Insurers can be hard work.

In the first days following your accident, make daily notes of all pains and discomfort your injuries cause.

For at least the first month or two make notes daily on areas such as:

Again write down the small details. You may suffer niggling pain that seems inconsequential at the time but may become important when you trying to gain compensation.

Taking notes on your injury will make it easier for you (and possibly your lawyer) to later describe to an insurance company how much and what kind of pain you were in, and for how long.

Writing down your different injuries will also help you remember to report them to a doctor or other medical provider when you receive treatment.

A relatively small snap of the neck, for example, may not seem worth mentioning…

…but it might help:

• the doctor; and
• the insurance company

…understand why your bad back pain developed two to three days later, or several weeks, after the accident.

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words…and then some. Photos are useful because they…

…preserve evidence of the extent of the injury

…show the damage better than you can describe them

…are difficult to contradict. An insurer will find it harder to deny the evidence in a photograph. 

Wounds and injuries heal. Without photographs it will be difficult later to convince an insurance company in the ways and to the degree you claimed.

Failing to seek immediate treatment can lead an insurance company to believe that your injuries were not that serious, or that you made them up entirely.

...because of your injuries. 

Other important notes to make that don’t relate to your economic loss but rather cover your general loss of enjoyment of life include missed:

Make note of these factors too. They can often be overlooked in a compensation claim and can be financially compensated for.

Return to the scene of the accident as soon as possible to locate any evidence and photograph any conditions you believe may have contributed to the accident.

Draw a diagram of where key things were/are located such as:

Having a witness on your side is powerful.

Witnesses may be able to describe details that confirm what your believed happened. This backs up your story…

…and ensures that the insurer can’t dismiss your claim.

Here’s how to gather evidence from witnesses so that the insurer cannot disregard their statement. 

Start taking notes about conversations (telephone, in person or emails) that you have witnesses, insurance companies, lawyers and medical personnel (such as other doctors, nurses or admin staff).

Make written notes of the:

• date
• time
• people involved and
• contents

...of every conversation you have about your treatment or complaint. 

This last point is less about note-taking and more about taking an extra action that covers all your bases so no insurance company can discount you as a liar.

In the course of your claim, you will likely be told or promised something or given some information that you want to make sure isn’t denied at a later date

…such as…

…the witness statements or

…results of tests

…when you expect to hear the result of your complaint.

Immediately after the conversation, send a letter confirming what the person told you. The letter does not have to be elaborate, just a brief restatement of what was said.

Make a copy for your files before sending it on.

A sample email or letter can be shown below

The claims process can be a battle of determination. But with these notes, you will be holding all the cards.

That being said, cyclists tend to get a fair few injuries, and not just from the bastard neighbourhood magpie/plover. 

Any cyclical activity (cycling, swimming, running) has the potential for things to creep up slowly like compound interest. ​

Little niggles can build and build until merely the thought of your 1kg carbon fibre frame with wheels makes your knee ache. So to keep you on the road longer (much to the annoyance of local territorial birds) here are some tips to staying healthy.

If you or someone you know loves to punch out kilometres like Cadell Evans, be sure to take note of these tips. It could be the difference to being on the road or watching your bike collecting dust in the garage. With any sport it’s essential to stay as healthy and injury free as possible, otherwise what’s the point right? So take care on the road you crazy cyclists.

Stay tuned for another article from the Queen Street Physiotherapy team soon

In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding this interview, treatment of cycling injuries or other health issues please do not hesitate to contact Donovan and the rest of the team by visiting the Queen Street Physiotherapy website.

Queen St Physiotherapy offers ergonomic advice, custom made orthotics, running assessment, hydrotherapy, dry needling, remedial massage, exercise and stretching programs.

​Traffic incidents and crashes may be reported to Qld Police in a number of circumstances. For example:-

• Pursuant to s. 92(1) of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act and s. 287(3) of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management–Road Rules) Regulation.   This piece of legislation sets out the duties and liabilities of drivers involved in road incidents;

​

• Pursuant to s. 34 the Motor Accident Insurance Act.  

1. a cyclist has an obligation to report an incident (for example a 'near-miss') to police in which 
2. they have sustained some kind of anxiety or trauma (an injury)  and 
3. intend to make a civil claim against the offending driver.

​

The cyclist does not have to report the incident if points 2 and 3 above are not applicable.

But let's say that points 2 and 3 are on the table.  

Then......

Officers receiving reports of traffic incidents involving  psychological trauma are to ensure that the incident is recorded and investigated in accordance with their Operational Procedures Manual.

So, if you are  traumatised by an incident and intend to make a claim against the driver, you are required by law to ensure a police officer is notified of the incident.

For best results we suggest  giving the investigating officer a completed ‘Report of traffic incident to police’ form. Click here for the form.  

