Bicycle Accident Injury Compensation

• Call emergency services so that emergency treatment can be administered, and if necessary, investigations undertaken.
• Prevent any further accidents from occurring by making sure that the accident scene is safe.
• Take photos of the accident scene, your bicycle, the vehicle involved and any damage to your personal items and property.
• Take down the details of the vehicle that hit you including the registration, make and model of the vehicle as well as the type and colour.
• Take down the drivers details of the vehicle that hit you, including a photo of their drivers licence. You’ll need their phone number, full name, residential address and details of their CTP insurer.
• Request an event number from the NSW Police. You’ll need this to lodge a compensation claim. If the Police did not attend the scene of the accident, you can obtain an event number by calling the Police Assistance Line or attending your local Police station. There is a legal requirement to do this within 28 days of the accident.
• Obtain a medical certificate (known as a ‘Certificate of Fitness’) from your General Practitioner or the hospital that treated you.
• Obtain legal advice from Advantage Legal before you submit your claim form (known as an Application for Personal Injury Benefits) to the CTP insurer. We’ll provide you with a confidential advice and make sure that your claim form and medical certificate have been completed correctly.

Time limits apply to bicycle injury compensation claims. An Application for Personal Injury Benefits needs to be lodged within 28 days of the accident.  Failure to do so means you will need to provide the insurance company with a full and satisfactory explanation for the delay in lodging your claim in order to be entitled to a back payment of wages to the date of the accident.

If you are unable to meet the 28 day deadline or provide a full and satisfactory explanation, you can still lodge the claim form up to three months after the accident, however the insurance company will not be required to back pay your wages to the date of the accident.

People who are seriously injured are entitled to pursue an Application for Damages Under Common Law. This is also known as lump sum compensation. There is no timeframe to commence your lump sum compensation claim in the Personal Injury Commission, however a three year limitation period does apply to Court proceedings.

To pursue a claim for bicycle injury accident compensation in NSW, you’ll initially need to complete:

• • An Application for Personal Injury Benefits; and
  • A Certificate of Fitness completed by your General Practitioner

Cyclists who have sustained more serious injuries may be entitled to a lump sum compensation payment. If this applies to you, you’ll also need to complete:

• • An Application for Damages Under Common Law

All these documents can be found at www.sira.nsw.gov.au. It is strongly recommended that you obtain legal advice before submitting any of these documents to the CTP insurer to ensure that no errors or omissions have been made. Simple mistakes could result in your entitlements ceasing prematurely or costing you tens, possibly even hundreds of thousands of dollars in lump sum compensation.

The medical certificate required to lodge a bicycle accident injury compensation claim in NSW is called a ‘Certificate of Fitness’.

The Certificate of Fitness can be downloaded from www.sira.nsw.gov.au.

What you are entitled to claim after a bicycle accident involving a motor vehicle in NSW depends on the severity of your injuries and whether you were at-fault for the accident or not. We’ve detailed the most common scenarios below:

• At-Fault or Mostly At-Fault– If you were at-fault or mostly at-fault for your accident, you can claim up to 52 weeks of benefits which includes income support, home and personal care and treatment.

• Not At-Fault with Threshold Injuries – If you were not at-fault, but only sustained a ‘threshold injury’ (previously known as a ‘minor injury’) such as soft tissue strains or bruising, you’re entitled to claim up to 52 weeks of benefits which includes income support, home and personal care and treatment.

• Not At-Fault with Non-Threshold Injuries – If you were not at-fault for your accident and sustained serious injuries which are classified as ‘not a threshold injury’ in accordance with a legislative definition you may be entitled to claim:

• • Partial income support
  • Home and personal care
  • Treatment
  • Lump sum compensation for past and future wage loss including superannuation
  • Lump sum compensation for pain and suffering

The term ‘minor injury’ was defined in the NSW Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 from 1 December 2017 to 31 March 2023. It was then replaced by the term ‘threshold injury’ on 1 April 2023, however has a similar definition. See “What is a Threshold Injury? for” more information.

A ‘Threshold injury’ is a concept defined in the NSW Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 and is used to determine which people are entitled to benefits and/or compensation more than 52 weeks after an accident. Generally speaking, a threshold injury can be categorised as follows:

• Physical Injuries – a soft tissue injury usually described by a doctor as whiplash or muscular strain.
• Psychological Injuries – mental conditions such as adjustment disorder or acute stress disorder.

