Need for legal advice
You do not need to have a lawyer acting for you; you can deal directly with the insurer about your Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance claim. However, if your claim is complex or disputed, it may be in your best interests to seek legal advice. You may choose to seek legal advice at any stage of the claims process.
Choosing a lawyer
For information about choosing a lawyer that’s right for you, visit the Legal Services Commission’s ‘Choosing a lawyer’ website or contact the Queensland Law Society.
Before engaging a lawyer, you should discuss how much you may be charged.
The Legal Services Commission publishes a variety of consumer guides and fact sheets to help users of legal services be better informed, including a guide to ‘no win, no fee’ costs agreements. Visit the Legal Service Commission’s Legal costs page for more information.
Watch out for car crash scammers
Car crash scammers (sometimes called claim farmers) may harass you with unwanted phone calls, texts or emails. They pretend to help you claim compensation for car crash injuries but use misleading tactics to trick you. Their goal is to make money by selling your personal information to others, including law firms.
It is illegal for anyone to contact you like this to gather your personal information for a CTP insurance claim, or to pay or receive money for referring claims or potential claims.
Visit Car crash scams (claims farming) for tips on how to spot and deal with car crash scammers.
Legal costs and disbursements
During the negotiation and settlement process, you should consider whether you can claim some of your legal costs and disbursements from the insurer. Even if you haven’t engaged a lawyer and can’t recover legal costs, you may still be entitled to recover your reasonable disbursements but must have documentary evidence to prove these. Disbursements may include, for example, the reasonable costs you have outlaid to obtain medico-legal reports.
To claim legal fees through a CTP insurance claim, the amount paid on your claim must exceed specific thresholds, which are updated annually. These thresholds are set by a Ministerial Notice each July and knowing which thresholds to apply will depend on the date the injury occurred, rather than when your claim settles. See Legislation for more information.
For example, for motor vehicle accidents occurring between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026, if your claim settles:
- below $58,090: you cannot recover your legal costs and disbursements from the insurer
- between $58,090 and $96,870: you may recover some legal costs and disbursements, up to a maximum of $4,860
- above $96,870: you may recover standard legal costs and disbursements, which your lawyer can advise on.
Your ability to recover some of your legal costs from the insurer is also subject to other factors, including the acceptance or rejection of offers made during the claim.
Claimant and legal representative disagreements
Disagreements between a claimant and their legal representatives should be directed to:
- The Queensland Law Society, or the
- Legal Services Commission.