Frequently asked questions about
Qld Compulsory Third Party (CTP)

Yes, the difference between CTP Insurance and other kinds of car insurance, such as Comprehensive Car Insurance, lies in the coverage.

Your CTP insurance payment is included in the cost of your motor vehicle registration.

As an insurer, Suncorp has an obligation to ensure that we have specific information and forms required to proceed with your claim.

These forms include a Medical Certificate, a Claim form as well as confirmation that the accident was reported to the Police. 

To progress your claim quickly, these forms need to be accurate and complete. The most common issues that we see are:

• the Medical Certificate is not provided or isn't completed sufficiently
• the Claim Form hasn't been signed.

Speak to our CTP Claims Concierge team on 13 11 60 and we can help you complete the Claim Form.

All motor vehicle accidents that cause injuries need to be reported to the Police.

You can report your accident to the Police in a number of ways:

• The Police can attend the accident scene.
• You can attend your local Police station and make a report.
• You may complete the Report of Traffic Incident to Police form and submit it at or to any Police station.
  
  

Signing a Claim Form is important as it lets us know that you want to make a claim and ensures the information provided is accurate. It also allows us the authority to gather information in order to assess and settle your claim.

You can sign your form by:

• Printing and signing the form. This can be emailed to us via qldctpclaims@suncorp.com.au, or sent via post to GPO Box 1453, BRISBANE, QLD 4001.
• Completing the DocuSign process. Please contact our office on 13 11 60 to arrange for this. 

You can also lodge your claim online with us.

Suncorp Online Lodgement Claim Form

If you have any queries, please contact our CTP Claims Concierge on 13 11 60 for assistance.

The Medical Certificate is where your doctor describes your injuries from the motor vehicle accident. It also allows them to recommend treatment and advise how much time off work you may need.

You are able to get medical certificates from:

• any GP that has seen you
• any hospital that you have attended 
• any treating medical specialist that has assessed you, or
• any treating allied health professional (e.g., physiotherapist, chiropractor, psychologist etc.)

If you tell us the name of your doctor, we can send the certificate to them to complete. We can also arrange for a Telehealth consultation between you and your GP to complete the certificate.

Your claim should be lodged within nine months after the motor vehicle crash, but you should lodge your claim as soon as possible to begin treatment and rehabilitation if required.

Please call us on 13 11 60 and we’ll help you lodge your claim as quickly as possible.

Making a claim can seem daunting. Thankfully, our local CTP Claims Customer Concierge is here to provide guidance and support. We can help identify the insurer of the vehicle at fault, assist you in completing the claim form, and immediately lodge the claim with you.

Once you’ve lodged your claim, we will:

• allocate your claim to an experienced CTP Claims Manager.
• call you within 1 business day.
• investigate the accident to understand exactly what happened.
• determine who is liable as soon as possible.
• support your rehabilitation and treatment needs and make arrangements to cover reasonable and appropriate expenses.
• be in touch regularly throughout your recovery to provide updates and check that you’re doing okay.
• provide you with an assessment of your claim and work with you to resolve your claim as quickly as possible.

For more information, download the Personal Injury Claim Information Guide.

You might need treatment or rehabilitation after your accident to return to pre-accident levels of activity and work. While most people can self-manage certain symptoms (such as whiplash), others might require physiotherapy. If your healthcare practitioner recommends treatment to optimise your recovery and it’s reasonable, appropriate, and related to your injuries from the accident, we can fund your treatment and rehabilitation. It’s best to get approval from us first though so you aren’t left out of pocket.

Suncorp partners with a large network of physiotherapy and rehabilitation providers. This includes an independent rehabilitation provider Axis, who specialise in the management of whiplash and related injuries, who have a particular focus on early intervention.

The team at Axis can help ensure you’re getting the treatment you need and give you the tools necessary to maximise your recovery as part of their Premium Care Program. This service is completely funded by Suncorp. 

