Negligence and Insurance Litigation Services

Our dedicated team will help you pursue your legal rights, in a supportive environment while we maximise the positive results of any negligence or insurance issue that you may face in:

Be it at work, at home, in a shopping centre, driving your car, out on the town or visiting a doctor, we are all at risk of suffering loss or damage by the conduct, action and/or carelessness of other people, or simply at the hands of uncontrollable forces.

Whatever the case may be we all have legal rights that exist to assist us in dealing with such situations and alleviating some of the pain and suffering.

Here at Consolidated Lawyers, we have a dedicated team of qualified, experienced and friendly staff to assist you in pursing your legal rights and taking the pressure off when dealing with any negligence or insurance issue and large insurance companies.

We strive to deliver to our members maximum results with personal care and superior service!

3.1 Workers’ Compensation Claims

If you are an employee and have sustained an injury either at work or on your way to or from work then you may be eligible to receive workers compensation, regardless of whether there was any fault on the part of your employer.

What you must do:

If you find yourself in this situation you must report the incident to your employer immediately and lodge a Claim Form with the Workers Compensation Insurer within 6 months from the date of injury.

If you find that your employer was uninsured at the time of the incident you will still have rights to compensation under the WorkCover Uninsured Scheme.

What can you Claim?

Depending on the individual claim and the type, nature and severity of the injury, an injured worker may be eligible for all or some of the following payments:

• Weekly benefits
• Medical or related treatment
• Occupation rehabilitation services
• Ambulance service
• Hospital treatment
• Travel expenses to attend appointment for medical and other treatment
• Lump sums for permanent impairment
• Lump sums for pain and suffering
• Vocational re-education and retraining, work aids and equipment, work trials
• When the injury results in the death of the worker, the dependent family members may be eligible for death benefits and/or funeral expenses.
• Damages in the event of negligence on the part of your employer.

It is imperative that you seek legal advice at the earliest opportunity - even before liability has been admitted or denied. This will ensure that you receive your entitlements.

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3.2 Motor Vehicle Accident Claims

If you are a driver, passenger or pedestrian and you find yourself injured as the result of a motor vehicle accident, which was not your fault, then you may be entitled to compensation.

What you must do

• Obtain the complete registration details of the vehicle at fault.
• Report the accident to the Police as soon as possible, and not later than 28 days. Make sure a report is actually lodged and you are provided with an Event Number.
• Lodge an Accident Notification Claim Form with the Comprehensive Third Party (CTP) Insurer within 28 days.
• If your injuries are serious and you are likely to require medical expenses in excess of $500 then proceed directly to lodging a Personal Injury (PI) Claim Form. PI Claim Forms must be lodged with the relevant CTP Insurer within 6 months from the date of accident. We can help you complete these forms.
• Seek legal advice in respect of your rights.

What you can claim

Depending on the individual claim and the type, nature and severity of the injury, and your circumstances, an injured person may be eligible to claim the following:

Economic Loss - compensation for any loss of wages as a result of the motor vehicle accident. It is usually assessed as follows:

• a) From the date of accident to the date of verdict / settlement, and
• b) From the date of verdict / settlement to the resumed date of employment.

The above assessments are commonly referred to as past and future economic loss.

Non-Economic Loss – compensation if you have sustained any physical, psychological, emotional, or psychiatric injury as a result of the motor vehicle accident including pain and suffering, loss of amenities of life, loss of expectation of life and disfigurement. To be awarded compensation, the degree of permanent impairment caused by the motor accident must be greater than 10% whole person impairment.

Out of Pocket Expenses - once liability is accepted, it is the Insurer’s duty to cover the cost of any medical expenses incurred by you as a result of the motor vehicle accident. These need to be reasonable, necessary and properly verified.

Other – you may also be entitled to claim for other payments including domestic assistance, loss of superannuation and future treatment expenses.

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3.3 Hearing Loss / Industrial Deafness Claims

For those of you who work, or have worked in noisy environments, and have found yourself needing to turn the volume on the television set up a few extra notches, then you may be suffering from what is commonly referred to as Industrial Deafness. If this is the case you could potentially have a claim against your current or last “noisy” employer.

At Consolidated Lawyers we have streamlined processes in place to assist you with such claims, ensuring you receive your entitled compensation in the shortest time possible. The process is as a simple. First you have a hearing test - know as an audiogram - and obtain a medical report from an Ear and Throat Specialist. If you demonstrate a hearing loss equivalent to 6% whole person impairment, we then lodge a claim on your behalf with the relevant workers compensation Insurer.

Contact us for a free hearing test (audiogram) or take the opportunity to complete and submit our on line enquiry form and one of our friendly staff members will be in contact with you.

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3.4 Public Liability Claims

If you have sustained injury, loss and damage as result of an incident occurring in a public place, at someone’s house, in a shopping centre, on a building site etc, as result of another person’s negligence, then you may be entitled to seek compensation against that person.

In NSW, such claims are governed by the Civil Liability Act and there have been a lot of changes in this area of law over the last few years. Now you must prove fault before you are eligible for any compensation. The legislation also imposes medical thresholds in respect of claims for pain and suffering.

If fault is established, you will also be entitled to other damages, such as economic loss and treatment expenses.

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3.5 Product Liability Claims

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3.6 Victims’ Compensation Claims

The Victims’ Compensation Scheme in NSW assists victims of violent crime. It is run by Victims Services, who also help victims in other ways, such as providing counselling, support and information. To claim compensation you will need to lodge an application with Victims Services.

