Personal injury / Motor vehicle accidents
Motor vehicle accident claims
If you were injured in a motor vehicle accident in Queensland, your claim is made against an insurer, not against a person.
Every registered Queensland vehicle carries compulsory third party insurance as part of its registration. When someone is injured through the negligent driving of that vehicle, the claim goes to its CTP insurer. In most circumstances, the driver at fault is not paying out of their own pocket, and the claim does not affect them personally in the way people often assume. That matters when the driver is a family member, a friend, or the person you were travelling with.
Who can claim
Broadly, anyone injured through someone else’s negligent driving:
- drivers and passengers
- motorcyclists and pillion passengers
- cyclists and pedestrians struck by a vehicle
- people who suffered a psychiatric injury because of a crash, including in some circumstances those who witnessed it or its aftermath
- in some circumstances, people who depend financially on someone killed in a crash
You do not have to be entirely blameless. If your own conduct contributed to the incident, whether you were speeding or not wearing a seatbelt, that is dealt with as contributory negligence, which reduces damages rather than necessarily defeating the claim.
If the vehicle was not identified
Hit and run collisions, and crashes caused by a vehicle that leaves the scene, are dealt with through the Nominal Defendant rather than an insurer.
The requirements here are stricter, and the time allowed is shorter than for an ordinary CTP claim. If nobody took down a registration number, get advice quickly.
What the process looks like
- Notice of Accident Claim Form. The approved form, sent to the insurer of the vehicle at fault.
- The insurer’s response. They must say whether they accept they are the correct insurer and whether the Notice complies with the relevant statutory requirements.
- Early rehabilitation. CTP insurers can fund treatment before liability is resolved, and often will. This is worth pursuing early.
- Medical examinations, usually by specialists for each side.
- Compulsory conference and mandatory final offers.
- Proceedings, if the claim does not resolve.
Points that come up often
The police report.
Useful, not decisive. A traffic infringement issued to the other driver helps, but liability in a civil claim is assessed separately from what police did or did not do at the scene.
Injuries that appear later.
Soft tissue and psychological injuries frequently do not present on the day. A claim is not weakened because you felt fine at the scene and worse a fortnight later, but the medical records need to reflect the progression, which means telling your doctor early.
Being partly at fault.
People talk themselves out of claims on this basis more than any other. Partial fault reduces damages. It does not remove the claim.
Psychological injury.
Compensable in its own right, not only as an add-on to a physical injury.
What to bring to a first appointment
If you have them: the registration number of the other vehicle, any police event number, the name of your treating GP, and details of any time you have taken off work. If you have none of those, ring anyway.
This page is general information about how the law works in Queensland. It is not legal advice, it does not take account of your circumstances, and it should not be relied on as a substitute for advice about your own claim.