The process of making a car accident injury claim can be a long journey. So when an insurer offers a settlement, it’s easy to make the mistake of accepting it straight away. You shouldn’t sign anything until you’ve properly assessed the offer and confirmed it covers everything you’re entitled to, and have sought advice from a lawyer specialising in car accident compensation claims. Despite the scale of the Queensland’s Compulsory Third Party (CTP) scheme, many claimants settle without fully understanding what they’re properly entitled to by way of compensation.
When does an insurer offer a claim settlement?
A car accident injury claim generally moves toward settlement once liability has been decided, your injury is stable, the full impact of your injury is known, and medical evidence has been obtained confirming the outcome of the injuries on your future.
Under Queensland’s CTP scheme, the insurer must decide liability within 6 months of receiving your claim. However, straightforward cases are often decided sooner. The average CTP claim takes between 18 and 24 months to settle, depending on factors such as injury severity, length of treatment rehabilitation and your recovery, how quickly evidence is gathered, and whether the parties reach an agreement without commencing the claim in the Court or actually going to court for a hearing on the evidence.
If you have a lawyer, they will negotiate the settlement with the insurer on your behalf. Once you accept a settlement offer from an insurer it’s final and you cannot claim further for injuries resulting from the same accident at any time in the future. That’s why it’s important to make sure the settlement offer you are considering is fair, accounts for all damages you are entitled to claim before you accept.
Don’t sign the settlement release too soon
If you sign a settlement release to accept an offer of settlement and to then receive funds from the insurer, you will not be able to ask for more money if your injuries worsen later. Before signing, make sure that the offer adequately covers:
- reasonable treatment and rehabilitation
- loss of income, for the past and into the future
- future treatment expenses
- damages for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life
- care and support services for the past and into the future.
We recommend having your lawyer review the offer before you sign. A common mistake claimants make is failing to correctly detail all their losses. This is often simply because they aren’t aware that certain claims for damages can be included, and have not articulated or claimed the damages correctly.
Another mistake is signing the settlement offer before injuries have stabilised or before the true extent of future expenses is known. Your doctor and lawyer will help you determine these future costs, so you receive the right amount of compensation.
Economic loss, covering lost income to date and reduced future earning capacity, accounts for a significant amount of the average CTP claim payout in Queensland. Underestimating this component can result in missing out on a large amount of compensation.
Get the offer in writing
Always ask the insurer to provide the car accident claim settlement offer in writing with a detailed breakdown of the payout especially detailing all heads of damage that it covers if they haven’t already done so.
Ask your lawyer to review the settlement offer
A compensation lawyer will ensure nothing is missed, and they can advise whether you should reject the offer or accept it, or whether in fact there is further evidence required before a proper assessment of your damages can be made. Our lawyers firstly gather all of the required evidence before even considering calculating what your claim to damages should be to cover past, current and future expenses and other loss caused by the injury. This can result in a significantly higher settlement, so it’s worth getting an expert to guide you.
We see lowball offers from insurers almost all the time when clients are dealing directly with the CTP insurer. The key is knowing when to accept and when to challenge it to get the compensation you deserve.
What happens if I dispute the offer?
If you or your lawyer disputes the insurer’s settlement offer, your claims process moves into a proper investigation phase where you build further evidence to support a higher claim to damages. This may include updated medical evidence, independent medical reports, financial statements, and long-term rehabilitation advice. Some claims are settled at a compulsory conference which is an informal pre-court meeting where the parties negotiate and then exchange written final offers to attempt to reach an agreement.
Most claims however proceed to the litigation stage, where proceedings are filed in the court and a further settlement conference is held where the CTP insurer is represented by expert lawyers, a mediator often assists the parties try to settle.
If a settlement still cannot be reached by informal negotiations, or during either of the settlement conferences set out above, the claim will then likely proceed to a trial, and a judge will determine the outcome. This is extremely rare.
Pushing your compensation case to a court hearing (known as a trial) is a costly and lengthy process and is a decision which you should not make lightly, and a decision you’ll receive detailed advice on from your lawyer.
If you’ve been injured on Queensland roads and want to know more about the claim process, get in touch with our lawyers. We’re here to help and offer a free initial consultation so you can determine if you have a strong case and what to do from here.