MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT INJURY COMPENSATION

• Call emergency services for assistance and make sure that you and your motorcycle are not located in a place that can result in further accidents or injuries.
• Take photos and/or a video recording of the accident scene. Depending on what happened you should try to capture damage to your motorcycle and any other vehicle involved in the accident. If there was an obstacle, loose gravel, chemical or fuel spill or other object that caused your accident, be sure to record it clearly, along with the weather conditions and lighting at the accident scene.
• If another vehicle was involved in the accident, obtain the licence details from the driver. You should take a photo of their drivers licence and obtain their full name, phone number, address, registration plate and CTP green slip insurer details. You’ll also need the make, model, colour and type of vehicle that hit you.
• If you were in a populated area, look for surveillance cameras in the vicinity of the accident scene and note their location.
• Determine whether there was any dashcam footage or witnesses to the accident. If so, try to obtain a copy of the footage or the witness name and contact details.
• Make sure that the accident is reported to Police within 28 days. If the Police didn’t attend the scene of the accident or visit you in hospital while you were being treated, you’ll need to either drop into your local Police station or call the Police Assistance Line to report the accident.
• Visit your General Practitioner or request a doctor at the hospital where you were treated to complete a medical certificate called ‘Certificate of Fitness’. Be sure that all physical and psychological injuries are included on the certificate. This certificate will be required for you to lodge an ‘Application for Personal Injury Benefits’ on the relevant CTP insurer.
• Make an appointment for a free initial consultation and advice with the Advantage Legal team. Our advice is entirely confidential and will outline your rights and entitlements based specifically on your personal circumstances. We’ll also make sure that all your claim documents have been completed correctly before they are submitted to the CTP insurer.

Motorcycle accident claims in NSW are subject to time limitations. To preserve your rights and entitlements to compensation, make sure these time limits are complied with:

• Report your motorcycle accident within 28 days to the NSW Police.

• Lodge the CTP claim form with the relevant CTP insurer within 28 days. The CTP claim form is called an ‘Application for Personal Injury Benefits’.

• If you miss the 28-day time limit, you can still lodge a CTP claim up to three months after the accident. The CTP insurer will not back pay your wages to the date of the accident if submitted after 28 days unless you provide them with a full and satisfactory explanation for the delay.

• If you do not have a full and satisfactory explanation for the delay in lodging your claim, the insurer will commence weekly payments to you from the date your claim is received once they have determined liability for the claim.

• If your injuries are considered to be ‘not a threshold injury’ pursuant to the definitions contained in the motor accident legislation and you are also not at-fault for the accident, you’ll need to make sure that your legal proceedings are commenced within 3 years in Court. Note that legal proceedings in the Personal Injury Commission are no longer subject to a 3 year limitation period.

All claim forms and medical certificates required to lodge a motorcycle accident injury claim pursuant to the NSW motor accident compensation legislation can be found at www.sira.nsw.gov.au

In the immediate aftermath of the accident, you’ll need to complete and submit the following forms:

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

If you have an entitlement to pursue a lump sum compensation claim because your injuries are considered ‘not a threshold injury’ and you were not at-fault for the accident, you’ll need to complete and submit:

• An Application for Damages Under Common Law

Our team strongly recommends that you obtain legal advice before submitting any of these documents to the CTP insurer responsible for paying your compensation entitlements. There are countless examples of injured people requesting insurance company staff or their General Practitioner for assistance in completing these forms. Unfortunately, this approach can lead to errors and omissions which can cost you significant amounts of compensation.

If you would like assistance completing or reviewing your claim forms or medical certificate to ensure that they are accurate, please contact our expert team for a free initial consultation.

• At-Fault or Mostly At-Fault – If you injured in a motorcycle accident but were mostly at-fault or at-fault for your accident, you are entitled to claim up to 52 weeks of treatment, home care and partial income replacement. This includes if there was no other vehicle involved in your accident.


• Threshold Injuries but Not At-Fault – If your injuries are categorised as ‘threshold injuries’ but you are not at-fault for your accident, you are entitled to claim up to 52 weeks of partial income replacement, treatment and home care. The term ‘threshold injury’ is a term defined in NSW motor accident compensation legislation. If you’d like to know more about threshold injuries, please read our FAQ called What is a ‘threshold injury’?


• Non-Threshold Injuries and Not At-Fault – If your injuries are serious and have been categorised as ‘not a threshold injury’ either by the CTP insurer or the Personal Injury Commission, and you were not at-fault for your accident, you may be entitled to claim:


• Partial income replacement.
• Home and personal care
• Treatment
• A lump sum for past and future income loss including superannuation
• A lump sum for pain and suffering

The term ‘minor injury’ was a legislative definition used in the NSW motor accident injuries scheme from 1 December 2017 until 31 March 2023.  From 1 April 2023, the phrase was changed to ‘threshold injury’.  The term ‘threshold injury’ applies to all CTP claims open (past or future) as at 1 April 2023. For more information on threshold injuries, see our FAQ ‘What is a threshold injury?’.

