If a spouse, parent, or someone you're dependent on has passed away in a fatal road accident in Queensland due to the negligence or fault of another party, you may be looking for assistance with claiming for dependency or nervous shock.
This straightforward guide aims to help you understand the intricacies of claiming compensation, including the rights to compensation, common causes of fatal road accidents, an overview of the claims process, frequently asked questions, and time limits for making a claim specific to Queensland.
Smith's Lawyers team of personal injury claim experts offers free initial advice and no-obligation appointments at home, in the hospital, in-office, or via phone. All claims have no upfront costs or risks of being left out of pocket under our No Win, No Fee, No Catch® promise. We operate Queensland-wide.
Fill in the form below to find out if you have a claim.
Understanding Your Rights as a Dependent After a Fatal Road Accident in Queensland
Understanding the compensation claims process after a tragic loss in a fatal motor vehicle accident can be overwhelming. However, you may have the right to a compensation claim if a loved one has passed away in a Queensland road accident due to someone else's negligence.
Dependency Claims
- Who's Eligible: Dependents of the deceased person. A dependant can be a spouse, parent, child, or someone financially reliant on the person who died in the accident.
- What it Covers: Compensation for financial losses and loss of services resulting from the death. This can include loss of financial support, funeral expenses, and loss of household assistance the deceased used to provide.
Nervous Shock Claims
- Who's Eligible: A person who suffered a recognized psychiatric illness due to witnessing the accident or its immediate aftermath. This usually applies to close family members or someone with a close personal relationship with the deceased.
- What it Covers: Compensation for the mental suffering, medical expenses, and potential loss of income due to the psychological injury sustained.
How Claims Work in Queensland
- Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance: Every registered vehicle in Queensland has CTP insurance. This is the primary source of compensation for fatal road accident claims.
- Nominal Defendant: If the at-fault driver is uninsured or unidentified (hit-and-run), claims can be made against the Nominal Defendant, a government body.
A fatal car crash or accident is devasting – especially when you lose a close family member. In Queensland, around 250 people lose their lives each year because of a road accident. There are several reasons these incidents can have catastrophic consequences. These include:
- Speeding: Speeding is a contributing factor in approximately 20 percent of fatal road accidents in Queensland. It reduces the driver's ability to steer safely around curves or objects as well as extending the distance necessary to bring their car to a stop. It also increases the distance a vehicle travels after the driver reacts to a dangerous situation.
- Drunk Driving: Alcohol impairs the ability to drive and operate a vehicle safely, increasing the likelihood of a fatal motor vehicle accident. Specifically, drinking affects the driver's reflexes and decision-making capabilities.
- Reckless Driving: Careless behaviour, such as changing lanes without signalling, ignoring traffic signs, tailgating, and road rage, is also among the leading causes of fatal accidents.
- Inexperience: Young and unseasoned drivers, due to their lack of time on the road and sometimes overconfidence, often find themselves in situations they can't handle, leading to crashes.
- Distraction: With the rise of mobile phones, getting distracted has grown as a significant cause of fatal car accidents. Texting, eating or even changing the radio channel can shift the driver's focus from the road, increasing the potential for accidents.
If one of your loved ones has died on the road, you could be entitled to fatal accident compensation to provide financial support for things like funeral expenses. Speaking to expert personal injury lawyers can help you fully understand your options.
Certain industries and job types are more at risk of fatal car accidents due to the nature of their work, long hours or extensive travel. Some of the most at-risk include:
- Transportation and Delivery Services: In 2020, 19 percent of fatal road accidents in Queensland involved heavy vehicles. Workers who spend an extensive amount of time on the road, increase their chances of involvement in accidents. Inadequate rest and tight delivery schedules can lead to fatigue and loss of concentration, making incidents more likely.
- Construction Industry: Construction workers are often required to drive heavy machinery and vehicles. These come with the potential for serious accidents if the machinery malfunctions or if protocols aren't followed.
- Emergency Services: Police, ambulance personnel and firefighters often drive under high-pressure circumstances with speed, increasing the risk of road accidents.
- Agriculture: Farm workers can be at risk due to heavy machinery usage and rural roads, which can prove fatal (particularly unmarked and damaged roads).
- Mining Industry: This industry involves long hours, shift work and remote locations, all of which can contribute to a heightened risk of fatal car accidents for mine workers.
If you have a loved one or family member who died on the road while at work, you may be able to pursue a wrongful death claim or an action to help you deal with the devasting impact their death will bring. You should speak to personal injury lawyers, like Smith's Lawyers, who can advise you of your options.
After the initial shock of losing your loved one, the fallout of what you may have to deal with can be huge. In particular, coming to terms with the fact the deceased person will no longer be in your life and the financial insecurity that could bring.