If you’d like to find out more, call us on 13 11 60 or visit the Axis site.

Liability is where we determine who is at fault for the accident.

We rely upon evidence from the parties in the accident including:

• your version of events
• the version(s) from the other parties
• the Police Report
• photographs from the accident scene
• dashcam footage
• CCTV footage from nearby buildings (if available), and
• Traffic Light Sequencing reports.

We will take this evidence, consider the circumstances and applicable laws to make our decision. We can change our decision after it is made, however you will need to provide further evidence for us to review. 

If you have any other information about the circumstances of the accident, please forward it for our consideration. For more information, talk to our CTP Claims Concierge on 13 11 60.

The Qld CTP scheme is a an ‘at-fault’ scheme, which means if you are the driver who causes a motor vehicle accident, the injured third party will make an insurance claim against your CTP policy. A person injured in a motor vehicle accident in Qld will not be entitled to compensation under the Qld CTP scheme if they are wholly at fault.

For more information please call our friendly CTP Claims Manager on 13 11 60.

The duration of a claim will depend on a number of factors, such as:

• whether there is a dispute in liability
• the severity of the injury, and
• how quickly we can obtain your medical assessment.

However, according to the Motor Accident Insurance Commission people who lodge claims directly with an insurer tend to experience shorter claim durations than people who lodge claims through legal representatives.

At Suncorp Insurance, your recovery is our top priority. We work collaboratively with healthcare providers to ensure quicker recovery for road accident people n motor accidents To find out more, speak to our CTP Claims team on 13 11 60 or visit our CTP Claims page.

We’re here to help. If you’re the relative or dependant of a person who lost their life due to a motor vehicle accident in which they weren’t at fault, please call us on 13 11 60 and we’ll support you through this difficult time.

An Independent Medical Examination (IME) is a medical examination performed by an independent specialist doctor. The purpose of an IME is to:

• diagnose and assess the nature and extent of your injuries
• explore where further information is required
• identify any future need for medical treatment
• identify any impact upon employment, and
• make recommendations on any need for care or domestic assistance.

The IME doctor will comment on the level of impairment that your injuries will have upon your functioning.

IMEs are most commonly conducted by:

• Orthopaedic Surgeons
• Neurologists/Neurosurgeons
• General Surgeons
• Psychiatrists/Psychologists
• Occupational Therapists
• Neuropsychologists.

As a part of the CTP claims process, we may require you to attend an IME, but this is not always required. Where possible, we try to utilise your treating records to assess your claim to remove the need for further examinations.

You can check out the website of one of the many expert services we use:

Independent medical opinions provider Australia | mlcoa

We can reimburse you for your reasonable out of pocket expenses for medial treatment to help you recover from your injuries.  

Medical expenses can include:

• the cost of your GP appointments
• the cost of reasonable treatment and rehabilitation that you have undertaken
• medications that you have used to treat your injuries
• the cost of travel directly related to the accident, and
• replacing broken medical or adaptive equipment damaged in the motor vehicle accident.

Be sure to retain your receipts and submit them for reimbursement to your Claims Manager. 

When making our rehabilitation and reimbursement decisions, we rely upon the Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC) Rehabilitation Guidelines. This helps to direct our assessment of what is considered reasonable and appropriate.

If your injuries mean you can’t work, the Qld CTP Scheme is designed to compensate you for this. The amount of compensation you receive is influenced by your earnings, medical opinion of your injuries from the car accident and the legislation.

If you're employed at the time of accident:

• We will obtain copies of pay slips showing leave taken.
• We will talk with your employer and confirm how much leave has been taken.
• We will discuss with you how your injuries may impact your work or your capacity to work in the future.

If you are self-employed:

• We will talk with you about the opportunities that you may have missed or may miss in the future as a result of the injuries from your accident.
• Will further look into your tax and business documents including profit loss statements, notices of assessment and business activity statements to determine any injury related losses within your business.

