What you need to know before you lodge a lump sum claim.

Minor injuries and lump sums.

Many injuries get worse over time, and psychological injuries can take some time to develop.  So if your injuries have been assessed as minor but you believe your condition has worsened or you’ve developed symptoms of psychological injuries, you should consider claiming a lump sum. For example, you may have suffered a minor whiplash injury, but the pain medication you’ve been taking has started to cause you digestive issues, which are regarded as non-minor.

Even if you’ve previously lodged a dispute with the DRS on your personal injury benefits claim, and it was ruled against you, if your injuries are re-classified as non-minor then you can still lodge a lump sum claim.

Please call our free advice line if your injuries have deteriorated and you would like to have them re-assessed.

Future income loss.

Here’s an example of how a future income loss lump sum claim could run.

• Joe was 42 when he injured his back in a car accident that wasn’t his fault.
• He had been working as a carpenter for almost 20 years.
• He had 12 weeks off work for medical treatment and rehabilitation, then could only return to light duties four days a week, because of the back pain brought on by working.
• His average earnings had been $1500 a week.

Firstly, the twelve weeks Joe had off for medical treatment and rehabilitation will be paid to Joe as part of his personal injury benefits at 95% of his pre-accident earnings. So his past lost earnings are:

12 weeks off work @ $1500 per week @ 95% = $17,100.

Joe will be able to claim a further lump sum to cover the reduction in his future earnings capacity.

Based on a retirement age of 68, Joe’s future lost earnings are:

1 day a week x 18 years = $280,800.

Please note that that this is a basic formula and the final calculation is more complicated, indexing Joe’s earnings for inflation and also taking into account the severity of the injury. But we have used this as an example to illustrate the basis of how lost earnings are calculated.

Pain and suffering.

Lump sum payments for pain and suffering are based on a fixed scale that specifies how much you’ll get depending on the injury you’ve sustained. However, in most cases the actual amount you receive will be reduced depending on the extent of your injury, on a sliding “partial” scale.

For example, the scheme provides a substantial payment for the loss of use a limb, so if you’ve suffered a partial loss of use, the payment will be reduced accordingly.

This is where it gets very subjective, and a specialist CTP solicitor will argue your case based on what’s reasonable and get the best outcome for you.

 

The biggest mistake you can make is to submit your own lump sum claim for pain and suffering and simply accept the insurer’s decision – if you do, you’ll almost certainly be a lot worse off than if you have a solicitor arguing your case. Keep in mind that your solicitor’s fees will be paid out of your settlement, so as long as the solicitor caps their fees at a reasonable rate you’ll be better off financially.