Kathryn MacDonell
Chief Executive Officer
Kathryn is Trilby Misso’s Chief Executive Officer.
Meet Kathryn
What types of cases do personal injury lawyers in Queensland handle?
Unfortunately, people suffer injury and illness and that can happen for a variety of reasons.
In most cases lawyers represent injured people in what we call a “negligence” claim, this is where a duty of care is breached and as a result you suffer injury or illness. In some serious cases, even where there is no fault on any party, there may still be an entitlement to claim compensation from your Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) insurance.
The most common type of negligence claims are:
Motor Vehicle Accidents – Car accidents are unfortunately a common occurance and injuries can vary from minor to catastrophic. Examples of a motor vehicle accident are:
- Two cars crashing
- A car colliding with another vehicle, cyclist, pedestrian, scooter or truck
- Dangerous driving of one party causing an accident
- Forklift or tractors on a road causing an accident
- Stolen vehicles causing accidents and injury
- Hit and run accidents
An accident does not necessarily have to happen on a road for there to be a right to make a claim for compensation.
It is recommended that you seek legal advice as to the very specific circumstances of your accident so that you may fully understand your rights and obligations.
Work Accidents – this is commonly referred to as a WorkCover claim. Accidents at work can happen for a variety of reasons, like:
- Poor or no training
- Faulty equipment
- Unsafe practices
- Bullying
- Errors and mistakes of your co-workers
It is recommended that you seek legal advice as to the very specific circumstances of your work cover accident so that you may fully understand your rights and obligations.
Public Liability – a public liability claim can arise from a variety of circumstances.
The most common claims arise from slips, trips and falls in public places as well and private residences.
More unique claims can arise from:
- Animal related injury, eg dog bites
- Fire
- Explosion
- Faulty product
- Food handling/hygiene issues, eg food poisoning
- Construction sites
- Schools, TAFE, university
- A private home
- Rental property
- Physical or sexual assault
- Sport centres
- Play centres and playgrounds
- Trampoline centre
- Boats, jet skis, watercraft
- Go-Karting/Skydiving and recreational activities
It is recommended that you seek legal advice as to the very specific circumstances of your accident so that you may fully understand your rights and obligations.
TPD – Total and Permanent Disability – You may have a TPD insurance policy, it is also possible you have TPD cover as part of your Superannuation fund. Some people do not realise they have TPD insurance. Lawyers can help you establish if you have TPD cover, it is possible you have more than one policy.
A claim can be made on your TPD insurance when you have suffered serious injury or illness and you are prevented from returning to work, or returning to work in the same capacity as you did before you were incapacitated. Each claim will depend on the terms and definitions of the specific insurance policy and the medical evidence. Proving that a party is negligent is not necessary to make a TPD claim.
A common question is whether you can make a claim for negligence, like a motor vehicle claim or WorkCover claim and also make a TPD claim. In most cases this is possible and there is no reason why you can not make both types of claim. It is even possible that if you have more than one TPD policy, you can claim from each fund and have multiple TPD claims for the same injury/illness.
It is recommended that you seek legal advice as to your specific circumstances so that you may fully understand your rights and obligations.
Professional Negligence
A professional negligence claim arises out of the negligence of someone providing a professional service. An example is a doctor or lawyer.
A doctor providing negligent services may cause that patient to suffer further injury or illness. A claim against that doctor would be a medical negligence claim.
In terms of personal injury claims, a professional negligence claim may arise against your lawyer if they were to give you poor advice, miss important time frames or if they were to advise you to settle your claim for less than it would likely be assessed at by a Court (undersettling).
It is recommended that you seek legal advice as to your specific circumstances so that you may fully understand your rights and obligations.
Further information on personal injury legislation in Queensland
https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2002-024
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