TAC / Motor Vehicle Accident Lawyers

Many times, a person can himself or herself (or someone with them) take steps right at the accident scene to get the evidence they will later need for a compensation claim. The evidence can include

• Get the name and contact details of all witnesses
• Take photos of the accident scene from all angles
• Take photos of the cars involved in the accident

This evidence is likely to be very effective if later on responsibility for the accident is disputed by TAC.

Many times a seriously injured person is in no condition to do any of these activities, and worst, the police attending a serious accident scene are likely to only speak to the other driver involved in an accident. Such a driver is not likely to give a version of the accident that supports the injured person.

It is in those situations that a family member or friend can be so valuable in doing the above steps for the injured person. In doing so, it is important to understand that such evidence may not be necessary at all to have your TAC claim for benefits accepted but instead goes to the role TAC plays in any claim for common law compensation for pain and suffering and loss of earnings and loss of earning capacity. At that time TAC acts for the insurer for the person you say was responsible for your accident. In that role TAC will be acting against you and you need to be ready to prove that the person they insure WAS responsible for your accident.

No matter how the accident has happened, you can make a claim to the TAC by calling their number on 1300 654 329. The TAC will take down your information and give you a claim number. A summary of the information you have provided will be sent out to you for your review. You should carefully confirm the information is accurate.

Two aspects to keep in mind from the outset:

1. The TAC is a government Insurance scheme that has the ability to provide considerable support and becoming more informed of such benefits can be a great aid to you and your family; and
2. The TAC is the insurer of whatever vehicle you may say later was responsible for your accident. Therefore, how you describe how your accident happened may be very important later on.

We therefore recommend that you seek legal advice from the expert TAC lawyers at Henry Carus & Associates as early in the process as you can. Our lawyers will be able to guide you through the claims process and give you advice on the benefits that are available to you.

There is no such thing as contacting our firm too early after your accident.

The law states that you have to make a claim to the TAC within one year of your accident, or if no injury was suffered at the time of the accident, within one year after any injury manifests itself, in order for the claim to be accepted.

The law does give the TAC the ability to accept a late claim if the TAC accepts there is a reasonable explanation for the delay.

However, any claim has to be submitted within three years of the accident or within three years of when any injury first manifests itself. A failure to get it in within the three year period mentioned will lead to a rejection of your claim, and such will be final.

There are considerable risks here for a person involved in a TAC accident in not getting a claim in on time, in that not only will be the person be barred from obtaining no fault benefits, but they will also be barred from any common law compensation.

An extreme example is the stoic person who is injured in an accident caused by someone else, thinks it will pass but with time leads to a very serious injury and looks to file a claim with the TAC now more than 3 years post-accident, and finds the claim is rejected. That person has now lost out on benefits including compensation for pain & suffering and loss of income.

We, therefore, recommend you contact our firm to ensure you file your TAC claim when needed and more importantly, within the timeframe provided by the legislation.

The TAC lawyers at Henry Carus + Associates will be there every step of the way as you pursue a common law compensation claim against the TAC after you have been involved in an accident due to the fault of another party.

Through a TAC common law claim, you can seek compensation for your pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, and your financial losses due to the injuries you suffered. The maximum amount of compensation you can receive in a TAC common law claim is $1,419,240.00.

How one evaluates the amount a person should receive depends on 2 separate factors:

1. Who is responsible for your accident – someone else alone or does the injured person share in responsibility and if yes, to what extent; and
2. The overall consequences of the injuries on the quality of someone’s life. Time is quite often essential in ascertaining the overall consequences.

With the first point in mind, we believe the first and sometimes most crucial step is to carefully review the circumstances of your accident, and ensure whatever evidence that may be needed later on to prove who is responsible for your accident is obtained and preserved ASAP.

After such evidence is at hand, we allow our client’s to recover to the best level they can in order to ascertain what the long term consequences of the injury or injuries to the quality of someone’s life will be. In our experience many consequences are not fully known until years after the accident has occurred, as one injured part of the body can affect many other parts.

We know of firms that pride themselves with the speed in which they settle matters for seriously injured persons, but in our experience that only aids an insurance company and in this situation, the TAC.

Our firm is not focused on speed, or on systems and protocols for fast-tracking your common law compensation claim. We are focused on YOU, your claim and how it impacts your life and that of your family.

It is that FOCUS that helps us seek the maximum compensation for our clients.

There are 2 different aspects to the TAC.

1. It deals only with the personal injury aspect of a transport accident, and does not address at all any property damage to a motor vehicle. To receive assistance for any damaged property in a motor vehicle accident in Victoria, you will need to deal with your own car insurance or with the insurance company for another vehicle who may be responsible for your accident.
2. The scope of benefits available provided on a no fault basis is limited, either; whether they are provided at all; or provided in part or for a limited time frame. What is and is not covered and for how long can be complicated to understand from the reading of the legislation itself.

The TAC goes to great lengths to publish on its website the benefits available and the policies it has created to deal with the benefits. Such details are of great benefit to most individuals, but you start with having to be internet literate to go through the website and understand what is being offered.

In addition, the policies created by the TAC are not law, but only how they believe the legislation should be interpreted or how to apply the many decisions that have been interpreted by the legislation. It remains open to any person to challenge a policy if such is not how they believe the legislation should be applied to them in any particular circumstance.

It is with this second area of law that our firm regularly comes to the assistance of our clients, to ensure all needed benefits are obtained.

The TAC does not generally operate outside of Victoria. However, there are accidents that occur outside of Victoria that are covered by the TAC for benefits if the vehicle you are in was registered in Victoria.

There are also a few other ways the TAC legislation can apply to an out of state accident, and best to consult with our team of lawyers should you need such advice.

In addition, any person injured in Victoria in a transport accident is covered, even if the person is a visitor to the state.

The TAC is located in Geelong, Victoria.

Everyone who registers a motor vehicle directly funds the TAC. As one registers a vehicle in Victoria, on the registration payment will be an amount for TAC insurance. The payments provide a common fund administered by TAC. All Victorians benefit by having the coverage provided by the legislation available to them whenever injured in a transport accident. As a community, we, as Victorians, are covering ourselves if we are involved in an accident through our TAC contributions.

You can be covered for injuries suffered in a transport accident, even if you have never registered a car.

In addition, as the TAC is in part an insurance company, it provides indemnity cover to owners and drivers whenever a person is injured even by the use of a motor vehicle, which is a wider level of coverage than a transport accident. How that can be of benefit to an injured person can be explained by one of our TAC lawyers.

Our firm has adopted a unique approach to those seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents.

Most firms seem focused on processes to move claims along quickly without much consideration of how the accident injuries truly affect the quality of someone’s life and thereby, the amount of compensation an injured person deserves.

Our firm does not engage in such processes that focus more on speed than an outcome.

We understand that a serious injury will have a life-changing impact on a person and his or her family, and you can only seek common law compensation ONCE. That one time has to be carefully considered and extensive efforts made to maximise the compensation paid to the injured person.

We believe our practice lead to greater levels of compensation to the injured person.

We say YOU DESERVE MORE, and we use that expression to drive ourselves to seek for an injured person the best possible outcome in any claim against the TAC.