What is My Eligibility for Personal Injury Compensation?
If you have not sought injury compensation previously, you will likely question which personal injury claims are eligible for compensation.
Unfortunately, many people are physically or psychologically harmed in accidents annually in Queensland in various situations. Hence, it is common for an experienced compensation lawyer to work on many different types of damage claims for personal injury.
Personal injury law encompasses diverse circumstances for which you could be compensated.
If you have had an accident and want to understand your eligibility, at Splatt Lawyers, it’s free to know your legal rights. Call Now 1800 700 125 or email us >
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Defining Personal Injury Claims
A personal injury claim provides financial compensation to someone harmed by another individual or entity’s negligent action or inaction. The purpose of the lump sum payout is to restore the injured person’s life to where it would be had the injury event not happened.
Personal injury claims can arise from various situations causing physical, psychological, emotional, and financial distress. You may be eligible to claim damages if you or a loved one have suffered a personal injury. This article will explore the types of personal injury claims that may qualify for compensation.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Road accidents occur every day throughout Australia. Motor vehicle accidents frequently happen with:
- Cars
- Motorbikes
- Cyclists
- Trucks
- Buses
- and other types of vehicles
Road accidents resulting in severe harm or injury can occur even to the most skilled motorists, frequently due to the negligence of other road users. Although it is impossible to avoid this risk altogether, you can take several measures to ensure fair compensation for any harm caused by another driver’s care of duty failure.
You can be eligible for personal injury compensation when you have a motor vehicle accident injury. Speaking with an experienced personal injury lawyer is the first step to understanding the extent to which your damages qualify for car accident compensation or a personal injury claim. If this is your situation, we recommend you seek a qualified medical assessment of your injuries and determine if they will affect your daily routine and the possibility of deterioration over time.
Public Place Slip and Fall Accidents
You are entitled to a sense of safety when using a public place such as a store, shopping centre, school playground, supermarket, council footpaths, and more. Owners of public spaces have a legal duty of care for the safety of people using their venue and must take appropriate measures to prevent injuries. If you experience a slip and fall incident caused by the negligent actions or inaction of a proprietor or venue operator, you could be eligible for personal injury compensation or a slip and fall compensation claim.
Injuries from a slip-and-fall accident can have significant and long-lasting effects. People harmed in this way often struggle to maintain their jobs and regular daily routines. If you experience this situation, you must seek expert legal advice from a skilled compensation lawyer regarding personal injury claims for slip and fall accidents.
Workplace Accidents
All workers have the legal right to a safe and healthy working environment where they can complete their job role free from harm. When the unexpected happens, and you have a workplace accident injury, depending on your level of damage, you might be eligible to claim personal injury compensation or workers’ compensation. A WorkCover claim will give you financial benefits for your medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, weekly income, and other damages resulting from the accident.
For workers’ compensation claims, you do not need to prove someone failed their workplace duty of care. However, for a successful work injury common law claim, you must show the following:
- Your employer owed you a duty of care
- The owed duty was breached
- The duty breach was the cause of your physical or psychological injuries.
Faulty Product Accidents
You might be qualified to seek product liability compensation if a defective or faulty product causes an accident that injures you. An injured person can make a product liability claim against the manufacturer or retailer of the device that caused the injury.
To have a successful product liability claim, you must first prove that a defective or faulty product caused the accident. Establishing liability involves showing that the product was not manufactured according to the manufacturer’s specifications or did not meet industry safety standards.
To do this, you will need an experienced product liability lawyer who will investigate the cause of the accident and present evidence to prove negligence or a breach of warranty on behalf of the manufacturer of the products. Additionally, you may need to provide medical records, doctor’s reports, hospital records, and other related documents. These documents will help demonstrate that the accident caused your harm and show the type and extent of your injuries.
Psychological Injuries
Depending on how you acquired your condition, you can be eligible for compensation when you have a psychological injury or mental illness. People can suffer from psychiatric disorders in a wide variety of circumstances, such as:
- One significant triggering event
- Workplace stress
- Bullying and harassment
- Emotional stress associated with a physical injury
- Witnessing a horrific accident or the aftermath
Psychological injury claims require expertise and experience, as the extent of mental illness may not be immediately apparent. To have a successful personal injury claim, you must prove that a negligent act or failure to act caused your mental distress or disorder. Personal injury claims for mental illness are frequently challenging, as the damage is invisible. We recommend you seek legal advice from an experienced lawyer specialising in personal injury compensation.
What is Covered by Personal Injury Compensation
In Australia, several pieces of legislation cover your personal injury compensation entitlements, including the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002. A successful payout will give you financial compensation for the loss your injuries caused. Expect compensation for:
- Your medical expenses and rehab costs
- Future and past lost income and superannuation
- Your emotional and physical suffering
- Lost enjoyment of life
Claim for Lost Earnings
As part of your personal injury compensation, you can claim lost earnings, including wages, bonuses and superannuation. To succeed, you will need proof of a legitimate loss of income. If you are an employee (not self-employed), please get copies of your pay slips for at least six months before your injury. This information will provide clear evidence of your regular income, making it simple to prove your loss.
To assess the value of your lost income, your average salary is calculated based on your previous three months’ net wages. After that, multiply this amount by the amount of time you have been off work.
For complex personal injury claims (usually for severe accidents or multiple injuries) that take several years to settle, you could request compensation for lost pay increases and promotions.
When calculating lost earnings due to personal injury compensation, you should also include any associated costs related to medical treatment. These can include travel and accommodation expenses for any trips necessary for treatments such as physical therapy or surgery, and costs for ongoing rehabilitation sessions. You may also be able to claim expenses for any special equipment or modifications made to your home or vehicle to accommodate your injury.
Self-Employed Lost Earning Claims
Claiming for lost earnings can be more complex for those who are self-employed. First, advise your accountant of your incapacity to work, and your business will have financial problems.
You will need copies of contracts, work schedules, and invoices to prove your loss. These documents and the previous three years’ financial records will form the basis of your net asset loss.
Claiming for Lost Superannuation
In addition to lost wages, you can claim lost superannuation when you suffer a personal injury. You will likely have a significant reduction in super benefits when you have an extended period off work. This calculation considers the reduced future value of your retirement income due to the lost contributions.
Future Lost Earnings
When claiming lost earnings due to personal injury, it is crucial to consider the future consequences of your reduced income. This calculation includes lost superannuation, bonuses, and pay increases you missed because of your injury. A personal injury claim may be able to make up for these losses in future lost wages.
When eligible, your loss schedule will include lost future income and will be sent, along with supporting documents, to the law firm or insurer representing the defendant.
Requesting compensation for lost income is a legitimate aspect of a personal injury lawsuit. Injured persons who provide medical documentation indicating the need for time off work due to injury are eligible to recover any lost earnings resulting from the accident.
What is my claim worth?
Legal Advice for Personal Injury Compensation Eligibility
When you have been injured in an accident that was someone else’s fault, one of your first questions could be – Am I eligible to claim personal injury compensation? It’s simple to be sure of your legal right to restitution. Splatt Lawyers provides a comprehensive personal injury claim review for free. You will know:
- If you have a valid compensation claim
- The types of claims you could make.
- An approximate value of your payout
- Your chance of success
- Some suggested next steps for achieving success.
So, if you have a personal injury claim for a car accident, workplace accident, mental illness, slip and fall accident, product liability, or any other type of case, contact Splatt Lawyers for your free legal claim review. Call 1800 700 125 or email us >