The qualified team at Consolidated Lawyers can provide you with sound legal advice as to how to go about bringing such a claim. We have a 99% success rate with such claims and we will make the process as quick and stress free as possible while achieving maximum compensation entitled in your circumstances.

What you must do

• Acts of violence must be reported to the police and a formal police statement lodged. Don’t waste time in doing this, as unexplained delays will affect your claim.
• Lodge a claim form within 2 years otherwise you will become statute barred.
• Maximum amount of compensation payable is $50,000 and there is a minimum threshold amount of $7,500.
• All injuries are compensable in accordance with a Schedule of Injuries prescribed under the legislation.

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3.7 Dust Diseases Claims

Asbestos has caused the death and suffering of thousands of Australians. The terminal cancer, mesothelioma, occurs solely through exposure to asbestos. Other asbestos-related diseases include lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural plaques.

The victims of asbestos-related diseases come from all walks of life. They include miners, builders, carpenters, power workers, shipbuilders, waterside workers, even housewives who washed their husband's dusty clothes, children who played in backyards containing crushed asbestos, visitors to power stations and workers in offices where asbestos was used for acoustic dampening or insulation.

If you have been exposed to asbestos and have been diagnosed with asbestosis, lung cancer, mesothelioma, pleural plaques or another related condition, you may have a claim.

You are entitled to make a claim even if,

• you have since left that employment
• your exposure occurred many decades ago,
• you have worked for many employers,
• you were self-employed or a contractor;
• your employer went out of business years ago ;
• you were a heavy smoker;
• you are not sure where or how your exposure occurred
• your exposure occurred interstate or overseas.

There are various legal avenues available to sufferers in asbestos cases. Generally, compensation claims are made through the courts under common law, when, among other things, it can be proved that exposure to asbestos was the result of negligence by another party.

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3.8 Medical Negligence Claims

Whilst Australia’s medical system is one of the best in the world, sometimes things go wrong. Then it becomes vital for patients and their families to have access to prompt, accurate legal advice in this complex area. If things do go wrong, then a patient or their family may have a right to compensation.

Legal action involving medical negligence claims is always complex and is often vigorously defended by the insurance companies that represent health service providers.

Some examples of situations in which medical negligence claims can arise include:

• Birth trauma
• Delayed diagnosis of cancer
• Nerve damage risks
• Bowel perforation
• Loss of opportunity to terminate a pregnancy

If you believe you are entitled to make a claim, Consolidated Lawyers strongly recommend that you seek legal advice as soon as possible to make sure that you meet statutory time limits and to ensure that your rights and entitlements are fully protected.

The Team at Consolidated Lawyers can help by offering you a no obligation, free first consultation to discuss your circumstances in total confidence. Our professional staff will thoroughly consider your concerns to establish whether your injuries were caused by medical negligence and advise you frankly of the legal options and avenues available to you!

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3.9 Comcare / Veterans Affairs Claims

3.10 Superannuation / Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) Claims

3.11 Professional Negligence Claims; and

3.12 Class Actions.

Class action litigation is an emerging phenomenon within Australia, but has dominated the civil litigation scene in the United States in the last thirty years.

Following the US trend, class action litigation has increasingly become a popular mechanism for the resolution of mass claims in Australia. In recent times, class action claims included compensation claims for losses associated with share holdings, interruptions to gas/ power supplies, asbestos related injuries, contaminated water supplies, various food contamination incidents and contaminated fuel among others. These actions have illustrated how class action litigation will play a major role in shaping the Australian litigation landscape into the future.

Procedures for the prosecution of Class Actions exist at both Federal and State level in Australia.

FEDERAL

The Federal Court scheme is set out Part IVA the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (cth) and commenced in 1992. The Federal Court Scheme is known as an “opt-out” model for representative litigation. This means that, once the proceedings commence, if a member of the group of claimants or Plaintiff’s does not wish to be part of the action they must take the positive steps of opting out of the representative proceedings. If they do not opt out they will be bound by the judgment given in the case. Importantly, with limited exceptions, a person need not consent to be a member of a group of Plaintiffs bringing the representative action.

Some key operational features of the Federal court representative proceedings scheme is as follows:

• The cause of action must have arisen on or after 5 March 1992.
• One or more members of the group of claimants can commence proceedings as the representative of the group. The group must comprise seven (7) or more people with claims against the same person, “in respect of, or arise out of, the same, similar or related circumstances”, with at least one substantial issue of law or fact that is common to the claims.
• Notice must be given to group members of the commencement of representative proceedings.
• The court has a wide discretion to order that a proceeding not continue as a representative proceeding.
• The court has the power to establish sub-groups.
• Representative proceedings cannot be settled or discontinued without the Federal Court’s approval.
• Damages, declarations, injunctions maybe claimed as forms of relief.
• The judgment binds all members other than those who have opted out under the court procedures.

STATE

A second form of representative proceedings, commonly known as the “same interest” procedure, is provided for in rule 6.18 of the Uniform Civil Procedure.

In essence the “same interest” procedure provides that when numerous persons have the same interest in any proceeding, the proceeding may be commenced or continued by or against one or more of the group representing the whole or part of the group. Traditionally, the “same interest” procedure has been narrowly interpreted with courts requiring that the claims of all group members must arise out of the same transaction or series of transactions. However, in recent time’s a more liberal approach has allowed “same interest” representative actions to become as broad as Federal court proceedings.