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Car Accident Lawyers Melbourne
A car accident claim in Victoria is made through the Transport Accident Commission rather than against the other driver's insurer.
A TAC claim covers medical treatment, rehabilitation and income support while you recover, with a lump sum available where your injuries turn out to be permanent, and it is open to you whether you were the driver or a passenger and whoever caused the crash.
Recovering from a car accident is difficult. We act on traffic accident claims of every kind, from a minor rear end collision through to injuries that change what you can do for work. Our Melbourne car accident lawyers will carry the claim while you focus on getting better.
Who can claim after a car accident
You can make a TAC claim if you were injured in a car accident in Victoria as a:
- Driver, including where you caused the crash
- Passenger, including where the driver was a friend or family member
- Driver in a single vehicle accident with no one else involved
- Person hit by a driver who did not stop
- Learner or probationary driver
Car accident compensation
- Medical treatment, hospital and specialist costs
- Physiotherapy and rehabilitation
- Income support while you cannot work
- A lump sum if your injuries prove permanent, from 11% whole person impairment
- Pain and suffering and loss of earnings, where another driver caused a serious injury
Most car accident injuries resolve, and those claims cover treatment and time off work without ever reaching a lump sum. The lump sum exists for the ones that don't.
Once your injuries have settled as far as they are going to, independent doctors examine you and put a figure on how much permanent function you have lost. A neck that never fully recovered, a back that still stops you lifting, an injury that changed what work you can do.
That figure is a percentage, and it decides the lump sum: nothing below 11%, and rising steadily above it. The same amounts apply to every traffic accident claim in Victoria, whether you were in a car, on a bike, on a tram or on foot. What differs between claims is the impairment percentage, not the scale.
Where another driver caused a serious injury there is a second, larger claim for pain and suffering and lost earnings, with
its own thresholds and maximums.
The claim itself runs through five stages, from lodging to settlement, and we handle all of them.
Claiming when the crash was your fault
Causing the crash does not take your entitlements away. Medical treatment, rehabilitation and income support do not depend on proving someone else was to blame, so they are available to you whatever happened.
What fault affects is the
common law claim, the larger claim for pain and suffering and loss of earnings. That one needs another person to have contributed. If you were partly responsible, the amount is reduced to reflect your contribution of fault.
Claiming as a passenger
Passengers have the most straightforward claims of anyone in the car. You were not driving, so there is rarely any argument about fault, and your treatment, rehabilitation and income support follow without one. Where a driver caused a serious injury, a further claim for pain and suffering and lost earnings may be available too.
What stops most passengers is not the law. It is that the driver was a friend, a partner or a family member, and claiming feels like turning on them.
It isn't. Your claim runs against the TAC and, where relevant, an insurer. There is no claim against the person who was driving, nothing for them to pay personally, and nothing for them to defend.
Whiplash claims
Whiplash is covered by the TAC in the same way as any road accident injury, and a whiplash compensation claim can cover treatment, physiotherapy and income support if you cannot work.
Whiplash happens when the head is thrown forward and back, usually in a rear end collision. Symptoms often take days to appear: neck pain and stiffness, headaches, pain across the shoulders and upper back, dizziness, and pins and needles in the arms.
Two things to know. A delay in symptoms does not weaken your claim. A gap in your medical records does make things harder, so see a doctor and make sure the accident is recorded as the cause even if you feel able to carry on.
Where symptoms persist after your injuries have stabilised, whiplash can reach the permanent impairment threshold and a lump sum may be available.
Hit and run, and unidentified drivers
You can still claim. The TAC scheme covers people injured by unidentified vehicles, and you do not need a registration number, a name, or any cooperation from the other driver.
Report the accident to police as soon as you are able. If that did not happen at the time, it can usually still be reported afterwards. It is important that you also report it to TAC sooner rather than later so that they can investigate the circumstances.
What to bring to your first consultation
- Any TAC claim number or correspondence
- Medical reports and the names of your treating doctors
- The police report number
- Payslips or evidence of lost income
- Photographs of the vehicles, the scene or your injuries
- Details of any witnesses
- Letters from the other driver's insurer
If you have nothing on paper yet, come anyway.
FAQs
I have already accepted something from the insurer.
Property damage and personal injury are separate. Settling the repair to your car does not settle a claim for your injuries.
It has been eight months and I have done nothing.
You have four left. Lodging now costs nothing and preserves your claim while you find out how serious the injury is.
Do I need a police report?
Generally yes for a TAC claim. If the accident was not reported at the time, it can usually still be reported afterwards.
My symptoms only started days later.
That is normal, particularly with neck and back injuries. See a doctor now and make sure the accident is recorded as the cause.
Your car accident claim is run by Irini Piperoglou or Antonia Gianasmidis, so you are never handed between people or left chasing an update.
We are a women-led firm at 34 Church Street, Abbotsford, in Melbourne's inner east, acting for people across Victoria.
No Win No Fee, which includes finding out whether you have a claim at all. How our no win no fee guarantee works
“After my car accident, I was completely overwhelmed, but Irini and Antonia were there for me every step of the way. They didn’t just handle the legal stuff, they showed genuine care and empathy, making sure I never felt alone in the process. They took all the stress off my shoulders, allowing me to focus on my recovery. Thanks to their hard work, I received the compensation I needed to recover. I can’t thank them enough for their support and for always keeping me informed and at ease during such a tough time”
– Kalliope L.
Your lawyers
Your car accident claim is run by Irini Piperoglou or Antonia Gianasmidis, so you are never handed between people or left chasing an update.
We are a women-led firm at 34 Church Street, Abbotsford, in Melbourne's inner east, acting for people across Victoria.
No Win No Fee,
which includes finding out whether you have a claim at all. How our no win no fee guarantee works
“After my car accident, I was completely overwhelmed, but Irini and Antonia were there for me every step of the way. They didn’t just handle the legal stuff, they showed genuine care and empathy, making sure I never felt alone in the process. They took all the stress off my shoulders, allowing me to focus on my recovery. Thanks to their hard work, I received the compensation I needed to recover. I can’t thank them enough for their support and for always keeping me informed and at ease during such a tough time”
– Kalliope L.
Related Links:
How a TAC claim runs
TAC compensation and payouts
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