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If you have been hurt in a road accident in Victoria, you are probably curious about how much money you should receive for your injuries and other losses. You probably want to be certain you maximise the compensation you receive.

At Henry Carus + Associates, You Deserve More. That is why our team of experienced injury lawyers work hard to ensure our clients get all the compensation they deserve for injuries suffered in a road accident.

We understand how the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) works – and we know how to obtain maximum payments for the clients we serve. That includes compensation through no-fault benefits and common law lump sum payments, if applicable.

We know how to prepare a claim in anticipation of the TAC’s defensive actions. Instead of getting upset about what the TAC does, we spend our time doing what is necessary for our clients to win.

What Henry Carus + Associates Can Do For You

Here is an example of the difference our efforts can make. We assisted a man who had been hit by an unidentified vehicle. The TAC provided our client with no-fault benefits and issued her a serious injury certificate, but they rejected his common law claim because they said no vehicle had been involved. We gathered all necessary evidence and ran the matter in court and the jury totally accepted our client’s claim. We asked the jury for $550,000 in compensation and they awarded our client $950,000.

Would you like to see what Henry Carus + Associates can do for you? It costs you nothing to find out, and there is no financial risk to working with us because we handle TAC claims on a No Win, No Fee basis. Contact us today.

Compensation for Minor Injuries

Some accident victims are fortunate enough to get by with only relatively minor injuries. If you are one of the lucky ones, you may still wonder how much you can receive from the TAC and whether it is worth it to hire a lawyer to handle your claim.

Firstly, it is important to recognise that many injuries that initially appear to be minor can turn much more serious later on. Many times, in the immediate aftermath of an accident, the adrenaline is pumping so much that you may not realise how seriously you have been hurt. Some potentially life-changing or life-threatening injuries may not show immediate symptoms. For example, traumatic brain injuries, internal bleeding and severe neck and back injuries may not be apparent right after the collision.

The time after a crash is no time to act tough.

Be certain to get a full medical examination as soon as possible and let the doctor know that you were involved in a crash.

Tell the doctor all your symptoms, even the ones that may seem minor to you.

If your injuries do in fact turn out to be minor, you are still entitled to no-fault benefits from the TAC to cover all your reasonable medical expenses for treatment and replacement of lost wages. Because the TAC is a no-fault scheme medical benefits are paid to an injured party regardless of who caused the accident. If you do not require hospitalisation and your injuries are not considered “serious” under the law, you will not be able to lodge a common law claim.

The team at Henry Carus + Associates still wants to speak with you even if you think your injuries were minor. We may be able to help you get more no fault benefit support than you thought you could receive. It costs you nothing to find out how we can help.

Caps on Damages Under TAC

If your road accident caused injuries that are deemed “serious” under the TAC legislation – and another driver was at least partly at fault for your accident – you may be able to recover additional compensation through a common law claim.

In addition to the severity of your injuries, many other factors could affect how much money you receive. For example, your age, your lost earnings and how your injuries affect your profession or lifestyle, among other issues, will likely play a role in your total benefits. The experience and tenacity of your lawyer could also affect the size of your financial recovery.

The TAC does set limits on the amount of benefits that it will pay for certain losses. According to the TAC’s Indexation of benefits schedule, the following caps are applied to common law damages claims as of 1/7/16:

Maximum loss of income, past and future: $1,188,180
Maximum pain/suffering: $528,050
Maximum Death claim: $864,900

There are also limits to the amount of common law compensation you can receive as of 1/7/16:

Maximum Impairment Benefit: $171,670
Maximum weekly loss of earnings: $1,260
Minimum weekly loss of earnings: $618
Maximum weekly loss of earning capacity: $1,070
Minimum weekly loss of earning capacity: $574
Weekly safety net income benefit: $1,260
Post hospital support allowance: $4,920

How Is the Amount of Compensation I Deserve Determined?

The amount of compensation you may be entitled to is assessed by how much the serious injury has affected the quality of various aspects of your life, such as:

Your ability to be without constant pain, either with or without pain medication
Your ability to get a good night’s sleep
Your ability to freely move about as you did before the accident
Your ability to take care of your own personal needs
Your ability to address your domestic duties
Your ability to be take part in your former social and recreational activities
Your ability to take part in exercise programs or sporting activities
The quality of your personal intimate relationships
Your ability to return to your occupation, either part time or full time, or the ability to find any work at all

These are all the consequences to the quality of life of a seriously injured person and to that picture are any disfigurements that have occurred as a result of the injuries or the operations needed to address your injuries. Add to that any psychiatric injury caused by the accident or which develops because of the loss of quality life.

Whether any of these aspects are a part of your claim is a matter for you lawyer to consider and provide you with proper advice. The more each aspect is considered and added to your claim, the more your claim is likely to increase in value.

Compensation With and Without Hiring Lawyers

Navigating your way through the TAC’s claim process can be complex, especially in the wake of what is often a traumatic incident. Although it is possible to lodge a claim with the TAC without the assistance of a lawyer, the complexity of the TAC’s rules, policies and regulations makes it unlikely that you will recover the full benefits that you deserve under the law without legal help.

And that is where Henry Carus + Associates can assist you.

Our team’s experience and the ability of our personal service firm to be across the intricacies of all the areas of the law involved means our practitioners are well placed to get our clients the results they are looking for.

This is in contrast to larger, less personally-oriented law firms, where a client is likely to be transferred from one practice group to another just to manage the complicated matters and without a complete understanding of all the legislation involved. More importantly, we pride ourselves on maintaining a close relationship with the client – an element that larger firms can often lack.

Contact Us Today to Schedule a Free Consultation

Our firm has many years of experience working with the TAC, and we understand what is required to get the results we believe you need.

Contact us now to find out how we can put our experience to work on your behalf to help you get the maximum compensation you need and deserve for your road accident injuries.