All employers are required by law to have workers’ compensation insurance. This provides compensation to all of their employees should they be injured at work.

Benefits available to injured employees are determined by both the Workers’ Compensation Act 1987 (NSW) and the Workplace Injury Management Act and Workers’ Compensation Act 1998 (NSW).

Workers’ compensation is designed to support those who are injured with their costs for weekly expenses, medical and hospital expenses, and an array of other benefits to help an injured employee recover, return to work and, in certain circumstances, provide lump sum compensation.

Some of the most common injuries claimed under the Workers’ Compensation scheme include:

• Body stresses
  This includes injuries such as muscle strains and back conditions. They are usually sustained through repetitive heavy lifting, sustaining a certain posture, and using repetitive movements. They are usually injuries which accumulate over time, sometimes resulting in a major incident where the stressed body part finally succumbs to the sustained pressure which working conditions have put it through.
• Falls, trips and slips
• Being hit by a moving object
• Hitting objects with a part of the body
• Psychological injury
• Vehicle collisions
• Injuries caused by chemicals and other substances
• Industrial deafness

Galluzzo Lawyers will guide you through the steps necessary to successfully submit a workers’ compensation claim. After you have notified your employer of your injury as soon as possible, we advise the following to be done:

1. Have the injury recorded in the employer’s register
2. Obtain a Certificate of Capacity (medical certificate) from your doctor or hospital
3. Notify the insurer of your injury
4. Provide all documents including the Certificate of Capacity/ Fitness and all medical bills to both the employer and insurer
5. Though not always necessary, it is also recommended that a Claim Form be submitted to the insurer. This is to ensure that the Insurer has all sufficient information necessary to determine liability.

The insurer should contact everyone involved and will review the claim. The insurer must notify the injured worker within 7 days of receiving notice of the injury. From this point onwards, the insurer should begin to provide provisional liability payments.

Often the most successful outcomes in any workers’ compensation claim are those which are commenced as soon as possible. In any event, an individual should lodge their claim – within six months of the injury, accident or death.

You may still be able to make a claim after the six months if the delay was due to a common mistake or you have not been in the state of New South Wales.

If the claim is not lodged within 3 years, however, the claim cannot be made unless the sustained injury caused the worker’s death or lead to a very serious injury.

Once a claim is accepted, you will be able to claim benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act. These can include:

• Weekly compensation payments
• Lump-Sum compensation payment for permanent impairment
• Medical and hospital expenses
• Rehabilitation expenses
• Compensation for damage to property
• Domestic assistance

If the worker has died as a result of the injuries sustained, benefits for funeral expenses can also be obtained.

The amount of compensation you can receive depends on:

• Your working conditions;
• Any supervision or the level of training you received;
• The seriousness and complexity of your injury;
• Your own management of the injury, including rehabilitation and potential aggravation issues;
• Your employer’s liability, in particularly if your injury was due to their negligence.

If a worker has been injured and this results in permanent impairment (an injury which has stabilised but is unlikely to improve), you may be able to claim.

Your eligibility for a lump sum payment will be determined by an independent medical examiner, who will make an assessment using guidelines which are set out by the WorkCover Authority of NSW and SIRA (State Insurance Regulatory Authority).

If eligible for lump-sum compensation for permanent impairment, this is paid to you in addition to any other benefits you are entitled to receive.

For Worker’s Compensation Claims, Rosalie Galluzzo is listed as an Approved Lawyer under the Worker’s Compensation Independent Review Office (WIRO). This means that we are able to obtain approved grants of funding through WIRO, so you do not have to pay for legal representation for your claim.

A common law claim is a claim against your employer if your employer is negligent. If certain thresholds of injury are met and liability can be proven, Galluzzo Lawyers can act on your behalf in making and maximising your common law claim.

Your entitlement will depend on a variety of factors, including:

1. the circumstances of the accident,
2. the extent of the injury suffered, and
3. your personal circumstances.

The following applies to injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents after 1 December 2017

Statutory Benefits

The majority of people who are injured in a motor vehicle accident are entitled to statutory benefits, lasting for a period of six months from the date of the accident

Statutory benefits may include weekly payments which act as a compensation for loss of income and medical expenses, including treatment, rehabilitation and the cost of carers.

Statutory benefits will continue for longer than six months if the injured individual is not at fault and has suffered more than a “minor injury”.

Damages

You may be entitled to claim damages in the form of a lump sum compensation. You will only be eligible to claim for damages if you were not at fault and you have suffered more than a “minor injury”.

Damages can include economic loss (past or future loss of earnings or a reduced ability to earn future income) as well as non-economic loss (compensation for pain and suffering).

Are there any time limits on a motor vehicle accident claim?

The following time limits are appliable:

1. The accident must be reported to the Police within 28 days of the accident. You must obtain an accident event number from Police.
2. A claim for statutory benefits must be made within 3 months of the accident.
3. In order to receive payments backdated to the date of the injury, a claim for statutory benefits must be made within 28 days from the date of the accident.
4. A claim for damages cannot be made until after 20 months of the accident and must be made within 3 years. There is an exception if whole person impairment is assessed as being greater than 10%.

The following time limits are appliable:

• The accident must be reported to the Police within 28 days of the accident. You must obtain an accident event number from Police.
• A claim for statutory benefits must be made within 3 months of the accident.
• In order to receive payments backdated to the date of the injury, a claim for statutory benefits must be made within 28 days from the date of the accident.
• A claim for damagescannot be made until after 20 months of the accident and must be made within 3 years. There is an exception if whole person impairment is assessed as being greater than 10%.

In order to claim statutory benefits, firstly an Application for Personal Injury Benefits Form must be lodged. Secondly, in order to receive weekly income payments, you must then lodge a Certificate of Fitness Form. This form must be completed by your doctor.

If you are not at fault and have suffered more than a minor injury, we recommend that you contact Galluzzo Lawyers regarding entitlement to claim damages, which is a separate process to claiming statutory benefits.

If you instruct Galluzzo Lawyers to advise and represent you in your claim, we will act for you on a “no win no fee” basis in relation to our professional fees.

How much you are entitled to in both statutory benefits and damages will depend on your personal circumstances and how your injury has affected your life.

Yes. Injured persons cannot “double dip” by receiving payments for compensation in addition to Centrelink benefits relating to the same period of time.

A claim for statutory benefits and/or damages will be made with the CPT insurer of the vehicle at fault.

If you know the license plate number of the vehicle, the relevant insurer can be identified on the State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) website.

If the vehicle at fault is unregistered or cannot be identified, you can lodge a claim with the Nominal Defendant, which is a government statutory body.  Your claim is then allocated to an insurer. If you are unable to identify the registration details of the vehicle at fault, you may have to demonstrate that you have at least tried to and have taken reasonable steps to identify the vehicle.

Our team at Galluzzo Lawyers will communicate with the insurer on your behalf and ensure that proper procedures and investigations are undertaken. Consulting a solicitor to deal with your matter will help ensure that you receive the maximum amount of compensation you are entitled to.

If your accident occurred prior to 1 December 2017, your entitlement to compensation will be dealt with under the old legislation, Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999.

You may be entitled to compensation for the following:

• Treatment expenses
• Loss of income
• Domestic assistance and/or
• Pain and suffering.

The claims process for an accident dated before 1 December 2017 is quite different from the new scheme and we recommend that you contact Galluzzo Lawyers immediately, as time limitations may expire soon.