Road Injury & Car Accident Lawyer

Get the right compensation for your road or car accident. The vbr Lawyers team has your back for all road and car accident claims here in Brisbane and across Queensland.

Typically takes less than 30 minutes.

  • Win more for less
  • No win, no fee
  • Award-winning team

Road injury claims cover more than just car accidents

There are so many different injuries that can call for compensation, way beyond just car accidents. Here are the different road accidents that you might be able to claim for…

*It’s important to note that only parties who are not at fault can claim compensation for these accidents.

We know car accident injuries can have a really negative impact on your life. vbr Lawyers is here to make claiming compensation easy. We’ve got your back.

What kind of injuries are most common in car accidents?

Depending on the type of accident you’re in, there are so many different injuries you might sustain. 

Here are some of the most common injuries from car accidents:

  • Whiplash injuries, particularly to the neck and back
  • Other neck and back injuries, including spinal injuries
  • Brain injuries
  • Head or face injuries
  • Chest injuries, including broken ribs
  • Internal injuries or organ damage to the kidneys, liver, or spleen
  • Arm, elbow and wrist injuries
  • Burns and scarring
  • PTSD and other psychological injuries like trauma from the accident

What is Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance?

Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance is the mandatory insurance we all take on as part of our vehicle registration. It provides financial coverage for claims that are made as a result of road accidents. This is a really essential component of Australia’s road safety. It aims to protect all road users. This means that the not-at-fault claimant and the at-fault party are protected.

What can you claim compensation for following a road or car accident?

If you are injured in a car accident, you can claim compensation for any loss that comes as a result of your accident. 

Just some of the examples of where you can claim compensation are:

  • Loss of income (both in the past and projected future losses)
  • Rehabilitation expenses — physiotherapy, chiropractic adjustments, massage therapy, acupuncture
  • Medical treatments & expenses — GP, hospital, surgery, X-rays & scans, and therapy expenses
  • Pain and suffering
  • Travel costs
  • Care and assistance (both paid and from loved ones)
  • Maintenance costs as a result of injury — cleaning, gardening, and home maintenance

How much compensation is typically paid for these types of accidents?

This is very much a case-by-case figure.

Let’s take the loss of income claim, for example. If two different people both claimed compensation for only a loss of income for the same period of time, but one person is on a $50,000 salary and the other a $150,000 salary — that figure is going to look very different. 

In the same way, the same injury can have very different outcomes for two different people.

So, factors like age, career, income, and pre-existing medical conditions will play a large part in the amount of compensation claimed.

Motor vehicle accident claims are time-sensitive. Here’s what you need to know.

There are strict time limits on how long after your accident you can claim compensation. You have three years to make your claim. However, you should note that you will need to notify the at-fault party of your intent to claim within nine months of the accident or one month of seeking legal advice.

The road accident compensation process

The process of claiming compensation following your accident will look a little bit different depending on your specific circumstances. The car accident lawyers at vbr Lawyers make the process easy. 

Talk with a lawyer

Get started by chatting with our car accident lawyers. These initial chats take around 30 minutes, but we’ll offer you all the time you need. Our goal is to find out exactly what happened and what steps you’ve taken so far.

Get a letter of advice

You’ll receive a letter of advice within a few days of this chat. Your lawyer will create a list of recommendations for what you should do next. It’s our goal to make sure this is really easy to understand. If you haven’t already, the first thing we’ll recommend is to seek medical advice.

Start the process

Once you’re happy to go ahead, we’ll get the claim process started. This process looks different for everyone, but we’ll start by notifying the at-fault party and any other relevant parties — like CTP insurers or WorkCover if relevant.

So, what evidence should you collect following your motor vehicle accident?

It can be really beneficial for your motor vehicle accident claim to begin collecting evidence immediately. Basically, any step you take following the accident should be recorded, and so should all details from the accident.

Accident details

Following the accident, you should create a record of all of the details. Any images of the damage and vehicles involved should be collected. Record the time, the location and any other key details — like the weather and details of the other parties involved in the accident.

All vehicle information

Collect any other parties’ make, model, and number plate details. You should also ask for the licence details and insurance information if possible.  

