Congratulations to Alice

Congratulations to our newest employee, Alice Davis who has been admitted as a solicitor today.

After completing her placement with Burke, Elphick and Mead Lawyers in 2009, Alice continued clerking with the firm on a casual basis until she joined the team full time in early 2010.
Alice will now be working with Emma Mead and the Personal Injury Team.

When do I have to lodge a claim for compensation?—Time Limits

The Motor Accidents Compensation Act, 1999 is clear that claims for compensation for personal injuries suffered in a car accident (when it is not your fault or not completely your fault) are to be lodged against the Compulsory Third Party insurer (the Green Slip insurer) of the car at fault within six months of the date of the accident.
Beforehand, there is also the added requirement of reporting a car accident (where someone has been injured) to the Police. The Police need to be notified within 28 days of the accident.

In some instances, the Police will not come to the scene of the accident when there has been limited damage to the cars, the cars are driveable and people have suffered only minor injuries. Of course, when there is a major accident/collision and people have suffered significant injuries, the Police will attend. In some cases, the Police arrive after the ambulance and the injured person has been taken to hospital. Nevertheless, the Police will take a statement from you.

The next step is lodging the Claim Form against the insurer of the car at fault. An Accident Notification Form is a form that can be lodged within 28 days of the accident and within 10 days of the insurer receiving it, they must make a provisional determination on liability (and there is a presumption that if you are a pedestrian or a passenger liability will be admitted).

The advantage of lodging the Accident Notification Form (ANF) is that your medical expenses are paid almost immediately. There is however a cap that medical expenses and wage loss is paid up to $5,000.00. It is then that the longer form Claim Form is needed, and that Claim Form must be lodged within six months of the date of the accident.

Once that Claim Form is lodged the insurance company has three months to investigate the circumstances of the accident and make a decision on liability. During that time the insurance company will obtain a Police Report (and send you or your lawyer a copy) and interview their own driver, witnesses and may want to take a statement from you.

If you do not have a lawyer, the insurance company will approach you directly, but if you have a lawyer, your lawyer will be in a position to give you advice whether you should or should not give a statement to the insurance company.

Once your claim is accepted, the insurance company will pay your reasonable medical expenses on an as-incurred basis and, in claims of financial hardship, pay wage loss.

Most claims can be resolved in 18 to 24 months, but claims involving children and catastrophic injuries including paralysis and brain injury can take longer.

There is a three-year time limit to commence Court proceedings, but not an automatic right to go to Court when the insurance company accepts liability for your claim.

In all instances, we recommend that you obtain legal advice, as the time limits are strict and claims out of time can be rejected, meaning you miss out on getting your medical expenses, rehabilitation and wage loss paid. The important thing is getting you back on your feet and back to your old life and back to work.

Emma Mead is our Personal Injury Specialist who can assist with your compensation enquiries. She is based at the Newcastle office of Burke, Elphick and Mead Lawyers.

DISCLAIMER

These articles were published with the express permission of Burke Elphick & Mead Lawyers. The information was correct at the time of publication, but personal injury laws are subject to legislation change from time to time and it is recommended that you contact Burke Elphick & Mead should you have any specific questions relating to any of the topics above.

Our Lawyers Merridy Elphick, Emma Mead, Michael Burke, Maria Walz, Ashley Bithrey, Ana Grguic and Kara Greiner also offer assistance in a number of areas, including Family Law, Personal Injury, Insurance or Compensation, Commercial Transactions or Contracts, Wills, Estates, and Powers of Attorney or Buying and Selling a Home or Business.
Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

Can I claim compensation if I don’t know who the owner or the driver is who caused my car accident?

Yes, but there are rules to making a claim against an unknown or unidentified driver, who is known as the “Nominal Defendant”.

If you were involved in a car accident and have been injured, whether you were a pedestrian, passenger or driver, and the unknown driver or Nominal Defendant is at fault, you can still make a claim.

The same time limits apply and the same notice provisions apply. The accident must still be reported to the Police within 28 days of the accident.

Secondly, the Claim Form is lodged against the Motor Accidents Authority, who will then refer your claim to one of the Compulsory Third Party insurers, who will take on the claim as if that insurer was the insurance company of the unknown driver.

Due Search and Enquiry
You must be able to show that you have taken all reasonable steps to find out who the driver is. This is called due search and enquiry. The Motor Accidents Compensation Act, 1999 is clear that the Claimant (that is, the injured person) must do everything reasonable to try and find out the identity of the car and/or the driver involved. These things should also be done as soon as possible, and especially before “the scent goes cold”.

Such things that you would need to do include:
• Contact any witnesses to the accident;
• Go back to the scene of the accident and doorknock on businesses or houses to see if anybody witnessed the accident.
• Put an ad in the local paper and/or regional paper in the Public Notices section asking for anyone who witnessed the accident to come forward and contact you with any details.

In some instances, doing these things may not be practical, as you may have suffered serious injuries and are in hospital for a great length of time. If someone can make the enquiries on your behalf, that is reasonable.

Importantly, reporting your accident to the Police means that the Police can take any steps they believe are necessary to try and track down the driver at fault.

In doing these things, you protect your right to bring your claim for compensation for your medical expenses, wage loss, pain and suffering and care (if you qualify) when the driver cannot be identified.

If you feel you would like to discuss your options please contact Emma Mead who is our Personal Injury Specialist based in the Newcaslte Office of Burke Elphick and Mead Lawyers.

DISCLAIMER

These articles were published with the express permission of Burke Elphick & Mead Lawyers. The information was correct at the time of publication, but personal injury laws are subject to legislation change from time to time and it is recommended that you contact Burke Elphick & Mead should you have any specific questions relating to any of the topics above.

The culture at Burke Elphick & Mead™ is what sets us apart from other firms. We are a close-knit team of committed lawyers, who are passionate about people and their rights. Our clients have access to professionals with experience and expertise across most facets of the law, including. Business and Commercial Law, Family Law, Criminal La, Civil Law, Wills & Estates, Conveyancing, Motor Vehicle Claims, Accident and Insurance Claims, Compensation Claims, Workers Compensation Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact our office

Release of Family Law Reviews

The Attorney General has recently released key reports examining the operation of the family law system and how the Family Courts deal with cases involving family violence.

For the full report follow this link to the Attorney General for Australia website
http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/www/ministers/mcclelland.nsf/Page/MediaReleases_2010_FirstQuarter_28January2010-ReleaseofFamilyLawReviews

If you have a family law matter, Merridy Elphick and Ashley Bithrey are our family lawyers working at the Newcastle office of Burke Elphick and Mead Lawyers.

Burke, Elphick and Mead Lawyers deliver a large range of legal services including business and commerical law, family law, criminal and traffic law, employement, wills and estates, commensation, motor vehicle and insurance law.
Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

Family laws could put kids in danger Article

This was an interesting article on the ABC website http://www.abc.net.au/

Family laws could put kids in danger

By Online political correspondent Emma Rodgers

The reluctance of some parents to report domestic violence in bitter custody battles could mean some children are returning to violent homes, Attorney-General Robert McClelland says. A report commissioned by the Federal Government into family and shared parenting laws says several barriers prevent parents raising allegations of violence in the home, for fear they could be seen by the courts as uncooperative.

Disincentives to report violence include a financial penalty if the allegations are not proved and the potential for a parent to be deemed "unfriendly" by the court. When asked on AM today if the disincentives meant children could be at risk of being exposed to further danger, Attorney-General Robert McClelland replied: "The answer to that is, potentially, and it needs to be addressed." "There has been a fear reported that the allegations of violence may not be raised in the apprehension that the court may say, 'You're not being a cooperative parent'."

The review has also found that the shared parenting laws have been misinterpreted, and were never meant to give a 50-50 custody split to each parent. The review's findings are likely to anger some fathers' rights groups who have previously complained that fathers do not get awarded enough time with their children in custody decisions. But Mr McClelland says the laws are about the rights of the child, not the parents' desires. "It's not for Parliament or any interest group to declare presumptions as to what is in the best interests of each and every child," he said.  "While the Parliament has and continues to reflect the community desire that there be shared parental responsibility, at the end of the day it is for judges and magistrates to decide."

The Government is now considering its response to the review, but may not go as far as to make legislative changes to the shared parenting laws. "The Family Law Council suggested an education program may be adequate, and certainly the reports themselves highlight what the correct law is. The correct law ... isn't that the court presumes that there will be a sharing of time. Getting that message out will be first and foremost," Mr McClelland said. 

The review found that while most of the parents involved in shared parenting arrangements were happy with the way they were working, there were concerns for those who were at risk of ongoing violence.  It also found that the family law system has "some way to go" in effectively responding to allegations of violence.

Merridy Elphick is our Family Lawyer working out of the Newcaslte Office of Burke Elphick and Mead Lawyers.

Burke, Elphick and Mead Lawyers deliver a large range of legal services including business and commercial law, family law, criminal law, traffic law, employment law, wills and estates, compensation law, motor vehicle and insurance law.

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact our office

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

With Christmas officially 1 week away, Merridy, Michael, Emma and the staff would like to wish all our Clients, Business Associates and Collegues and very safe and Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Our office will be closed from 12.00 noon on Thursday, 24 December 2009
and re open on 8:30am Monday, 4 January 2010.

Burke, Elphick and Mead lawyers deliver a large range of legal services including business and commercial law, family law, criminal, traffic, employment, wills and estates, compensation, motor vehicle and insurance

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact our office

Graffiti Control Act 2009

On 30 November 2009 the Graffiti Control Act 2009 commenced, however, not all parts of the Act commenced on that date. The provisions concerning community clean up orders will commence at a later date.
In a recent media release the Government announced that the objects of the new Act are:

• to create new offences relating to the supply of spray paint cans to children and the possession of spray paint cans by children,
• to increase the penalties for certain existing graffiti offences, and
• to introduce a scheme of community clean up orders, under which an offender fined for a graffiti offence can be directed by a court to perform community clean up work in order to satisfy the fine;
• to enable certain local council employees to issue penalty notices for certain offences under the principal Act,
• to give rail safety officers the power to direct a person to state the person’s name and address if the officer finds a person committing an offence against the principal Act, or reasonably suspects the person has committed an offence against the Graffiti Control Act

If you have been charged with an offence under this act or you have been the victim of property damage by graffiti then do not hesitate to contact our office to discuss your options with Michael Burke or Maria Walz of our Criminal Law Team

The culture at Burke Elphick and Mead™ Lawyers is what sets us apart from other firms. We are a close-knit team of committed lawyers, who are passionate about people and their rights. Our clients have access to professionals with experience and expertise across most facets of the law, including. Business and Commercial Law, Family Law, Criminal Law, Civil Law, Wills and Estates, Conveyancing, Motor Vehicle Claims, Accident and Insurance Claims, Compensation Claims, Workers Compensation.
Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact our office