It is quite common for insurance companies to incorrectly categorise injuries as a ‘threshold injury’ due to a lack of understanding or failure to investigate or correctly consider all of the medical material before them. If this has occurred on your claim, you should seek urgent legal advice from the Advantage Legal team so that an internal review with the insurance company can be prepared on your behalf.

You can dispute almost any decision that a CTP insurer makes on your claim. In most circumstances, you’ll need to lodge an internal review of the decision with the CTP insurer within 28 days of the decision being made. If the CTP insurer upholds their initial decision, you’ll then be entitled to lodge a dispute application with the NSW Personal Injury Commission.

The dispute process can be long and complicated and in many circumstances incredibly stressful. If you’d like an expert legal team to manage the dispute process on your behalf, contact our team for a free initial consultation and confidential advice.

Injured cyclists who were not at-fault for their accident and who have sustained injuries which are not classified as a ‘threshold injury’ in accordance with a legislative definition are entitled to a lump sum compensation pay out. The amount you are entitled to claim varies based on your personal circumstances such as your age, how long you were off work, how much you were earning before the accident, what your plans for future employment were, the severity of your injuries and whether you are entitled to pain and suffering.

Some law firms use generic claim calculators to estimate how much an injured cyclist is entitled to. At Advantage Legal, we believe that compensation is about you. So, we’ll provide you with a tailored advice on how much your claim is worth once we know all your personal circumstances.

In NSW, people who are not at-fault for a motor accident and who have sustained injuries which are classified as ‘not a threshold injury’ are entitled to pursue a claim for lump sum compensation. This claim is known as an Application for Damages Under Common Law. Generally speaking, pursuing a claim for damages involves:

• Seeking legal representation.
• Completing and lodging a claim form on the CTP insurer for the driver at-fault for the accident.
• Gathering medical, liability and economic loss evidence in support of your claim.
• Being medically examined by a series of doctors of different specialities.
• Resolving any medical disputes with the insurance company in the Personal Injury Commission.
• Participating in a settlement conference with the insurance company in an attempt to resolve your claim.
• If settlement cannot be achieved, requesting either the Personal Injury Commission or Court to determine who was responsible for the accident and your entitlement to compensation.

There is no legal requirement to have a lawyer represent you to lodge a cycling accident injury damages claim in NSW. This claim is known as an Application for Common Law Damages.

Insurance companies employ teams of people to work directly with injured people like you, so that you will not engage a lawyer. This is because insurance companies know that they can minimise how much compensation they have to pay you if you do not have legal representation.

The Advantage Legal team are Accredited Specialists in Personal Injury Law and have worked for insurance companies, so we know how to maximise your compensation. So whilst it’s not compulsory to engage a lawyer, you’ll be at a considerable disadvantage if you don’t.

There is no universal billing model for bicycle accident claims in NSW. The Advantage Legal team operate on a no-win, no fee basis. Our clients only pay our professional fees and disbursements if we are successful at the conclusion of their claim. Our initial consultation is completely free and there are never any interim payments during your claim.

There is no universal definition of ‘no-win, no-fee’. Whilst many personal injury law firms offer no-win, no-fee billing it is important for injured cyclists to look into the detail of the arrangement they are signing up to. Unlike many other law firms, at Advantage Legal, no-win no-fee means that you’ll only pay our professional fees and disbursements if your claim is successful. The inclusion of disbursements in a no-win, no-fee legal retainer is important as disbursements can amount to tens of thousands of dollars. Some law firms exclude disbursements, so be sure to check the fine print before signing a law firm cost retainer.

Depending on your accident circumstances, an injured cyclist may be entitled to make claims under multiple statutory compensation schemes or personal/third party insurance policies. These include, but are not limited to:

• The NSW motor accident compensation scheme
• The workers compensation scheme
• TPD insurance
• Public liability insurance
• Income protection insurance
• Personal accident insurance

If you’d like advice on your full compensation entitlements, contact our team for a free initial consultation and confidential advice.

An Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law is a lawyer who has been recognised by the NSW Law Society as having a high level of expertise in laws relating to personal injury in NSW. Accredited specialists have undertaken and passed a rigorous assessment process to attain their accreditation. Lawyers who hold the NSW Law Society Specialist Accreditation represent the best lawyers in the state.

Both Practice Principals of Advantage legal have extensive backgrounds in personal injury law, having worked for both insurance companies and compensation law firms. Additionally, they have served as decision makers at the Dispute Resolution Service (now known as the Personal Injury Commission) and are Accredited Specialists in Personal Injury Law.