Tell us what happened, and what the insurer has said
Start with the injury and where the claim has got to. If the insurer has sent you anything in writing, about liability, about weekly payments or about treatment, say so and give the date on it, because a written decision is usually the thing with a period running against it. A claim number, your most recent certificate of capacity and the names of the practitioners treating you cover most of the rest. A short summary is enough to begin.
Please do not send detail about your matter before a conflict check. A short summary is enough to arrange a first conversation.
What the injury is and roughly when it happened, when you told your employer, and whether a claim has been made. If you have a claim number, include it. If the insurer has written to you, the date on the letter and what it decided matter more than anything else you could send. Say whether payments are still being made and whether that has changed recently, and whether you are working at all, including on reduced hours or on suitable duties.
Time limits in this scheme are real, they are short, and they are not all the same. Notifying an injury, making a claim, disputing a decision and moving from one part of the scheme to another each run on their own period, and which one applies to you depends on the kind of claim, on the injury and on the document you were given. Confirm the period that applies to you before you rely on it. The period that binds you is the one in the material the insurer sent you and in the legislation behind it. Bring the document and the dates and have them read by someone who can see them.
Disputes about an insurer’s decision under the NSW workers compensation scheme are dealt with by the Personal Injury Commission of New South Wales, rather than by a court in the first instance. The Commission separates workers compensation matters into different pathways, including legal disputes, medical disputes, expedited assessments and work injury damages disputes, and it publishes how each one runs. Working out which of those your problem actually is changes what has to happen next, and it is usually the first useful thing to establish.
The scheme is regulated by the State Insurance Regulatory Authority, which publishes the claims material, the standards insurers work to and the forms, including the certificate of capacity. icare NSW provides insurance and care services in New South Wales and is where a great many workers insurance claims are lodged and managed. Neither of them acts for you, and reading them is not the same as advice about your own claim, but both are worth reading before anyone offers you a view about it.
An enquiry is read before anything is said about your matter, and a conflict check is run before a matter can be accepted. Sending one does not by itself make anyone here your lawyer. Please hold back your medical records and the full claim file until they are asked for. A few sentences and the dates are enough to work out whether there is something to talk about, and an early document sent to the wrong place is difficult to take back.
Only what is needed to answer the enquiry is asked for, and the detail of the injury is left for a conversation. Personal information is handled under the Australian Privacy Principles, which the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner sets out in full. Our privacy policy explains how they apply to this site.
Many workers compensation claims are resolved with the insurer without a lawyer, and free help exists in New South Wales for the ones that are not. LawAccess NSW, a free information service run by Legal Aid NSW, can be contacted directly and does not depend on anyone here. The NSW courts also list the free services available to people without a lawyer, including community legal centres and the Law Society of NSW pro bono scheme, at courts.nsw.gov.au. If a date on one of your documents is close, use them rather than wait on anything.
Legal services on this website are provided by Jameson Law. Its published telephone number and email address are on this page and in the footer of every page.