• This will depend on a range of considerations. You may need a lawyer to help you evaluate each of these considerations and to advise on the strength of any possible claim.
• Firstly you should consider how the accident occurred. If no one was at fault and your injury was a genuine accident then you are unlikely to have a strong claim. Other compensation may still be available. For example if you are injured at work you do not need to prove that someone was in the wrong. You may still be entitled to compensation under workers compensation schemes.
• If your injuries are severe and long lasting this will increase your need for compensation. This is particularly the case if the injury has had a substantial impact on your life. Less serious or fleeting injuries may not warrant the expense or stress of bringing a claim.
• There are some claims involving accidents or incidents that are commonly known to involve negligence. An example would be a car accident where another car has collided with the back of your car or ‘rear ended’ by another car. This would usually result in fault being placed on the person who was driving the car that hit your car.
• Another example would be a work injury where you should have been provided with certain protective equipment such as eye goggles or a high visibility vest to safely do your job.
• You can use our Phone a Lawyer service for a preliminary legal consultation if you think you may need legal advice.

• It is entirely up to you whether you want to engage a lawyer to act for you if you have been injured or to defend a claim if you are being blamed for causing someone’s injury.
• A lawyer can help you decide whether you should make a personal injury claim or advise you on how you can best defend a claim.
• In personal injury claims lawyers often act for people on a ‘no win no fee’ basis. This means that you will not have to pay their legal fees until you have received compensation for your injury. For this reason it is often not too financially stressful to have a lawyer act for you.
• It can also be worthwhile having a lawyer’s assistance because personal injury claims usually end up between an insurance company and the claimant. Making a claim against a large insurance company can be daunting. A lawyer can help you to understand your legal rights, the claim process and keep you informed of your progress.
• Having an expert on your side can also be comforting if you are seriously injured and have lost confidence or unable to represent yourself effectively.

• The first thing you should do is to gather as much information about the circumstances of the accident as you can. This includes:
  • how it happened;
  • where and when it happened;
  • the identity of the injured person;
  • the kind of injury sustained; and
  • anything else relevant to the circumstances of the injury and its nature and extent.
• You will need this information in order to defend any potential claim against you.
• You should then check whether you have a relevant insurance policy that will cover the circumstances of the accident. This will depend on where and how the accident occurred.
• Some insurance policies may cover personal injury claims and pay compensation on your behalf so that you are not personally liable to pay compensation to the claimant.
• If you do have relevant insurance you need to contact your insurer and advise them of the circumstances of the accident. The insurance company will most likely step in and conduct the defence of the claim on your behalf including all investigations and any settlement negotiations or civil litigation.
• If you do not have an insurance policy in place then you will need to defend the claim personally either yourself or by getting a lawyer to act on your behalf. As personal injury claims can be lengthy and expensive it would be recommended to get a lawyer’s advice at least initially because it will help you to consider how you will defend the claim.
• Defending a claim involves proving that you were not at fault or negligent for the claimant’s injury. If you are at fault you need to be in a financial position to pay the claimant’s compensation.
• If you do not have the money to pay compensation the claimant can ultimately seek a court order to deduct money from your income or force you to sell assets in order to pay the amount awarded as damages.
• If you have any concerns you can use our free and anonymous Ask a Lawyer service to get information specific to your situation.

·         Negligence is an essential element of most personal injury claims. Whether you can prove negligence depends on the circumstances of your accident and whether you can produce sufficient evidence to prove that a person was negligent.

·         You must also prove that the injury you sustained was foreseeable in the circumstances.

·         You must also prove that the injury was a result of another person's carelessness, recklessness or fault.

·         If you can prove these two elements then you may have a claim in negligence for your personal injury.

·         An example of obvious negligence would be if you had been walking on the footpath and tripped over a cracked concrete paver in the supermarket car park that had been left over from construction work. It would not be difficult to establish that the owner or occupier of the shopping centre failed to take reasonable care for the safety of patrons visiting the shopping centre or failed to take any action to warn patrons of the danger.

·         Discussion your issue with a lawyer can help you evaluate whether your particular circumstances would form a strong basis for a negligence action or not.

·         You can also find out more in out Negligence & Torts topic.

·         If you decide you need legal advice our Phone a Lawyer service may be able to put you in touch with a lawyer for a preliminary consultation.

• It can take as little as six months or up to several years.
• State and territory law facilitates the fast resolution of claims out of court and insurance companies generally want claims solved quickly so that they do not have potential liabilities lingering over their heads. However in practice it can take a long time for a serious injury to stabilise and for all the evidence to be gathered.
• How long your particular claim will take depends on the nature of your injuries, how serious they are, whether you have enough evidence, how long it takes your injury to stabilise and whether you can justify the amount of compensation you are asking for.
• If there are multiple parties to the claim the process can take longer. Some claim types will also take longer to be resolved or feel like it takes longer because the process involves some pre-damages procedures to be completed before you can actually make a claim. An example is a work injury where you may have to be rehabilitated on a return to work programme and possibly receive workers compensation before you can sue your employer for damages.
• If you are thinking of making a claim our LegalPlan™ membership will allow you to ask lawyers to handle your matter for a Fixed Fee Quote.

• This depends on the circumstances of your injury. More severe injuries usually receive a greater amount of compensation.
• Some states and territories limit the amount of damages you can claim for certain things. You will need to check the legislation in your state or territory.
• Many aspects of damages are open to contest by the respondent. Past and future economic loss is usually the most heavily contested as it is generally less certain than other heads of damage. General pain and suffering damages usually attract the highest award.
• Every claim will be different and each claim needs to be judged on a case-by-case basis. A lawyer can estimate the range of damages you are likely to receive.
• Even though you may claim a large amount of compensation the amount awarded can be significantly less after the claim is finalised.

• Although every claim can and may end up in a court most claims do not. Many claims are settled outside of court during settlement negotiations.
• Whether your claim goes to court will depend on a number of factors. It usually comes down to whether there is a substantial difference of opinion between the parties. If there are disputes about whether there was negligence, whether the accident caused the injury or the amount and types of compensation sought a claim may proceed to court.
• Another reason most claims do not go to court is the extremely high cost. You will usually need a lawyer and a barrister to assist you and their fees are high when it comes to court preparation.

The law in most states and territories encourages settlement to occur prior to a court hearing and often requires that settlement negotiations be attempted before a claimant takes a claim to court.