- Financial Instability: When a family loses a significant contributor to its income, the burden can be immense. Dependents may suddenly find themselves faced with a struggle to cover daily living costs, let alone unexpected expenses such as funeral costs. The feeling of financial anxiety can be overwhelming, further adding to the trauma.
- Psychological Damage: The grief and trauma of losing a loved one can manifest as psychological scarring or nervous shock, which could lead to a serious psychiatric condition. This emotional turmoil could impair your ability to function in your day-to-day life, affecting your relationships and often complicating the grieving process. It's crucial to recognise this as a tangible and consequential effect of a fatal motor vehicle accident.
A motor vehicle accident can completely upend your life in seconds, whether it was your husband, wife, de facto partner, son, daughter, mother or father in the accident. Depending on the circumstances, the law may consider this in a similar way to a personal injury claim. You should speak to a solicitor who can help you understand your options.
Understanding the Compensation Claims Process
When you're dealing with the aftermath of a fatal car accident involving a family member, understanding how you can claim compensation can feel intimidating. To help you understand the process, we've listed some of the most common steps that you may face. Remember, each process is unique, so your claim could be different.
Below is an outline of the steps involved:
1. Seek Free Initial Legal Advice
The first step is to get in touch with a law firm that specialises in compensation claims for fatal accidents. Such a firm will have the necessary expertise and understanding of the complexities of Queensland law and can confirm your legal options, including eligibility to make a claim.
2. Engage A Personal Injury Lawyer
After an initial phone assessment, the next stage is a no-obligation consultation to explain the process and client agreement in more detail and to gather initial key information relating to the accident to help assess your case and your injury and identify the liable party. The client agreement will also be explained so you can understand the terms under which the fatal accident law operates. Smith’s Lawyers runs all claims risk-free with no upfront costs and our team of compensation lawyers are reliable experts.
3. Gather Evidence To Build Your Case
Once the compensation matter is opened, you will be allocated a fatal accident claims lawyer who will start gathering the required evidence to build a strong case and to determine liability. This may include medical reports, accident reports, witness statements, CCTV or dashcam footage from the victim's accident.
4. File Your Claim
Your personal injury solicitor will lodge a notice of claim and negotiate on your behalf with the liable parties, typically with their insurance companies (or their legal representatives), such as the CTP insurer of the at-fault party for car and road accidents.
5. Negotiate With The At-Fault Party's Insurer
Negotiations with the insurance company aim to reach a fair settlement that covers funeral expenses, pain and suffering, and other damages.
Most cases are settled out of court in a compulsory conference, an office-based meeting involving yourself, your personal injury solicitor and a barrister they have engaged in leading the negotiations along with the legal representatives of the at-fault party's insurer.
In the unlikely event that a settlement cannot be negotiated out of court, proceedings can proceed to court. In most ‘no win, no fee’ agreements, you could be liable for the other side's legal costs if your case is unsuccessful in court. Smith’s Lawyers No Win, No Fee, No Catch® promise protects you from this risk and means you can not be out of pocket.
6. Settlement Payment
If your claim is successful, you will receive a lump-sum tax-free compensation settlement. The amount received will depend on different factors concerning the victim's accident. Legal fees are charged for the work completed only if there is a successful outcome.
Seek legal advice ASAP: Remember, each case is unique, and the process can vary based on the specifics. It's suggested to seek expert legal advice and have your case reviewed by an expert team to guide you in this journey. Smith's Lawyers are experts in personal injury claims and offer a Queensland-wide service with free initial advice to get you started in your claim process.
What Evidence Do I Need to Support My Dependency or Nervous Shock Claim?
If you're proceeding with a fatal road accident claim following the death of a loved one, compiling relevant evidence is essential to build a strong case. Some of the things you might need include:
- Witness Testimonies: If credible, these can serve to substantiate the cause of the accident and events leading up to it. Witness accounts can add weight to your claim by contextualising the incident.
- Proof of Accident: This might include police reports, photographs of the accident and video footage if available. This evidence helps prove the circumstances of the accident match what you're claiming happened.
- Details of Expense: Fatal motor vehicle accidents can leave huge expenses for the deceased's family. This could include hospital bills, therapy costs, funeral expenses and any drop in income due to the loss of the victim's earnings.
- Proof of Dependency: Dependency can be financial or service-based. Bank statements, bills, emails and other written communications can substantiate financial dependency on the deceased. Demonstrating service dependency might involve showing how the deceased usually assisted in home maintenance, driving or other household chores.
- Evidence of Psychological Impact: If making a nervous shock claim, you’ll need to provide medical documentation from a qualified professional diagnosing your condition and linking it to the accident. This might include medical reports, therapy notes or medication scripts.
Remember, there's no need to navigate fatal accident compensation claims alone. If you want to pursue a case, the team at Smith's Lawyers offers a free case review to help you understand your options.
Calculating Your Compensation Amount
When you're looking to bring a claim for either dependency or nervous shock following a fatal road accident in Queensland, it's important to understand how compensation is calculated.
