TAC Compensation for injuries you suffer on public transport
If you are injured in a transport accident in Victoria, you can access assistance from the Transport Accident Commission (TAC). The TAC covers by insurance, all Victorian registered vehicles, which includes trains, trams, and buses.
For the TAC to be liable for your claim, the public transport accident needs to have been directly caused by the driving of the vehicle in which you were travelling as a passenger.
What can I claim?
With an accepted TAC claim you may be entitled to a variety of “No Fault Benefits”, which are paid regardless of whether the accident was your fault or not. These benefits can include:
- reasonable medical treatment and support services you require for as long as they are needed
- loss of wages if you cannot return to work, which is assessed based on your earning immediately prior to the accident; and
- an impairment lump sum benefit, if you are left with a permanent impairment over 10% assessed under AMA medical guides. This is assessed by expert medical examiners for all your injuries suffered in the accident.
For more information on “No Fault Benefits,” read our article about TAC compensation for injuries suffered on public transport.
Further possible entitlements
When your whole person impairment is determined by the TAC, and if the accident was not your fault, you may have a further claim for Common Law damages against the negligent person who caused your injuries.
This further claim for pain and suffering and loss of wages can be made by you, if it is agreed you have suffered a “serious injury”.
Any future claim for medical and support services is unaffected by a successful claim for Common Law damages against the negligent person. The TAC will be liable for your ongoing medical treatment and support services, for as long as they are reasonable and related to your accident.
Serious Injury Application
If all your injuries are assessed as being 30 per cent or more under the AMA medical guides, following an examination by our expert medical examiners, you are automatically considered to have a serious injury and will be able to pursue a Common Law claim.
If your impairment is assessed at less than 30 per cent whole person impairment, you can lodge a Serious Injury application seeking a Serious Injury Certificate from the TAC, claiming that the consequences of your injury meet the legal test of “serious injury”. You can have more than one serious injury, however, you cannot combine more than one injury to satisfy the serious injury test. If the TAC rejects your application, you can then apply to a Judge of the County Court of Victoria for the Serious Injury Certificate. In determining whether you have a serious injury, the TAC or the Court will consider how the injury impacts all aspects of your life, including your ability to work and perform activities of daily living, including your domestic and leisure activities.
To learn more about Serious Injury Applications and Common Law claims, read our article about Negligence on the roads: a guide to common law claims.
Our client’s story
Recently, we were able to assist a client resolve a claim for an impairment lump sum benefit together with a common law claim for pain and suffering damages following a bus accident.
In the accident our client suffered significant injuries when she boarded a bus and fell when the bus commenced moving and jolted suddenly before she had taken her seat.
In many bus and tram accidents where a passenger has not taken their seat and the vehicle moves off after picking up passengers, any passenger that falls may not be able to establish the driving of the vehicle was negligent. We had to obtain evidence that was not the case for our client and this accident.
With our client’s authority we obtained the bus driver’s incident report made on the day of our client’s accident and the police collision report. The driver’s report stated that as his passengers boarded his bus and were taking their seats, he released the foot brake but failed to put the bus into gear. This caused the bus to jolt forward causing our client to fall. Her negligence claim was further assisted when the police attended the accident, and their report stated the driver was at fault. In later discussions with the TAC, they accepted the driver was at fault and that there was nothing that our client could have done to avoid falling and sustaining her injuries.
In the accident our client fell directly on to her hip resulting in a fracture to the top of thigh bone where the leg joins the hip. This injury caused a significant impairment and greatly restricted our client’s domestic, recreational, and social activities.
While our client was able to provide an affidavit about her difficulties, we also needed to obtain medical support from her doctors about why she continued to be impaired by her injuries. The treating doctors accepted our client would have difficulties with her mobility and be unable to live an active and independent retirement. We obtained joint medical reports, which were approved by the TAC, to assess our client’s whole person impairment. This assessment ultimately entitled her to an impairment lump sum benefit.
With a strong claim in negligence, and because we were able to establish the extent of our client’s injury and its permanent consequences on her life, a serious injury application was then made in accordance with the TAC Common Law protocols, and the TAC agreed that our client satisfied the “serious injury” test.
Under the Common Law protocols our client was required to participate in a conference to attempt to resolve the matter before resorting to contested court proceedings. There is an expectation that the TAC is required to make genuine offers to settle matters with injured clients to avoid further legal costs being incurred.
Through this process, we were able to achieve a settlement of $200,000 for pain and suffering damages for our client, without the need for her to proceed through the formal Court process.
If you or someone you know was injured on public transport or in a motor vehicle accident, submit an online enquiry or call (03) 9321 9988 to speak directly to our legal team about your TAC entitlements.
