In our recent article titled “Car accidents at work: CTP claim or workers’ compensation claim?”, we discussed the options that are available to claimants who are injured in motor vehicle accidents when travelling either to or from work.
This article will continue to discuss this topic in further detail and provide some additional information about some other differences between a Compulsory Third Party claim (“CTP claim”) and a workers’ compensation journey claim.
As a refresher, we previously discussed how the CTP claim can be thought of as the primary claim and the workers’ compensation claim as the secondary claim. This is because all of a claimant’s loss and damage will ultimately be claimed against the CTP insurer as they represent the at-fault party, and that any benefits that are received from the workers’ compensation insurer will be refunded to them by the CTP insurer.
This relationship between the two claims can impact how each claim is pursued. The reason why the two claims act in different ways is because they are governed by different legislation. A CTP claim is governed by the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 and the workers’ compensation journey claim is governed by the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003.
Due to the fact that the CTP insurer is required to refund the workers’ compensation insurer for any benefits that are paid to the claimant, it is often the case that the CTP claim will not finalise until the workers’ compensation claim has finalised. This means that the main focus will be on the workers’ compensation claim until it is finalised, before shifting the focus to the CTP claim.
You might then wonder whether it is worthwhile lodging the CTP claim before the workers’ compensation claim has finalised. In this regard, it is important to lodge both claims as soon as reasonably possible after the accident occurs.
There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, there are time limits which apply to both claims. For CTP claims, the claim form must be lodged within 9 months of the date of the accident or within 1 month from first consulting a lawyer about the claim – whichever is earlier. A full breakdown of CTP claims and their time limits can be found here.
For workers’ compensation journey claims, the claim must be lodged within 6 months of the date of the accident. A full breakdown of workers’ compensation claims can be found here.
In addition to the time limits, the timeframe for a CTP claim can be quite lengthy. This is in part due to the time allowed for the CTP insurer to investigate and determine who was at fault for the motor vehicle accident. A CTP insurer has up to 6 months from when a claim is lodged to provide a written notice stating whether liability for the accident is admitted or denied. Therefore, it is best for this timeframe to start as soon as possible to avoid any delays once the workers’ compensation claim has finalised.
In our previous article, we discussed that CTP claims and workers’ compensation journey claims allow claimants to access different types of compensation. The focus of that article was on the benefits of the workers’ compensation claims. We will now briefly discuss the benefits of a CTP claim with respect to accessing compensation.
The main benefit of a CTP claim is that you are entitled to recover compensation for a wider range of losses. This can include past and future economic loss, future medical treatment, and past and future care requirements. This can make the CTP claim far more valuable to a claimant than the workers’ compensation claim. Despite this, both claims play an important role in the claims process and there are benefits to be gained from both claims.
Although CTP claims can be more valuable because of the wider range of compensation available, it is necessary for the claimant to prove the losses that they have and will likely incur. This requires thoughtful consideration and appropriate supportive evidence which is often provided by medical experts. Having an experienced personal injury firm by your side can help you navigate the claims process to achieve the best possible outcome for your motor vehicle accident claim.
If you would like to contact vbr Lawyers for a truly obligation free and cost free initial consultation, we would be delighted to assist you if possible.
