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You claim against the CTP insurer of the vehicle that was at fault, identified by its registration. If that vehicle was unregistered or was never identified, the claim goes to the Nominal Defendant instead and the deadlines shorten. If the injuries are catastrophic, the National Injury Insurance Scheme Queensland can fund lifetime treatment and care regardless of fault, alongside a CTP claim.
| Notice of Accident Claim Form to the insurer | Within 9 months of the accident or first symptoms, or 1 month from first instructing a lawyer, whichever is earlier |
|---|---|
| Nominal Defendant, unidentified vehicle | Within 3 months of the accident |
| Insurer confirms whether the claim is compliant | Within 14 days of receiving the notice |
| Insurer decides liability | Within 6 months of a compliant claim |
| Court proceedings must be started | Within 3 years of the accident |
The claim formally starts when a completed Notice of Accident Claim Form reaches the CTP insurer. It asks how the accident happened, who was at fault, what your injuries are, your employment and your earnings. It is signed, and it is the version of events the insurer treats as yours from then on, so it is worth getting right rather than getting in fast.
If it is filed after nine months it must carry a reasonable excuse for the delay. A reasonable excuse is a real explanation, not an apology.
The insurer must tell you within fourteen days whether the notice is compliant, or what is missing. Non-compliance is usually fixable, but it stalls everything behind it, which is why an incomplete form costs weeks.
The insurer then has six months from a compliant claim to say whether it admits liability, admits it in part, or denies it. A partial admission usually signals a contributory negligence argument, that you were partly responsible, which reduces damages by a percentage rather than defeating the claim.
Queensland CTP insurers can fund reasonable and appropriate rehabilitation while the claim is running, and there are statutory obligations to consider it early. This is the part clients most often do not know exists. Getting physiotherapy, specialist review or surgery funded during the claim usually improves both the recovery and the eventual assessment.
Both sides obtain specialist reports. Your injury is then assessed under the Civil Liability Regulation's Injury Scale Value scale, which converts a medical opinion into a number, and that number sets general damages for pain and suffering. Economic loss, care, and future treatment are assessed separately and are usually the larger part of a serious claim.
Before proceedings can start, the parties must hold a compulsory conference. Everything is disclosed, both sides meet, and if it does not settle on the day, sealed mandatory final offers are exchanged. Those offers then carry costs consequences, which is what makes the conference the real pressure point. Most Queensland CTP claims resolve here.
On settlement, statutory refunds are paid first, typically Medicare, Centrelink and any WorkCover or private health refund, and then legal costs and outlays. What remains is yours, tax free. If the claim does not settle, proceedings must be filed within three years of the accident, and a claim can be preserved by starting proceedings even while negotiations continue.
Where claims lose value. Not at the conference. They lose value in the first three months, in the gaps in the medical record, in an unreported symptom, and in a casual answer given to an insurer about how the crash happened. Almost everything that decides the number is set long before anybody argues about it.
Compulsory third party insurance is attached to every registered Queensland vehicle and covers the personal injury that vehicle causes to other people. A CTP claim is a claim for damages against the at-fault driver, paid by the CTP insurer of the vehicle they were driving. It covers injury only, never vehicle damage.
Most claims settle between twelve and twenty four months from lodgement. The process cannot be rushed past two fixed points: the insurer has six months from a compliant claim to decide liability, and a claim should not settle until your injuries have stabilised enough for a specialist to say what the long term outcome is.
Often, yes. Once liability is admitted, or in many cases earlier, the CTP insurer can fund reasonable rehabilitation. Queensland CTP insurers have obligations to consider early rehabilitation even before liability is resolved, and we push for that at the outset rather than at settlement.
Usually yes. The insurer is entitled to have you examined by specialists it nominates, and you are entitled to obtain your own reports. Those reports drive the assessment of your injury under the Civil Liability Regulation scale, so what you say at that appointment matters.
A settlement meeting required by the Motor Accident Insurance Act before anyone can start court proceedings. Both sides exchange all material, meet, and if the claim does not settle, exchange sealed mandatory final offers. Most Queensland CTP claims end at this conference.
Want to know where your claim sits? Call 07 3924 9544 or use the free claim check. We will tell you which step you are at and what has to happen next.