Each claim is unique and the amount you'll receive depends on a variety of factors, including the extent of your dependency on the deceased, the impact of your injuries and other related expenses.
What Does the Compensation Cover?
Compensation payments can help cover a number of different costs and losses following a fatal accident. These include:
- Funeral expenses: Death is a painful event, and planning the funeral of a loved one can be both emotionally and financially draining. Compensation in a dependency claim can help cover the cost of funeral-related expenses.
- Medical expenses: If the victim of the fatal accident was hospitalised before their passing, you might be left with significant medical bills. These can be included in the compensation claim.
- Pain and suffering: Losing a loved one in an accident is a traumatic experience. Your emotional pain and suffering can be compensated, allowing you to seek therapy or counselling if necessary.
- Psychological care: The trauma caused by such an accident can lead to psychological distress for the dependant. Compensation can help cover the cost of professional support.
- Loss of income: If you were financially dependent on the victim, their loss can dramatically impact your lifestyle and ability to make ends meet. Dependency claims can include compensation for the loss of financial support.
Time Limits for Dependency and Nervous Shock Claims in Queensland
Although there is no immediate rush to make a legal claim following the death of a loved one, it's crucial to be aware that strict time limits do apply in Queensland. The general rule is that claims must be made within three years of the accident. However, different circumstances surrounding the accident can influence this.
For work-related accidents in Queensland:
- You have six months to lodge your claim with WorkCover. The six-month period begins whenever the incident takes place.
- You have three years to commence legal proceedings for a common law claim. If the victim's employer or a third party caused or contributed to the death of the victim, this can be run alongside a standard WorkCover claim.
For motor vehicle-related injuries in Queensland:
- You have nine months from the date of the accident to lodge a Notice of Accident Claim Form (known as a 'NOAC') with the Compulsory Third Party Insurer (CTP Insurer). A “reasonable excuse for delay” can be provided outside the nine months but must be within three years of the accident, or you will be barred from making a claim.
- Or, you have one month from when you first consult with a lawyer about the possibility of making a claim to lodge the form. When running a claim with Smith’s Lawyers, your appointed solicitor will help you complete and submit this form. Note: This time limit is the earlier of the two (one month vs nine months), so if you have spoken to a lawyer about your potential claim, you must lodge the NOAC within one month.
- Where the motor vehicle at fault cannot be identified (such as in a hit and run), or the vehicle was unregistered, you have three months from the date of the accident to lodge a Notice of Accident Claim form with the Nominal Defendant. For these claims, if you have missed the three-month period, a reasonable excuse can be provided, but it must be provided within the standard nine-month limit; otherwise, you will be barred from making a claim.
- After the Notice of Claim Form is lodged, you have three years from the date of the accident to start legal proceedings.
These limits can fluctuate based on specific circumstances, such as exceptional delays in discovering the accident.
At Smith's Lawyers, we offer free and no-obligation case reviews to aid you in understanding your legal rights after the death of a loved one. Operating on a No Win, No Fee, No Catch® basis, we aim to provide risk-free legal assistance and advocate for your right to proper compensation.
Are There Any Upfront Costs or Risks?
No; our No Win, No Fee, No Catch® promise at Smith’s Lawyers means there are no upfront costs, and you can never be left out of pocket as a result of the claim. Typically with ‘no win, no fee’ agreements, you could still be liable for the other side's legal costs if your case goes to court and is unsuccessful. In the unlikely event that your case goes to court and you are unsuccessful, we'll cover the costs - so you won't pay a cent to us or anyone else.
Frequently Asked Questions
A car accident compensation specialist aids in steering you through the process of making a claim. Their expertise ensures that you gain compensation for the emotional distress of losing a loved one, time off work, loss of earnings and financial losses due to the accident. They play a crucial role in easing your burden during such a challenging time.
Evidence is vital for any successful car crash claims. An array of substantiating material is helpful, especially expert medical reports that show your loved one died as a result of the accident as well as police reports and photos from the incident. Having strong evidence can greatly increase the likelihood of successful compensation.
Fatal accidents are devastating and can inflict irreparable harm to surviving family members and loved ones. Legal advice helps families navigate through the complicated claim process, ensuring that they are not alone during such a trying period. Legal professionals can guide families in understanding their rights, possible claims and critical steps in the legal proceedings.
Get expert advice today
To check your compensation entitlements, request a free case review with our expert lawyers. We can explain your options to Fatal Car Accident claims so you are clear on your rights during this difficult time.
Fill in the form below to find out if you have a claim.
Disclaimer: This information is designed for general information in relation to Queensland compensation law. It does not constitute legal advice. We strongly recommend you seek legal advice in regards to your specific situation. For help understanding your rights, please call 1800 960 482 or request a free case review to talk to one of our lawyers today.