Healthy You Feature: Finding right road to recovery

ADVERTORIAL

For the best chance of recovery from a serious workplace or motor vehicle crash injury, it’s important to ensure you can get the treatment and rehabilitation you need without the financial burden.

Crew Legal are personal injury specialists who can pursue a claim on your behalf, taking the stress out of the process and working hard to secure maximum benefits.

Managing Director Shane Crew says an injured person’s rights and entitlements differ, depending on whether the injury occurred in a motor vehicle crash, workplace accident or in a public liability setting.

“The very first step is to seek medical attention, both for recovery but to also make a contemporaneous record of the injury. It is then important that the injured person obtains legal advice in respect of their rights to compensation,” Shane explains.

“For instance, if injured in a motor vehicle or workplace accident, the injured person will likely have an entitlement to have their treatment and rehabilitation paid by either the CTP insurer or WorkCover Queensland as soon as their claim is lodged.

“That takes away the financial burden of having to pay for treatment such as surgery, physiotherapy and counselling at a time when injuries are also preventing a person’s ability to earn an income.

“Given that insurers tend to behave like insurers, it is important for a person to have legal advice regarding their rights and entitlements to ensure that their needs are adequately and appropriately met.”

Shane says for most people, making a claim after a serious injury is a new experience and can be overwhelming.

“These once-off life events can have serious or even catastrophic consequences to a person’s health, welfare and future financial wellbeing,” he says.

“The very purpose of a compensation claim is to place the person in the same financial position they would have been, as best as can be achieved, as if the accident had not occurred.

“To do so, damages are awarded for pain and suffering, past loss of income, future loss of income, need for care and assistance and past and future out of pocket expenses.”

Act quickly

Time limits apply to pursuing injury claims. For a workplace injury, a statutory claim must be lodged within six months of the injury; for motor vehicle accident claims, a Notice of Accident Claim Form must be lodged within nine months; for a public liability claim, a Part 1 Notice of Claim must be served within nine months of the injury.

There is also a general limitation period which applies to all personal injury claims in Queensland. Generally, a Court proceeding must begin within three years of the date of injury.

Shane says about 99 per cent of all claims settle without going to trial, usually within two years of the date of injury.

“It is not necessary to engage a lawyer to act on your behalf. However, insurers including WorkCover Queensland tend to behave like insurers.

“They will leverage every opportunity to try to limit the damages payable to an injured person. We find that when a person is not legally represented, insurers seek to take advantage of that situation and try to resolve claims for a fraction of what a person would be entitled to at law.

“The benefit to retaining a lawyer, to act on your behalf in the matter, is to even up the power imbalance and for the lawyer to advocate strongly on behalf of the injured person to ensure that the result achieved is commensurate to the injuries and loss that has been suffered.”

Shane says there are two key advantages to have legal representation in a claim.

“The first is to relieve the burden placed upon the injured person to administratively deal with the insurer and their representatives regarding the claim. In the immediate period after the accident, a person is generally injured, immobile and unable to handle such matters on their own behalf.

“A lawyer specialising in these matters can prepare all necessary paperwork and liaise with the insurer in an efficient and effective manner.

“The second advantage is to ensure that a just result is achieved in the claim. Data from the Motor Accident Insurance Commission illustrates that self-represented claimants, on average, receive less than 30 per cent of the damages which are recovered on behalf of claimants represented by lawyers.”

Advice is key

Shane says many of the claims his team takes on involve people who have suffered serious workplace or motor vehicle crash injuries.

“These injuries include brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and loss of limb injuries. When these injuries occur, there is a substantial requirement for medical treatment, rehabilitation, personal care and physical aides to be provided to the injured person to assist in their recovery.

“There is nothing more satisfying, to the team at Crew Legal, than to play a part in the injured person recovering as best as they can from such significant injuries.

“We can do this by ensuring all treatment, rehabilitation and other needs are being provided to our injured clients at the cost of the insurer.

“This gives the person the best chance of recovery from injury and being able to meet their financial commitments while they recover.

“The obtaining of lump sum damages at the end of the claim is secondary to the most important aspect which is the rehabilitation phase in the immediate aftermath of the accident.

“Unashamedly, we will seek to recover as much damages as possible for the injured person when the claim finalises. However, the greatest satisfaction we get is seeing people be able to get on with their lives and achieve a quality of life in the future notwithstanding serious injuries because we have assisted them in ensuring their needs were met when they needed it most.”

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