It’s important to me that I reach out during this uncertain time to provide reassurance and to let you know what we are doing at Gouldson Legal in response to our current Covid-19 situation.
We recognise that the very reason why our services are necessary is because our clients have been negatively impacted by circumstances outside their control and that this has led to them sustaining injury or illness. Further events such as the current health crisis will no doubt compound those feelings of unease.
With the immediate impacts of Coronavirus escalating over recent days, and future impacts becoming clearer, I am increasingly mindful that many of our already vulnerable clients and their families will be uncertain about how Coronavirus will impact their claim process and ultimately the resolution of their matter. I therefore wanted to reassure you that we are closely monitoring and responding to current events as follows:-
1. At present and until further advice from the Prime Minister or Premier, we are open for business. Our key personal injuries personnel have, to date, remained unaffected by the health crisis and are fully operational in our Brisbane office. We do currently have two staff members in self-isolation who recently returned from overseas. As far as we are concerned, it’s business as usual until further notice.
2. You remain our priority. We have conducted a comprehensive review of our systems and processes to ensure that we are able to continue delivering the highest standard of professional expertise and service even if circumstances change. In this regard, we are taking steps to ensure our workforce is ready to work remotely without interruption in the event that we need to do so. For now, we are trialling a split roster system with team members working from home and in the office. We do ask that you make contact with us via email, online and phone as opposed to visiting the office. If it is essential that you visit us, we will be practising responsible social distancing.
3. Your claim remains on track. We have taken steps to communicate with relevant parties in each and every one of our client’s claims and continue to ensure deadlines are met, appointments are kept and claim processes are not disrupted. In fact for the majority of cases we have proactively reached out in an attempt to engage in meaningful discussions with lawyers or insurers where possible to seek to bring negotiations forward.
4. Your claim outcome will be unaffected. The health, community and economic impacts of Coronavirus would have happened irrespective of you sustaining injury. The various Queensland compensation schemes aim to put each claimant back in the position in which they could have expected to be in had they not sustained injury. This means that your claim process already accounts for unrelated health issues, job market volatility and any other long-term impacts of crises such as Coronavirus. As a consequence there will be no change to the way we value your claim or agitate for settlement of your damages claim at the highest possible level.
The above information is provided so as to reassure you that your compensation claim remains well in-hand. If you wish to further discuss your circumstances or concerns, please feel free to contact our team to discuss your query.
Faran Gouldson
Director