If you are not employed:

• We will look at your work history, the reasons why you were not working and talk with you about when you most likely would have earned income if the accident had never happened.

If you are experiencing financial difficulties or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us on 13 11 60.

General damages (otherwise known as pain and suffering) are to compensate you for the pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life you have experienced and may continue to experience due to your injuries.

General damages are capped under the Civil Liability Act 2003 and determined using an Injury Scale Value (ISV) outlined in the Civil Liability Regulation 2014. Injuries are rated from 0 (no damages awarded) to 100 (most severe).

To assess pain and suffering, accident-related injuries are categorised using medical information, matched to an ISV range, and converted into a dollar value using guidelines contained in the Regulations.

To assess general damages we may look at evidence such as:

• your Medical Certificate
• records from your GP
• records/reports from your treating medical specialists
• independent Medical Examinations (IMEs)
• hospital records
• records/reports from your rehabilitation providers, and
• diagnostic reports - Scans like X-Rays, MRIs and CT-Scans among others.

For multiple injuries, the one with the highest ISV is deemed the ‘dominant injury.’ Other injuries are considered and may increase the overall ISV assessment generally within the dominant injury's range, although a higher ISV can be awarded in appropriate cases.

Medicare

You may continue to make Medicare claims for your GP appointments and for most scans required as you would normally for other medical needs. This will assist you in paying for out of pocket expenses that you may incur for your claim.

Your GP is also able to refer you for 5 sessions of physiotherapy treatment ranging from $90 to $120 per session.  You may be able to claim a proportion of your treatment from Medicare depending on the fee and eligibility.

Centrelink

If you have been unable to return to work, you can make an application to Centrelink. You may be eligible to continue to receive some income.

Workers Compensation Insurance

If you are injured during the course of your employment, or if you are travelling to or from work at the time of your accident, you may be able to lodge a claim with the appropriate workers compensation insurer. In most cases in Queensland, the claim will be lodged with WorkCover Queensland but there are a number of employers in Queensland that will manage their own claims (self-insurers). To learn more, visit the WorkSafe website.

Private health insurance

If you have private health insurance, you may be able to access this to assist with payment of out of pocket expenses for your rehabilitation.

Income Protection or other insurance

If you have paid insurance premiums under an income protection or accident insurance policy (e.g. in connection with your superannuation), you can generally access these benefits if you meet the conditions to claim which may include any applicable waiting periods.

Accessing any of the above benefits will not prevent you from making your CTP claim or limit your compensation. However, the general rule is that you cannot be compensated twice for the same loss. Therefore, these benefits will usually need to be paid back to the relevant insurer or statutory body at the end of the claim.

A serious personal injury is a life-changing injury resulting from a motor accident, that leaves a person with a permanent disability, requiring assistance in their everyday life. The National Injury Insurance Scheme Queensland (NIISQ) helps support victims of such injuries.

The physical, emotional and financial strains of a serious personal injury on an individual and their family can be devastating, and the cost of care for a seriously injured person over their lifetime can be in the millions of dollars.

Serious personal injuries include:

• permanent spinal cord injuries
• severe burns
• traumatic brain injuries
• permanent blindness, and
• multiple amputations.

For more information visit NIISQ or speak to one of our friendly CTP Claims Manager on 13 11 60.

We are required under legislation to provide you with a settlement assessment explaining how we calculate your entitlements and work with you to resolve your claim as soon as possible.

Everyone's CTP claim is different, and you will need to make decisions that best suit your circumstances. You are able to settle your claim at any point, though some customers prefer to undergo a full course of physiotherapy. Others may wait until they have returned to work.

Regardless of when you decide to settle, we make our assessments based on the evidence that we have available to us.

When the injured person is under 18 a guardian must act on behalf of the injured person. Any settlement will need to be approved by a court or the Queensland Public Trustee or delayed until they are 18 years of age.

If you have questions or concerns about your assessment, please contact your Claims Manager. We’re here to help and explain your options. You may also seek independent advice.

