22 June 2013

CTPI Compensation for non-fault accident?

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A question for the hive-mind. I am at home with a badly broken leg and multiple other injuries, after being cleaned up by a 4WD driver who “never saw me” on my cruiser motorbike.

I’ve been told that NRMA (currently the only CTP insurer in the ACT) are mongrels to deal with, and that their record of good corporate citizenship in being fair and reasonable is non-existent.

Because of confidentiality agreements, there seems to be very little on the public record about how the compensation process actually works out for victims. Does any Riotacter have any first-hand knowledge of the results of CTP claims, whether through negotiation or through the courts?

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Thank you everyone for your feedback. I now have a pretty good idea of what to do and what to expect.

Cheers

I was badly injured as a third party in a car crash about 25 years ago. Based on a personal recommendation I went to see Craig Edwards at MEJ, and they looked after the entire thing. I just went to various doctors to be inspected, paid nothing up front and it all came out of the settlement in the end. It was all very smooth.

After all costs I ended up with about $25K in the pocket. This was nice, but I would’ve rather avoided the near-death experience, pain, anxiety, fatigue and long slow recovery.

Lawyer up. I’ll put in a recommendation for MEJ as well. I was cleaned up by a young guy in a van who I’m assuming was distracted by the pretty young ladies who were riding along with him. I was on my 250cc sports bike and after hitting his rear quarter I did a full front flip over the bars. Injuries were minor, mostly blunt trauma in the nether region due to the sudden stop of a metal fuel tank in front of me.
MEJ sent me to their doctors, got all their reports etc done and negotiated a pretty good settlement. It wasn’t an immediate process, probably took about 14 months, but from the moment I signed up I didn’t pay for any of my visits. Any costs came out of the settlement at the end. Dont settle for an NRMA offer of paying your medical costs and income you lost while not at work. There’s a whole lot more to it than that. A lawyer makes the process reasonably stress free as they know the ins and outs of the game. Sure, they end up with a good chunk of money at the end, but they’ll get you 10 times what you would going it alone.
For the record, I ended up with about $15k in my pocket at the end, all injuries healed up and little fella’s are all swimming properly (have since obtained walking proof of that fact).

My claim with NRMA for my bike was a reasonably straight forward affair as well. I was uninsured and went at that myself. They paid me out a very reasonable value for my bike and all gear/accessories.

See a lawyer
Legal advice you get on the internet is worth as much as you paid for it….

just go and see a solicitor – MEJ or similar – they will do it all for you and make sure all your bases are covered – you can submit current costs for reimbursement, whilst waiting for a settlement

I was hit by a car few year ago riding my bike. I went through a no fee lawyer, all treatment was paid for and received a substantial compensation payment. Legal expenses were also covered. All from nrma via the lawyer firm . Nrma plays hardball when the claim is made but did not hesitate forking out for the medical fees. Took around 12 months for the payout figure to be agreed on. I am glad I left it to the professionals. Happy to recommend the firm I went through if u are interested, they were very professional throughout

My only advice is don’t settle too early. I did and regretted it as my neck still hurts and the money is already gone on treatment.

NRMA made the process as painful as possible a time a housedoor (?!?) came flying off the ute in front and into our car. Noone was hurt, but the driver gave some false details and drove away (“no licence on me, mate”). NRMA steadfastly refused to ‘investigate’ without police assistance, and the police saying they could not provide the details unless NRMA asked for them. A licence plate number was provided and the police said they had the details ready for NRMA to complete the claim… if the they were requested.

This went on for 6 months, with every two weeks me calling and explaining the entire sequence again each time. Each phone call was never shorter than 30 minutes.

I am ashamed to say we gave up in the face of well organised obstruction. Hello AAMI!

We didn’t have any issues with NRMA when we were injured in a accident. There was no disputing who was at fault (the other driver was on the wrong side of the road and admitted fault). NRMA requested access to medical records to confirm injuries were not pre-existing. We also needed to provide evidence of any lost income. Once that was done, they made a fair and reasonable compensation offer and we had a cheque in a week or so.

NRMA CTP are not that bad to deal with. If the other party was clearly at fault you shouldn’t have any dramas. You need to lodge a claim with the NRMA within 30 days of the accident.

You can get the claim forms and information here htt
p://www.treasury.act.gov.au/compulsorytpi/ClaimForm.shtml

It is a fairly simply and straight forward process. I would definitely try to deal with NRMA directly, if you strike any problems then you can always go to a solicitor then.

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