Passenger accident injuries

If you’ve had a motor car accident, stop your vehicle and turn on your hazard lights. Make sure nobody is injured, and if so, call emergency 000 and remain at the scene of the accident. If it’s a minor incident you don’t need to call the police, but move the damaged cars if possible. Never admit responsibility even if you think you were at fault. Collect name, address, registration number and insurance details from the other parties and get witness details if possible. Never become involved in a hit-and-run accident.

If you are the injured party in a motor vehicle accident whether as the driver or a passenger, compensation claims are normally finalised after you’ve recovered and left the hospital or your injuries have stabilised. Some people who are injured in a motor accident can take longer to recover than others – from days to years – which determines the length of time it can take to finalise a claim, and how much compensation is received. Also, your injuries may not always appear immediately after the accident so you should seek medical treatment as they can take some time to appear, in some cases, years.

Yes, you can. You can make a passenger accident claim for compensation for any kind of injury whether you were a passenger in a taxi accident, be that caused in a car, taxi or other modes of transport. If your claim is successful, the damages awarded compensate you for pain and suffering, the impact on your life and any financial losses you’ve experienced as a direct result.

When lodging a claim for compensation after you were a passenger injured in a motor vehicle accident it’s best to do it as soon as possible. However, it isn’t always feasible if you were severely injured and couldn’t file a claim straight away. There are time limits, however, so get someone to call a lawyer at PK Simpson for you to lodge a claim at least within six months of the crash.

Passengers are covered in a vehicle’s CTP scheme. So, car compensation claims can be made against the insurer of the driver at fault or the car owner. As an injured passenger you must make timely claims as part of the compensation lodgement process such as an:

• Accident notification claim
• Personal injury claim
• Nominal defendant claim

In some cases, e.g., a hit and run, you may not be able to identify the other car’s details or driver but you can still claim under the NSW Nominal Defendant scheme and must be within six months of the motor vehicle accident.

If, as a passenger, the accident was partly your fault, you may still be entitled to some compensation under a personal injury claim and an accident notification claim. But the amount of compensation you may receive would be less than if you were in no way at fault.

Fault can include travelling in a car when you knew the driver was not wearing a seatbelt or was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The length of time you have to make your claim for passenger accident compensation depends on the jurisdiction.

For instance:

• TPD claims – these may be commenced up to 10 years after you’ve stopped work. TPD claims are very technical and you may have more than one TPD claim.
• Car accident claims – A personal injury claim form should be filled in and sent to your CTP insurer as early as possible, but must be no later than six months from the date of your accident. HOWEVER, out-of-time claims may be made. New NSW CTP laws have made it difficult for injured people and many law firms still do not understand how to run new claims under these laws – so call us at PK Simpson Sydney as soon as possible.
• Workers compensation claims – You should contact a lawyer within six months of the accident. But remember, out-of-time claims can be handled by PK Simpson Sydney. We can help you get the treatment required to build your claim.
• Slip ‘n’ fall/occupiers liability claims – Your claim must be lodged usually within three years of the date of your accident.

Medical Negligence – within three years of the date of when the cause of action was discoverable to our client OR 12 years from the time of the act or omission which caused the injury through negligence.

At PK Simpson we have expert passenger accident lawyers on hand to help you.  We are compensation lawyers and operate on a no-win, no-fee basis. However, for detailed information on the legal costs that can be charged for statutory benefits CTP Insurance car accident claims in NSW click on this link.