Police report

If possible, getting a copy of the police report (if the police were involved) can be really beneficial. If you’re not able to, your car accident lawyer may be able to.

Any medical records or receipts

Medical records and receipts can be important for your car accident claim. Keep a record of all documents and receipts following your accident. GP visits, hospital visits, any kind of rehabilitation or therapy, X-rays and scans, or consultations with other health professionals should be recorded. If relevant, any photos of your injuries may be helpful.

All insurance correspondence

Keep a log of all correspondence you have with your insurer or any other insurance companies that become involved in the claim. 

Any documentation of damage

Take photos of any damage to your vehicle, bicycle, or property from all angles. Any mechanical or panel repair cost estimates or receipts should be recorded.

Proof of lost income

Record any lost income with any proof you have. This might be missed work opportunities, time off to recover, or time off for appointments. You might need to collect payslips from the current period and up to six months before the accident to compare.

Proof of relevant expenses

As well as medical expenses, collect evidence of all additional expenses for your motor vehicle accident claim. This might include expenses for things like towing, rental cars, transport, or any other expenses that are relevant to your claim.

Our car accident lawyers are a little bit different.

We take a different approach to your compensation claim. Here’s how we’re different.

Frequently Asked Questions

I have been injured in a road accident. What are my rights?

If you have been injured due to a road accident and the accident was not your fault, you will have a claim. Strict time limits apply for lodging claims so don’t delay in seeking advice. You have 9 months from the date of the accident to lodge the claim with the insurer of the vehicle at fault and 3 years from the date of the accident to commence court proceedings.

Once you have retained us, we take care of preparing and lodging any and all claim forms and making sure court proceedings are commenced and on time. Your claim will be covered by the CTP insurer of the driver or person at fault. We can assist in finding out all the necessary details for you to be able to make a claim. Once the claim has been lodged, we can and will assist with your medical and rehabilitation needs by dealing with the insurer and your health care providers.

When all of your injuries have settled down and stabilised, we can seek and recover for you monetary compensation for the following:

(a) Pain and Suffering;

(b) Loss of Wages or Income;

(c) Future Loss of Wages or Income;

(d) Past and Future Loss of Superannuation Benefits;

(e) Out of Pocket Expenses;

(f) Past and Future Medical Treatment Costs;

(g) In some cases, Past and Future domestic Care and Assistance;

(h) In some cases, a healthy contribution towards your legal costs which at vbr Lawyers will result in at least 60% of your total legal bill being paid by the insurer.

I am still having some symptoms, but I am now back at work. Is it still worth my while to make a claim?

Yes. Only a minority of the claims we make involve claims for people who have been forever prevented from working by accident-related injuries. Most claims we make involve are for people who are still working, but with some problems. Valuable compensation is still recoverable in that situation, because while you may be back at work, your capacity for work might not be the same as it once was. In any case, the best thing to do is to notify the claim as soon as possible. If it turns out you are completely symptom-free and the claim does not proceed, you will owe nothing to us or anyone else.

When should I get legal advice? Do I need a lawyer to assist me?

We strongly recommend that you seek legal advice as soon as possible because the moment you have been injured in a road accident, you have a potential claim. Your potential claim and the value of the claim will be determined by complex laws. Accordingly, you should get proper legal advice and we are happy to provide it to you and at no obligation.

An expert in personal injury law will be able to promptly advise you of your rights, the claim process, what needs to be done and when and answer any and all questions you might have about your rights, how to run and win the case, advise on whether the case can be won and, if so, how long it might take to complete and the likely full value of the claim. It is not mandatory or compulsory for injured people to retain a lawyer, however, the information we have from the Motor Accident Insurance Commission reveals that when injured people do not use a car accident lawyer, the average settlement is less than $10,000.00. When motor vehicle accident personal injury lawyers are acting for injured people, the average settlement is over $85,000.00.

We think you will be pleasantly surprised and relieved about our fee structure and fee policy as compared with the larger firms. In fact, we guarantee it.

What are the time limits for making a claim?