The concept of ‘threshold injury’ is defined in NSW motor accident injuries compensation legislation. People who are categorised as having sustained a ‘threshold injury’ are limited to 52 weeks of benefits.

Generally speaking, threshold injuries are identifiable as follows:

• Physical Injuries – muscular strains, whiplash and soft tissue injuries.
• Psychological Injuries – a diagnosis of adjustment disorder or acute stress disorder.

Due to a combination of complexity and lack of understanding, CTP insurers are known to incorrectly categorise injuries as ‘threshold injuries’. These mistakes can cost injured motorcyclists tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation and benefits.

If your CTP insurer issues a liability determination stating that you have sustained a ‘threshold injury’, you should urgently seek legal advice from Advantage Legal. Our initial consultation is free and can be arranged at a time that suits you.

The NSW motor accident scheme allows injured motorcyclists to challenge almost any formal decision that an insurer makes. Most decisions initially must be sent back to the CTP insurer for an internal review of their decision. If that decision is upheld or altered in a manner which is unsatisfactory, you may challenge the decision in the Personal Injury Commission or in some circumstances, Court.

In most circumstances an internal review needs to be lodged within 28 days. This process can be quite overwhelming without legal representation when you are injured and have no experience dealing with highly trained insurance claims staff. If you’d like assistance with your motorcycle accident dispute, get in touch with our team. We have decades of experience in dealing with claims just like yours.

Motorcyclist compensation entitlements vary considerably depending on whether you were at-fault for the accident and whether your injuries are ‘not threshold injuries’. The concept of ‘threshold injury’ is defined in motor accident compensation legislation. If you’d like to know more about threshold injuries, please read our FAQ called What is a ‘threshold injury’?

Some law firms use generic claim calculators to ‘estimate’ the amount of compensation you are entitled to. At Advantage legal, we believe that every client deserves a personal approach. Compensation should be all about you and your individual circumstances. We’ll spend time with you to learn about you and your accident circumstances. We’ll ask the right questions to maximise your compensation entitlements. Sometimes the smallest detail can result in considerable amounts of additional compensation.

When assessing how much your claim is worth a number of factors can significantly impact its value. This includes your injury type and severity, how much income you were earning before the accident, how long you were partially or totally unable to return to work, whether you are entitled to claim pain and suffering and whether any third party is liable to contribute to your compensation such as a local council or private road works organisation. Our expert motorcycle injury lawyers will examine all of these factors at your initial consultation and provide you with a strategic advice on how best to pursue your compensation claim.

A lump sum compensation claim arising from a motor accident in NSW is known as an Application for Damages Under Common Law. Depending on your personal circumstances a claim usually takes between 2 to 3 years from the date of the accident.

Other factors which can impact the duration of a lump sum compensation claim include the CTP insurer’s attitude towards your injury severity and settlement negotiations, whether you require surgery, the extent of your post-surgery rehabilitation and delays in the dispute resolution process as a consequence of the global pandemic.

Motorcycle compensation claims often involve significant disputes about who caused the accident and who is liable to pay compensation to the injured motorcyclist. In NSW, a motor accident lump sum compensation claim is called an ‘Application for Damages Under Common Law’ and has a number of pre-conditions that must be met before a person is entitled to claim.  In particular, an injured motorcyclist must:

• Not be at-fault for the accident; and
• Not have sustained a ‘threshold injury’

Typically, a motorcycle accident injury claim involves:

• Engaging a law firm to represent you.
• Determining whether you were at-fault for the accident, identifying the CTP insurer for the vehicle who you allege to be at-fault, establishing whether a claim can be made against the Nominal Defendant or investigating whether a third party such as a local council or private road works company is responsible.
• Investigating the circumstances of your accident and considering the NSW Police version of events.
• Considering the version of events of any people who witnessed the accident, or of any dashcam or video surveillance.
• Lodging your claim for compensation on the responsible party.
• Obtaining and considering any factual, medical or economic loss evidence needed to advance your claim.
• Being medically examined by specialist doctors who advise on the extent of your injuries, the impact to your earning capacity and entitlement to pain and suffering based on an injury impairment assessment.
• Attempting to resolve any medical disputes with the CTP insurer in the Personal Injury Commission.
• Attempting to reach a settlement of your claim at a settlement conference with the CTP insurer.
• If a dispute exists regarding a procedural matter or about the amount of compensation you are entitled to, proceeding to the Personal Injury Commission or Court to have the dispute resolved.