Once you have the form it's a pretty straight forward process:

1. fill out the form

2. take it to the police station

3. speak to the officer in charge of the station who will

4. assign the notice/form to an investigating officer 

Officers directed to investigate an incident such as a 'near miss' that causes trauma should:

1. obtain statements from any witnesses to the incident (most likely yourself and the driver). We have a template witness statement that you can use - get it here.
2. record the details of the incident in their official police notebook and any additional details which may assist the investigation of the incident, such as details of:

• all persons and vehicles (bikes) directly involved in the incident and any other person who may be able to assist in the subsequent investigation; (such as other cyclists)
• the damage to the vehicle(s) (including bikes) involved in the incident and including information of the general condition of the vehicle(s) (bikes) and the position of the hand brake and gear lever;
• other scene evidence such as traffic lights, signs, road markings, skid marks, etc., by sketch plan and video evidence.

An injury often leads to time away from work. Whether you’re an employee, a contractor or a business owner; this usually means economic loss.​

Compensation claims can cover for this loss, but figuring out how much to claim is not always easy. Find out why the Judge rejected Gary’s calculation (in Land v Dhaliwal & Anor [2012]), and how you can avoid the same outcome.

Gary had an interesting work history. Like many people, he’d tried a few things. He’d worked as a fitter and turner, a barman, a go-go dancer and a cleaner. He’d studied, he’d travelled, and he’d owned a doughnut business.

About 4 years prior, he became involved with bicycle shops – as an owner and also a mechanic. One year before the accident, Gary purchased the bike shop he was working at and took over the running of the business.

Then the accident happened. Gary was cycling along Airport Drive in Eagle Farm, Brisbane when a taxi driver pulled in front of him. The driver came to an immediate and sudden stop. Gary was flung over the boot of the car. 

Gary suffered an extensive back injury and aggravated an existing knee injury. 

He underwent several surgical procedures to both his back and knee but was left with chronic pain.

After the accident, Gary couldn’t return to his normal life. He couldn’t stand for long periods, struggled to sleep, and suffered memory difficulties.

He struggled to work and do simple everyday tasks he had done before the accident.

Gary’s frustration started affecting his relationships and work. He could no longer remain patient with customers and he had to employ more staff to cover the work he couldn’t do.

With mounting medical bills and more stress at work, Gary was forced to sell his business. His dream of being able to provide his family with a stable income was now impossible.

He felt like he had let everyone down.

The government recognises this and provide people like Gary an avenue to access compensation to cover their financial hardship, known as Compulsory Third Party (CTP) scheme.

It also provides an opportunity for cyclists to hold motorists accountable for their negligent acts.

Gary brought a personal injury claim to compensate him for his injuries and the effect they had on his life. He brought his claim against the taxi driver and the taxi driver's compulsory third party (CTP) insurer. His claim consisted of the following components:

Most parts of his claim were simple. But as Gary soon found out, putting a dollar figure on the impact the injuries have had on his life was harder than he thought.

Because of his varied and complex work history, Gary’s assessment for economic loss was a contentious issue at trial.

To calculate Gary’s economic loss, the Judge had to calculate:

Gary’s economic loss is the difference between those two amounts.

The tricky part was figuring out what those two amounts were. Gary and the defendants had very different ideas about this.

Gary relied on a chartered accountant to calculate his loss. The accountant estimated Gary’s economic loss to be over $750,000.

The accountant came to this figure by looking at the profit of Gary’s bike shop before the accident, and the profit of Gary’s bike fitting business some years after the accident.

The accountant calculated the difference between those two figures and claimed that that loss would occur every year until Gary’s retirement.

The Judge did not like this approach for a few reasons:

The Judge rejected Gary’s calculation, saying:

The defendants engaged a forensic accountant to properly analyse Gary’s earning capacities.

The forensic accountant provided an expert report and later gave evidence at trial.

The forensic accountant focused her calculations around the value of Gary’s labour. She figured out what this was by looking at what Gary paid his staff to fill in for him. Or in essence, how much Gary would have earned working for another company as a retail manager and bike mechanic.

The forensic accountant went into great detail and explored many hypothetical scenarios. Importantly, all of these scenarios matched how the Courts typically assess economic loss.

The Judge liked the forensic accountant’s calculations, saying:

The Judge adopted the forensic accountant’s approach and awarded Gary just under $250,000 for economic loss.

This was $500,000 less than what Gary was claiming.

Gary was smart enough to know he needed help – but he called in an accountant who wasn’t equipped for the job.

The defendants were smarter and called in an expert in this area of accounting – one who was familiar with how the courts expect economic loss to be calculated. As a result, she came up with a much more compelling argument, provided multiple alternatives to cover her bases and won.

Even if an injured person’s career path is more straight-forward than Gary’s, it’s still difficult to predict what their earning capacity might have been and what it is now. There’s no crystal ball that can show us both scenarios.

To properly calculate economic loss, there needs to be careful analysis of things like:

Asking an expert to do this analysis can make a lot of difference. In Gary’s case, it was a $500,000 difference.

Learn from Gary’s mistake. If in doubt, back up your claim with an expert – preferably one that knows the Court system.