Public Liability Compensation Townsville

Although each compensation claim varies, a consistent method is applied to calculate the amount of compensation that a person injured in a public place will receive.

This method involves evaluating the following categories for which compensation is payable:

• Pain and suffering
• Loss of wages and superannuation due to their injuries;
• An amount to compensate the injured person for the likelihood of the loss of wages and or superannuation into the future;
• Medical treatment including past and future expenses needed to treat the injury;
• Care and assistance provided by relatives and friends (only in limited cases)
• Legal expenses related to filing the claim (in most cases)

The initial step for claiming compensation for a public place injury is to submit a Notice of Claim with the owner (and generally their public liability insurer).

The Notice of Claim must be in the approved form. It is essential that the details in the Notice of Claim and the technical elements of injury claim (such as the specifics of negligence) are filled out correctly from the beginning.

Incorrectly filing a Notice of Claim and/or providing sufficient detail and technical information can severely impact your compensation claim.

The Respondent, or more typically, their public liability insurer’s lawyer must respond within six months of receiving the completed Notice of Claim. The response should indicate:

• If they acknowledge responsibility for your injury
• If they reject responsibility for your injury
• If they admit to partial responsibility for your injury.

Once the public liability insurer’s response is received, it will be necessary for you to undergo an independent medical examination. One of our panel doctors will conduct this examination to procure a medico-legal report. This report describes the injuries you have and how they affect your work and personal life.

This report contains all the necessary information regarding your claim. This includes financial records, personal details, statements from family, friends, colleagues, and partners, as well as any other relevant information. The document is then shared with the insurance company or lawyer of the person/business you are making the claim against. This sharing process is called disclosure.

Once both sides have undertaken disclosure and all independent medical legal reports are obtained, the compensation claim progresses to a compulsory conference.

At the compulsory conference, you have the opportunity to present your case to the representatives of the Respondent. You can choose to do this on your own, with the help of your legal representatives, or by hiring a Barrister.

The compulsory conference aims to settle your compensation claim without going to court. When you reach an agreement for your claim, a Deed of Settlement is created. Typically, you will receive compensation within 30 days.
If the compulsory conference does not settle your claim, formal legal proceedings will start. Your public liability case then moves forward to a mediation.

A mediation is another gathering similar to a compulsory conference. During mediation, both parties hire a senior Barrister to act as a neutral mediator to help reach a settlement agreement. If a claim is not resolved at mediation, it will go to court and a Judge will decide:

• Whether compensation is payable; and
• How much compensation is payable.

Queensland Law imposes stringent deadlines for filing public place injury compensation claims. Varying deadlines for submitting a Notice of Claim and initiating formal legal proceedings complicate the situation further.

Typically, a Notice of Claim must be submitted to the owner or manager of a public place within 1 month of first consulting a public accident lawyer to represent you in a compensation claim.

You must initiate formal legal proceedings within three years of the accident causing the injury in nearly all cases. Not meeting these deadlines will likely lead to permanently losing the right to seek compensation.

The majority of public liability claims advance to a compulsory conference within 9 to 18 months from the time you engage a Lawyer. In rare circumstances (e.g., where there are multiple respondents or significant injuries) it may take longer to reach this stage.

If settlement is agreed at the compulsory conference, payment is usually received within 30 days.

If settlement cannot be reached at the compulsory conference, mediation or a determination by a judge can take up to 6 months or more.

In almost every case, the Respondent will have public liability insurance. If you have suffered an injury at a public space that is owned or managed by the Respondent, their insurance will cover them for any compensation that is payable to you.

The cost of making a claim for public space compensation varies. This depends on the amount of work needs to be done in respect of your claim and how long it takes you to prepare your claim to be presented to the Respondent’s representatives.

All our public place injury compensation cases are on a no win no fee basis, so you don’t have to pay upfront. This means that you don’t pay anything for your representation or the costs associated with your claim such as medical legal reports and any costs payable to third parties, unless we succeed in obtaining you compensation.

Typically, we can offer our clients a cost estimate on a stage-by-stage basis. The estimate of fees will be provided when we receive the official response from the other party’s representatives confirming their level of liability.

Before any settlement event, such as a conference or mediation, we provide our clients with detailed information about their costs.

Public places include (but are not limited to):

• shopping centres
• hotels
• ferries
• entertainment venues such as theme parks or zoos
• beaches
• public pools
• someone’s house other than your own
• buildings
• parks
• government buildings
• national parks; and
• anyone else’s property.