Compensation for psychological injury after journey claim
If you are injured in a car accident on your way to or from work, you can claim compensation not just for physical but also for psychological injuries.
Journey claims
In this article we explain in more detail how journey claims work in Queensland. If you suffer any type of injury you are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits and potentially a common law damages payout.
Psychological injuries
When it comes to motor vehicle accidents, people often assume that you must have some type of physical injury to get compensated. That’s not so. In many cases people develop severe psychological injuries which limit their ability to return to and function at work.
A psychological injury is any type of illness which is recognised and diagnosed by a psychologist or psychiatrist. For example, Anxiety, Depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Adjustment Disorder and so on.
There is obviously a difference between feeling “nervous” about driving after a car crash and having an injury/illness. To access compensation, the key is that a doctor must actually diagnose an illness or injury.
The diagnosis usually starts with a GP who might make a “provisional” diagnosis. This means the GP refers you to a specialist and until your appointment the GP gives you a temporary diagnosis which WorkCover can use to start paying you benefits.
No difference in entitlements
If you are diagnosed with a psychological condition after a motor vehicle accident, you have the same compensation rights as someone with physical injuries. You may also be eligible to make a common law claim: find out more about this here.
Free book offer: what to expect in your injury claim
Many firms try to rush you to sign up with them without carefully considering your options. We encourage you to first learn about your personal injury claim. You should ask yourself:
- How do you calculate your compensation amount?
- How should you choose your lawyer? Do you just choose by firm name regardless of who is really in charge of your matter? Has your lawyer ever argued a case in court?
- What is a no win – no fee agreement? How much will it cost?
Our book is available to you free of charge. You don’t have to be a client to receive this book. Head to the order page and we will be happy to send you a copy straight away.
25% Cap on legal costs
In all of our personal injury compensation matters, we act on a No Win – No Fee basis. What that means is, there’s no upfront cost to you.
In Queensland, most compensation firms will charge you 50% of your compensation amount – the maximum allowed at law. This is very expensive. Our fee is different. We will cap our fee at 25% . Remember also, these are the maximum fees we will charge. If our fee in your claim is less, then we charge the lesser amount.
Before you engage us, we will provide you a written Disclosure Notice and a Client Service Agreement. These documents set out in detail the service we provide, as well as our fees and outlays. Before you sign anything, you can take these documents home with you, and study them with your family. You can take as long as you need, there is never any pressure from us. If anything in these documents doesn’t make sense to you, we can discuss it with you and you are free to ask another lawyer to give you advice. And remember, no win – no fee agreements come with a 5 day cooling off period for extra peace of mind.
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