Personal injury claims process
If you are unfamiliar with the legal system, the procedure for pursuing a personal injury claim can be lengthy and difficult. If you have been hurt as a result of someone else's carelessness or negligence it's crucial to get expert legal help.
Our team of Brisbane and Queensland based personal injury compensation lawyers will guide you through the claims process. The exact process may vary depending on the type of claim but the basic steps are shown below.
1: Initial consultation and checking your claim options
Initially as part of our no-obligation consultation process we will check what legal options are open to you and advise on the pathways open to you. This will involve checking the circumstances of an accident or injury to ensure there was negligence of another party, who the liable party was and that there would be an insurer to make a claim against.
With car and vehicle accidents for example then this is covered by the compulsory third party insurance (CTP) policy which comes as part of vehicle registration for the owner of the at-fault vehicle, and for work injuries it is typically the compulsory workers compensation insurer such as WorkCover Queensland. We also make sure the claim is one in the jurisdiction we handle which is Queensland for most claim types or national within Australia for others.
2: Gathering evidence and lodging initial claims
Once we’ve established we can run a claim then our expert legal team will start to gather evidence to build your case such as accident report forms or Police reports for road accidents, evidence from the scene of the accident, witness details, medical records and bills, proof of loss of earnings (and proof of past earnings).
Along the way then we may also need to get specialist medical assessments and reports done to assess the change in your life path the injuries have had and the likely impact on future earnings and costs.
We also make sure initial claims or notice to claims are lodged. With motor vehicle accidents a ‘Notice of Accident Claim Form’ needs to be lodged with MAIC (Motor Accident Insurance Commission) which we will do and with work injuries we will ensure you have taken the right steps with your WorkCover claim.
3: Start to negotiate settlement with liable parties insurers
Once we’ve built a clear picture of the impact the claim will have on your life we will start negotiations with the insurer/s of the liable parties.
The majority of claims are settled out of court at informal conferences known as ‘Compulsory conferences’ which involve your personal injury lawyers and appointed barrister and legal representatives for the liable parties insurance company.
Many claims will settle at the first of these, some will need a second meeting if the initial offers were not satisfactory.
In a small number of cases then the case may need to move to court litigation. Even once this process commences there can be opportunities to reach settlement out of court.
4: Case settlement
Once a settlement is agreed then this will lead to a lump sum tax free settlement. For some claim types we can also work to have some of the legal fees covered by the liable party to ensure maximum compensation is received by yourself.
In rare cases where a settlement cannot be reached, our no win, no fee guarantee protects you and means you will not need to pay our legal fees.