REDCLIFFE, Australia - AussieJournal -- In the close to 20 years that I have been representing injured people in accident claims, I have witnessed on countless occasions the difference in behaviour of insurers and claim outcomes achieved between those legally represented in their claims and those who are not. The major CTP Insurers in Queensland have specific claims departments to handle claims by unrepresented persons. Why would that be necessary if those people and their claims were treated the same as those represented by lawyers?

It has been a common occurrence in my career for people to seek their first consultation and advice at a time when the insurer has sought to negotiate with them a final payout, that if accepted, would end their legal rights. On every occasion that a person has first seen me at that point in their claim, the "best and last offer" being made to them by the insurer is an amount which is far less than an assessment of damages in accordance with legal principles would dictate. Sometimes between 10 to 20 times less than it should be. After all, there is no requirement of an insurer in such circumstances to fully inform the injured person of their entitlements and to do the bidding against themselves to ensure a just outcome.

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The MAIC 2018-2019 Annual Report identified that the rate of legal representation with claimants sits at 81.5%. A very general averaging of the legal representation rates within the scheme over the past 5 years would indicate an average rate of 80%. While this sounds like a commendable representation rate, the annual report illustrates that 5,502 claims were lodged within the period from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019. As such more than 1,000 claimants lodging claims within that time are self-represented. A power imbalance over that many scheme users is of a great concern.

To see if working with a lawyer on your personal injury claim may be the best approach, speak to Shane Crew at Crew Legal, https://crewlegal.com.au/.