Can I make a claim for injury sustained in a motorbike accident?
The short answer is yes. Injury sustained in a motorbike accident are provided for under the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017. The same laws apply to the making of a claim for injuries sustained in a motorbike accident as they do to injury sustained in a motor vehicle accident.
If you have been injured in a motorbike accident then there are a number of procedural steps that have to be taken in order to enable a claim to be made. These include:
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Reporting of the accident to the Police as soon as possible.
- Lodgement of an Application for Personal Injury Benefits with the at fault driver’s insurer within 28 days of the accident.
Once the claim has been lodged you will receive from the insurer a claim number which can be utilised for the purpose of seeking medical treatment and to ensure that expenses incurred are covered.
Additionally, you would be entitled to recover weekly benefits (wages) for periods of absence from work. However, it is to be noted that although there is up to 3 months following the date of the accident in which to lodge an Application for Personal Injury Benefits, if the Application is not lodged within 28 days of the accident, then any wage loss entitlements will be paid as from the date of the lodgement of the Application and not from the date of the accident. Accordingly, it is imperative that the Application be lodged with the at fault driver’s insurer as soon as possible and no later than 28 days following the accident.
All claimants have available to them six months of statutory benefits no matter who was at fault for the accident. This would include payment of wages and reimbursement of medical treatment. However, the wages paid are not the entirety of the wages lost. For reasons best known to itself our New South Wales Liberal Government enacted provisions to provide that the injured motorist is only entitled to recover 85% of their pre-accident average weekly earnings for the first 13 weeks of absence from work and then 80% of the pre-accident average weekly earnings up to week 26 following the accident. The insurance company keeps the 15% and 20% respectively of the wages lost as some sort of excess on the claim.
You can thank the New South Wales Liberal Government for this.
The medical treatment paid for by the insurer must be reasonable and necessary. If same is not approved by the insurer then a dispute arises. Treatment plans need to be furnished by your general practitioner who then seeks the approval of the insurer to implement same.
The insurer is also required to make a determination as to whether the injuries sustained are minor or non-minor. Such an assessment is undertaken at 26 weeks after the accident. If the injury is determined to be minor, then the rights and entitlements to wage loss cease but the injured motorist may be entitled to continue to receive medical treatment as reasonable and necessary.
If the injuries sustained are non-minor then the entitlements to continue to receive statutory benefits, including wage loss, continues and the injured motorist may also be entitled to make a lump sum claim for common law damages.
Brydens Lawyers are experts in the prosecution of all motor accident claims. If you have suffered injury in a motorbike or motor vehicle accident, then strict time limits apply to the making of the claim that may be available to you. Contact Brydens Lawyers without delay on 1800 848 848 or at brydens.com.au. At Brydens Lawyers – #WE DO motor accident claims.