it does *not* cover injuries to drivers as a result of accidents
they were to blame for (for whatever reason). The "law" makes little
exclusions like that to stop people going out and ramming their car into
whatever they like, claiming they've got a stuffed back and getting a lump
sum compensation payment or lifetime pension.

Perhaps your solicitor was talking about litigation against the relevant
local authority who owns the road, which is another matter entirely.

 

For them to make such a claim, they'd need to be aware of the condition of
the road immediately *prior* to the rain. They'd also let themselves into
admitting that the road construction was probably sub standard if a portion
of it could be washed away leaving a crater that was sufficient in size to
cause a car accident.

Get a lawyer, and someone who knows what they're doing.