What do I Need to Make a Compensation Claim?
If you have sustained an injury in Queensland and you are within the legal time frames, you may be entitled to make a compensation claim.
In assessing whether you have what is needed to make a claim for compensation, a lawyer will look for the following:
- Accident or event – That is how it happened, when it occurred, who was involved, and what type of event it was, e.g., motor vehicle accident, work accident.
- Negligent party – The lawyer will examine the available information to identify who is responsible for the accident or event happening. That party/person is the negligent party and who the claim will be made against. In most cases that person is protected by an insurance company and the lawyers will be communicating with the insurer, rather than the negligent party themselves.
- Injury – The lawyer will gather evidence about your injury. Injuries vary in severity with some being a temporary issue that will resolve with treatment, and others are permanent and ongoing with a significant long-lasting impact on you.
- Losses – A compensation claim is designed to put you in the position you would have been in had the accident not occurred. The lawyer will look at the impact of the injury on your ability to enjoy life, work, look after yourself as well as any expenses incurred as a result of the injury.
You may have what is needed to be entitled to make a claim even when you don’t have the 4 elements discussed above. An example of this would be where you have suffered injury or illness that no one is responsible for, but you have Income Protection or Total and Permanent Disability Insurance. In this situation your entitlement to make a claim is based on the terms of the insurance policy. We recommend seeking legal advice specific to your circumstances as soon as possible as there are important time limits to meet to ensure you have a valid claim.
If you’d like to learn more, see this article about workers’ compensation.
