Green Slips in NSW have become much cheaper relative to the average weekly earnings. According to the State Insurance Regulatory Authority, premiums dropped from 37% in 2017 to 23% in June 2025. At the same time, the report indicates that the average premium increased by $35 or 7% during the year until June 2025. But it is not all there is to it. The determination of the duration of assistance is regulated by a whole set of rules.
There are two main questions in almost any case that CTP injury lawyers Sydney handle: what type of injury is this, and who is mostly responsible for it?
Immediate Support
According to the Green Slips Act 2017 scheme, immediate assistance can be provided no matter if the responsibility is clear. Statutory benefits include the provision of reasonable treatment and weekly payments of lost income. Even the person who is totally or mostly at fault can benefit from such benefits for a period.
Time-limited deadlines are imposed by the legislation. The claim filed within 28 days from the moment of an accident entitles the injured party to make backdated claims starting from the next day after the accident. If it is filed later, but not over three months from the accident, then the claim can be recognised but without the payments of the first days of injury.
Threshold Injury Category
Each injury type is assessed in terms of being classified as a threshold injury. Soft tissue injuries and many types of whiplash injuries belong to this category. Psychological injuries that are not recognised as a mental illness can also be classified as threshold injuries.
Such classification can greatly influence the duration of statutory benefits. Persons with threshold injuries and persons mostly at fault can obtain benefits for up to 52 weeks. Other not-at-fault persons with serious injuries can receive weekly payments during several years.
Classification disputes arise often. For example, a neck injury that initially was categorised as a soft tissue injury can reveal the fact of nerve injury during further scanning. The initial medical evidence can help to challenge such classification.
Common Law Damages and the 10% Rule of Thumb
If you’re not at fault for the crash and have some serious injuries, then you might be able to pursue a damages claim in addition to your statutory benefits. Damages are a completely separate thing from benefits, and they have their own set of rules; they can cover not just future loss of earnings but also all sorts of other things.
When it comes to compensation for pain and suffering, that’s known as non-economic loss, things get a bit tricky. The big requirement is that the injury has to be serious enough to be worth pushing for; this is usually measured by looking at how much the injury has impaired your whole body, and it has to be at least 10%. If it’s any less than that, then you might find that it’s just not worth the hassle, even if you’re going to be living with some lasting symptoms.
The timing rules for damages claims have changed too; for people in crashes from 1 April 2023 onwards, if your injuries aren’t severe enough to meet the threshold, then you no longer have to wait for 20 months before you can even think about lodging a claim. Of course, the rules will still depend on when the crash happened and the nature of your injury, so checking them out as soon as possible really is a good idea.
Keeping Track of the Important Stuff from Day One
When it comes to a CTP claim, it’s really going to be a lot easier to prove your case if you keep a record of what happens in the first few weeks. Developing some simple habits after a crash is going to make a big difference later on.
Medical certificates are especially important because they really help the insurer understand what you’ve been able to or unable to do over time. A steady stream of certificates will also help you get your weekly payments without having to deal with any unnecessary delays.
When You and the Insurer Can’t Agree?
Most of the disputes that happen in CTP claims are about the same few things: whose fault was it, was the injury caused by the crash, how much you earned and whether you meet the threshold for a claim.
Going through these steps is going to take some time, and some of them have very tight time limits, so it’s often a good idea to get some advice from a CTP lawyer to see if it’s even worth pushing on with the dispute.
But really, the simplest thing to do after a crash is also the one thing that people most often put off, which is to lodge your claim as soon as possible. Those first 28 days after a crash tend to fly by, what with dealing with pain and appointments and all the hassle of getting your car sorted.
