NSW Accident Due to Negligence Causing Grievous Injuries - What to Do?

[Frances Singh]

My husband was knocked off his scooter while waiting at an intersection to turn right by a vehicle cutting across into the road space he held, and as a result, he suffered serious lower leg injuries due to this other persons negligence.

As a result, when the police arrived on the scene they failed to check the back of my husbands drivers licence; for if they had, they would have seen that the accident occurred just outside of the block of apartments in which we live and unfortunately, they didn't and my husband's scooter was towed away to a holding yard some 15 km's away. Since this day, nearly eight weeks ago, my husband is unable to work because of the injuries he suffered and is pursuing a claim through the CTP insurance of the other vehicle.

The driver of the other vehicle driver we found out has told lies to his insurers as well as the police as to the events of how the accident occurred. Luckily for my husband, the police have confirmed that there are two independent witnesses that saw the accident occur; that my husband was indeed not at fault.

We are hoping that this driver will be eventually charged with negligent driving causing grievous bodily harm; however, this all takes time to be processed as the police collect evidence against the driver and present it to the police prosecutor.

This lull leaves us in a total dilemma regarding the bike and the fees it has incurred and which are increasing daily: we have little income from my pay but not enough to cover theses costs.

My question therefore is, should we send a letter of demand to the individual as we are being told insurance companies will not cover any property damage in a case like this, or should we go after the police and sue them for not correctly checking the licence in the first place and creating this situation?

I have spoken to the towing company and they are unrepentant in regards to getting the money they say we owe them and that we are responsible.

I need some guidance on how I can get this resolved when an insurance company has yet to confirm that indeed their client is at fault and, therefore, liable for this mess.

Since my husband had his car accident, we have received no other income from any other means and are surviving on my wages of 4740 per week.

Thank you for taking the time to consider replying to this post for legal help.

Kind regards .

 

[Sophea]

I gather your question is - how do you recover your loss resulting from the property damage to the scooter, which obviously isn't covered by CTP insurance. Whilst you might be annoyed at the fact that the normal Police process is to send vehicles to the closest holding yard which happens to be some distance from your house, you can't sue them for doing their job. You can insist that they do their best to get every written off vehicle they come across to the most convenient location for the owner. More serious issues would never get dealt with.

The party responsible for your loss at law is the person who crashed into your husband and they can be sued for the property damage you incur. This includes any damage to the scooter, whether or not its a write off, holding fees, towing fees etc. Yes I would start by sending them a letter of demand for the total you are claiming. If they don't respond, you may need to institute legal proceedings however you will be better off once you have evidence of fault which should be able to be obtained through the CTP proceedings. So there still may be some delay. Do you have insurance for the scooter that you can claim on?

 

[Complex16]

Has he lodged a Workers' Compensation Journey claim?

 

[Complex16]

And yes, most definitely issue a letter of demand to the driver of the other vehicle for the damage to your scooter. Or better yet, lodge a claim with your own insurer of the scooter and have them subrogate on your behalf. Assuming you have insurance of course?

Sorry to hear that your husband sustained such awful injuries btw. Might be different in NSW but years ago I was injured as a passenger in a vehicle on my way to work. The Workers' Compensation insurer paid me by weekly benefits whilst I was off work and then the CTP insurer paid me a lump sum benefit looooong after that for pain and suffering etc. I think your husband should be looking at other avenues?

 

[larrylarry]

When did the accident happen? If it’s after 1 December 2017 you can apply for statutory benefits once you have lodged the claim form with the relevant CTP insurer. As for property damage, issue a letter of demand with time limit to respond. Without response commence local court proceedings against the other driver.