If you’re injured in a motor vehicle accident on New South Wales roads, you may be eligible for compensation under the NSW Motor Accidents Injuries Act 2017 (Motor Accident Injuries Scheme).
However, the scheme has undergone recent changes that you should be aware of. In this article, we’ll provide an overview of these changes and how they might affect your claim.
If you have more questions about the changes or have been injured in a motor vehicle accident, contact Main Lawyers to discuss your options.
About the scheme
The Motor Accident Injuries Scheme aims to:
- encourage people injured in a motor vehicle accident to get appropriate treatment as early as possible
- enable them to recover from their injuries as fully as possible
- enable them to return to work or previous activities to the greatest extent possible.
If you’re injured in a car accident in New South Wales, you can make a compensation claim even if you were partly or wholly at fault – or if no one was at fault.
Compensation may cover treatment expenses, lost income and pain and suffering for more serious injuries.
You don’t have to be a driver to make a claim. The scheme also protects passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and pillion passengers. You may even be able to claim for mental harm if you witnessed the accident.
Family members may also be eligible if they observed the injury or death of a loved one or lost their financial support as a dependent.
There are two types of claims you might make:
- statutory benefits – which covers medical expenses, care and income payments
- common law claim – which is a damages claim for pain and suffering, and past and future income and superannuation loss.
Changes to the scheme
Since November 2022, the motor accident injury compensation scheme has undergone a few rounds of changes. These changes affect the rights of the injured party and the amount of treatment they can get, so it’s worth understanding how they affect your claim.
These changes came into effect on 28 November 2022:
Internal review requirement change
You no longer have to request an internal review if you disagree with the insurer about your level of whole-person impairment. You can just lodge your dispute with the Personal Injury Commission.
Lodging and settling common law claim
You no longer have to wait 20 months before making a common law claim. You can make the claim immediately. And you don’t have to wait two years before settling your common law claim.
These changes came into effect on 1 April 2023:
Minor injury name change
The term ‘minor injury’ changed to ‘threshold injury’, though the meaning remains the same. A ‘minor injury’ is a soft injury or minor psychological or psychiatric injury.
- A soft tissue injury is tissue that connects, supports or surrounds or structures or organs of the injury but not nerves, tendons, ligaments, meniscus or cartilage.
- A minor psychological injury is an injury that is not a recognised psychiatric illness.
Extended statutory benefits
If you were wholly or mostly at fault for the accident or suffered a threshold injury, you can now receive statutory benefits for 52 weeks instead of 26 weeks.
Extended weekly payments
If you were partly at fault for the accident, your weekly payments will reduce after 52 weeks instead of 26 weeks.
Time frame for insurer liability notice
Insurance companies will now issue their second liability notice at 9 months rather than 3 months (which states whether you’re wholly or mostly at fault and whether injuries are threshold injuries).
Back payment on late claims
If you lodge your claim for weekly payments more than 28 days after the accident, you may now get back paid to the accident date if you have a satisfactory reason for the delay.
Time limits on starting a damages dispute
You no longer have to wait three years to start a damages dispute in the Personal Injury Commission. However, you do still need to claim common law damages within the three-year time limit.
How these changes affect you
Overall, these changes are positive ones for people injured in a motor vehicle accident in New South Wales who need to make a compensation claim.
You can benefit from:
- receiving benefits for a longer period, especially if you suffered a threshold (minor) injury or were partly or totally responsible for the accident
- having a longer time for a psychological condition to be diagnosed and treated before insurers need to send a second liability notice
- not having to request an internal review for whole person impairment, and having shorter time frames for claim lodgement and settlement – so you can get the compensation you need sooner
- getting treatment from healthcare providers for up to 12 months, even if you are at fault or have a threshold injury.
Guidelines for insurers
These new Motor accident guidelines started on 1 April 2023. Insurers that handle motor vehicle accident claims use these guidelines, which set out the roles and responsibilities of all parties in the scheme and how to:
- manage claims
- resolve disputes
- calculate permanent impairment.
The State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) regularly reviews and updates the guidelines to ensure they stay current and the scheme works well for everyone. Insurers must comply with the guidelines as a condition of their licence.
Getting the right help
With all these changes, the NSW Motor Accident Injuries Scheme is now more complex than ever. For example, if your accident occurred between 1 December 2017 and 31 March 2023, you’re still covered by the previous laws. But if your accident occurred on or after 1 April 2023, you’re covered by the new laws.
So it’s essential to get advice from an experienced motor vehicle accident lawyer to find out exactly what you’re entitled to and whether these changes affect your claim. At Main Lawyers, we stay across all the legislation changes so we can get our clients the best possible outcome.
If you’ve been injured in a motor vehicle accident in NSW, call us for a free initial consultation today.