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CTP claim time limits in each state
Every scheme sets its own deadlines, and the first can come within weeks: in NSW, income support is back-paid to the crash if you claim within 28 days, and after that you must explain the delay. In the ACT, the application is due within 13 weeks. Later limits, often three years, can end a claim or a right to go to court altogether.
General information, not legal advice. Deadlines depend on the date of the crash, your age and the kind of claim. If you think you are near one, contact the scheme or a lawyer now.
The deadlines, nearest first
Read this like a distance sign: the nearest deadlines at the top. Each row is the scheme’s own wording, shortened; the table further down gives the detail and the exceptions.
NSW Claim, to be back-paid income from the crash28 days
ACT Personal Injuries Application to the insurer13 weeks
NSW Claim for other statutory benefits; after this, explain the delay3 months
NT Claim should be made6 months
SA After this, give the insurer a reason for the delay6 months
QLD Notice of Accident Claim Form, at the latest9 months
VIC Lodge a TAC claim12 months
TAS Application for Benefits to the MAIB12 months
NSW Claim for common law damages; after this, explain the delay3 years
SA · WA · NT Outer limits for a claim or court action3 years
State by state, with the detail
| State | What the scheme says |
|---|---|
| NSW | Claim within 28 days to be back-paid income from the crash; claims after that can still be accepted, but you need to explain the delay to be eligible for back pay. Claims for other statutory benefits can be lodged until three months after the crash. A later claim needs a full and satisfactory explanation for the delay and must be made within three years of the crash, unless it is for a death or a permanent impairment greater than 10%. Where workers compensation for medical, hospital and rehabilitation expenses has been payable for the injury, a claim for treatment and care can also be made within three months after that compensation stops. A common law damages claim must be made within three years; to keep weekly payments beyond two years, it must be lodged within two. A common law claim made more than three years after the crash needs a satisfactory explanation for the delay. |
| VIC | 12 months from the accident, or from when an injury from it first becomes evident. Exceptions are set out in the TAC’s Making a claim for compensation policy. |
| QLD | The Notice of Accident Claim Form is due by the earlier of nine months after the accident (or after symptoms first appeared) and one month after your first meeting with a lawyer you have engaged. If the at-fault vehicle can’t be identified, the limit is three months. |
| WA | The law requires a claim as soon as practicable after the crash. