After a claim is settled

What happens after a personal injury claim is settled?

When a personal injury claim is settled, you and the insurer will generally enter into a Deed of Settlement.

A Deed of Settlement says that the insurer agrees to pay the settlement amount to you within 30 days. But the total settlement amount is not what you get to take home.

Before the insurer pays, certain costs are deducted from the total settlement amount:

• Statutory refunds: any money you may owe to WorkCover, to cover benefits paid during your rehabilitation process.
• Centrelink: any money you may owe for pension or social security benefits you received while injured.
• Medicare: for any medical treatment benefits you received while injured.
• Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service: for any rehabilitation services you received.

It is important that you identify the amount of these costs well before the settlement negotiation (in addition to calculating the legal, medical and barrister fees payable by you, up to and including the date of settlement). Having a personal injury lawyer handle your claim will take the hassle and headache out of working all of this out. Our injury lawyers will provide you with a clear, transparent breakdown of every cost that is to be deducted and what your final figure will be after all costs. We will fight hard to get you the highest compensation amount, avoiding as many extra costs as we can (including court fees!). 

Without knowing what you owe, there is no way to know how much a settlement offer is really worth – what we call your “back pocket dollars”, or the amount that you get to put in your back pocket after all expenses and refunds are paid.