When you accept an offer of settlement, we will ask you to sign a release, which finalises your claim by releasing Suncorp from further liability to you. This means you will, generally, not be able to make any further claims or receive any further payments from Suncorp Insurance for the injuries and loss you received arising from this accident.

The release can be completed by:

• Printing and signing the release, and having this witnessed by an adult and then emailed to qldctpclaims@suncorp.com.au or sent via post to GPO Box 1453, BRISBANE, QLD 4001.
• Completing the Docusign Process.

Once we have received your signed release, we must seek clearances from any Government Agencies  that may have an interest in the matter.

When your claim settles, we must seek clearances from interested statutory bodies who may have paid you benefits. 

Some organisations we will contact include:

• Worksafe – for workers compensation claims
• Centrelink
• Medicare
• National Disability Insurance Scheme; and
• Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

These Government bodies may have assisted you throughout your claim, with payment of medical expenses, or weekly losses from work. They will also be entitled to recovery of these benefits. When we have received your signed Release, we will request clearances from these statutory bodies, deduct any amount found to be owing and within 28 days of obtaining the last clearance, we will pay the balance into your nominated bank account.

Once you receive your settlement, you may also be required by an insurer (e.g. a private health insurer or income protection insurer) to repay benefits received, if this is required by the terms of your insurance policy.  You can use your compensation to do this.

If you went to the GP following your accident, you may have received Medicare benefits to help you pay for the cost of your bills. Because you have your claim with us, Medicare may now be entitled to recover those benefits.

Claims settled for $5000 or less

You will not be required to repay any benefits.

Claims settled for more than $5000 and there is a current Notice of Past Benefits

If payments were made by Medicare during your claim, you’ll need to repay Medicare for the benefits related to your injury from your settlement. As there is a current Notice of Past Benefits, we can pay the amount owed to Medicare and give you the remaining compensation.

Claims settled for more than $5000 and the Notice of Past Benefits has recently expired

If payments were made by Medicare during your claim, you’ll need to repay Medicare for the benefits related to your injury from your settlement. If the Medicare Notice of Charge has recently expired and you haven't received any Medicare benefits since then, you can fill out a Medicare Compensation Recovery Section 23A statement form. This will confirm that you haven't received any further benefits since the expired notice. Once that’s done, we can pay the amount owed to Medicare and give you the remaining compensation.

Claims settled for more than $5000 and there is a long expired or no Notice of Past Benefits

We’ll need to make a 10% advance payment of your compensation to Medicare. This allows you to access most of your settlement right away. Once we process the advance payment, Medicare will send you a statement that details all the benefits they’ve covered since your accident.

You’ll need to mark the services that relate specifically to your accident and return the form to Medicare. After they receive it, they’ll provide you with a notice outlining the refundable amount.

Medicare will keep only the benefits related to your accident. If the amount listed in the Notice of Past Benefits is less than what you were advanced, they’ll refund you the difference. If it’s more, you’ll need to pay the additional amount back. For more details on the advance payment, check the Medicare Compensation Recovery site.

We’ll work with you to resolve your claim as soon as possible. This could be weeks after you lodge your claim or, maybe a little longer depending on your injuries. Your CTP Claims Manager will keep you informed of the process and timeframes the whole way through your claim.

When it comes time to renew your Suncorp CTP policy, you can make a payment through the Queensland government website. Your CTP policy is part of your vehicle registration in Qld.

To change your address on your Qld CTP, you must do this with the Department of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR).

Your CTP insurance stays with the registered vehicle, so once you transfer the registration into the new owner’s name on the certificate of insurance, the CTP will be transferred as well.

CTP insurance is compulsory and is included with your vehicle registration. Therefore, if you cancel the registration of your vehicle with the Department of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR), your CTP insurance is cancelled at the same time.

If you experience a problem, are not satisfied with our products or services or a decision we have made, please visit our Customer Relations & Complaints page to access more information.