There is no mandatory requirement for injured motorcyclists to engage a lawyer. It should be noted however that insurance companies work really hard to resolve compensation claims directly with injured people because they are aware that people who have legal representation obtain significantly greater amounts of compensation. So whilst it is not compulsory to engage a lawyer, failing to do so could ultimately cost you tens or even hundred of thousands of dollars.

Motorcycle claims also tend to involve significant liability issues which inevitably result in complex legal arguments. If such an issue arises in your claim, you will require the assistance of a knowledgeable motorcycle accident lawyer to guide you through the process and represent your interests.

The solicitors at Advantage Legal have decades of experience which includes working in insurance companies, working as Decision Makers to resolve disputes between insurers and injured people and working as motorcycle accident injury lawyers. We can represent you on your motorcycle accident injury claim and ensure that you receive maximum compensation for your injuries.

To obtain confidential advice on your compensation entitlements, contact our team now for a free initial consultation.

Law firms are entitled to charge for their services in any way that is not prohibited by legislation. It is common for NSW personal injury lawyers to offer no-win, no-fee billing arrangements to people injured in motorcycle accidents. For more information on this, please read our FAQ What does No-Win, No-Fee mean?

The most common form of billing arrangements include:

• Hourly rates
• Fixed fee
• Event based / staged based fees

During your initial consultation, you’ll be provided with a document commonly called a ‘cost agreement and disclosure’. Contained within that document will be details of how the law firm proposes to charge for representing you on your motorcycle accident injury claim. Be sure to read and consider this document carefully before signing it.

At Advantage Legal, we believe that transparency surrounding billing arrangements is important. We’ll explain our cost agreement and disclosure to you in detail, answer all of your questions and provide you with updates on our professional fees at any time. Our professional fees and disbursements are only payable at the conclusion of your claim which means there are never any interim payments.

Contact the Advantage Legal team now for representation you can rely on. Your claim is worth more with Advantage Legal.

The phrase ‘no-win, no-fee’ is used in NSW to describe a personal injury compensation law firm acting for an injured person in a compensation claim in circumstances where their professional fees only become due and payable at the successful conclusion of the claim. Injured motorcyclists should be aware however that the terms of no-win, no-fee agreements differ across the legal industry and as such, it is important to read the fine print of any agreement before signing it.

At Advantage Legal our no-win, no-fee promise means that you’ll only pay our professional fees and disbursements at the successful conclusion of your case. The inclusion of disbursements in our no-win, no-fee promise is important as it could save you tens of thousands of dollars. Many law firms do not include disbursements as part of their no-win, no-fee arrangement, so make sure you read the fine print before you sign.

Motorcycle accident injury compensation claims often involve complex liability issues and legal arguments about who is responsible for the accident. The circumstances of your accident and injury severity will determine whether you have the right to claim against insurance policies you hold, against insurance policies held by third parties or against other statutory compensation schemes.

In addition to your rights and entitlements under the NSW motor accident compensation scheme, you may be entitled to compensation or benefits through the following:

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

To obtain a free confidential advice on your compensation entitlements, contact our experienced motorcyclist accident injury lawyers now.

The NSW motor accident scheme allows for injured motorcyclists to pursue a compensation claim against the ‘Nominal Defendant’ in circumstances where the vehicle left the accident scene, is unable to be identified or is uninsured.

There are a number of procedural requirements that must be completed in order to successfully pursue a claim against the Nominal Defendant. If you would like assistance in pursuing such a claim, please contact a senior lawyer at Advantage Legal for a free initial consultation.

The NSW motor accident scheme allows for injured motorcyclists to pursue a claim for injury compensation, even in circumstances where no other vehicle was involved. If you hit an animal or lost control whilst riding your motorcycle and sustained injury, contact a senior member of our team for a free confidential advice.

If you sustained an injury as a result of your motorcycle colliding with a pothole or skidding over loose gravel on the road, you are entitled to bring a claim pursuant to the NSW motor accident scheme. Depending on the circumstances, you may also be entitled to claim compensation against a third-party insurance policy if the pothole or loose gravel existed due to negligence of a local council or private road works organisation.

If you would like a free initial confidential consultation with a senior member of our team, contact us now.

A NSW Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law is a lawyer who has been recognised by the Law Society of NSW as having extensive experience and expertise in the field of personal injury law. This accreditation is achieved by meeting specific criteria, such as completing additional legal education, passing a rigorous assessment process and having a certain number of years of practice in personal injury law. Accredited Specialists are considered leaders in their field, capable of providing technical legal advice and representation to people who have been injured in NSW.

Advantage Legal’s Practice Principals are both senior lawyers and Accredited Specialists in NSW Personal Injury Law.