There are strict time limits for making a claim. Firstly, there is a 9 month time limit from the date of the accident to submit the Notice of Accident Claim Form with the compulsory third party insurer of the vehicle at fault or 1 month from your first meeting with a lawyer regarding the claim, whichever is the earlier. If you meet with us, we will prepare and lodge the claim for you at no obligation. We are not aware of any other firm in Queensland who provides this service. In the event that you make a full recovery from your injuries within a few months of the accident and the claim is not economically viable to proceed with legal representation, we will not charge you anything for the professional time we have spent meeting with you, and preparing and lodging the claim.

We provide this service to our clients to immediately remove any concerns or stress about seeking legal advice early and with respect to legal costs. We strongly recommend that you get early legal advice regarding your rights and to ensure that any and all claim forms are prepared accurately and lodged promptly and to provide a legal buffer between you and the insurer.

The sooner the insurer knows about your accident and injuries, costs and financial losses, the earlier you will receive medical treatment and rehabilitation and paid for by the insurer. If you were injured by an unidentified or unregistered vehicle then stricter time limits apply. You have three months to lodge the claim with the Nominal Defendant or one month from your first meeting with a lawyer regarding the claim, whichever is the earlier. The benefit of engaging an expert personal injury lawyer to look after you and your claim is that it immediately becomes the responsibility of your lawyer to take care of the time limits and to make sure the documents are lodged or filed on time.

Secondly, there is a three year time limit from the date of injury to commence court proceedings if you have suffered personal injuries from a road accident. If court proceedings are not commenced within three years of the date of accident/injury, your right to commence or pursue a compensation claim or claim for damages will be lost forever. Commencing court proceedings is only ever necessary if we have been able to resolve or settle your claim at the initial settlement conference which is called the compulsory conference. Many but not all claims settle at the compulsory conference. We are even able to resolve some claims before the compulsory conference.

Approximately 99% of all of the cases vbr Lawyers have taken on have been settled or resolved out of court or prior to trial.

How long will it take for my case to settle? How much will it cost me?

Based on our collective experience in running and resolving this type of claim over many years, it usually takes 6 to 18 months for your claim to resolve from the date of the accident. We will explain the likely legal fees upfront and from day one. We provide industry leading transparency regarding our fee structure and fee policy. What’s more, no matter what happens or at what stage your case settles, the professional costs will not under any circumstances exceed 30% of the value of the claim after deduction of statutory refunds and legal disbursements/expenses.

Example

If your case settles for $100,000.00 clear of any and all statutory refunds, we will not charge more than $30,000.00 for professional costs.

Even if we had incurred say $50,000.00 worth of professional costs to achieve the settlement and to win the case, your bill for our professional costs will not exceed $30,000.00

Using the same example, if we incurred only $15,000.00 worth of professional costs to achieve the settlement, you would of course be charged $15,000.00 not $30,000.00

We are confident you will find our fees and charges to be extremely reasonable.

I need medical treatment and rehabilitation now. Who will pay for this? What can I do?

We can provide immediate assistance with this. From the moment you retain us regarding your road accident claim we will:-

(a) Prepare and lodge the claim for you;

(b) Find out what medical and/or rehabilitation needs you have which are not being met;

(c) We will communicate with your treating doctor/s and arrange a treatment plan to be provided to the insurer;

(d) We will follow up with the insurer to make sure they action the treatment plan/s with priority;

(e) Once we have received funding approval from the insurer, we will keep an eye on your medical and rehab needs to make sure the insurer is doing everything it should and can to assist with your recovery.

Do you offer your services on a 'No Win, No Fee' basis?

Yes. We offer our services to our clients on a ‘No Win, No Fee’ basis.

At vbr Lawyers, our ‘No Win, No Fee’ policy is this:

(a) You will only ever pay legal fees for the work we do at the end of your claim and if and only if you win;

(b) We will fund and run the case for you and the legal costs will come out of your settlement monies which are paid by the insurer;

(c) In the very, very unlikely event that your claim goes to court and in the even more unlikely event that a trial is required and you lose, you would still pay us nothing but you are likely to be ordered by the court to pay the other side’s legal costs.

Our lawyers have your back. Let’s talk about your claim.

Make vbr Lawyers your partner through your car accident compensation claim. A multi-award-winning firm with a stellar reputation, our lawyers have your back.

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Your state has been updated to QLD. Practice areas on compensation law have been updated.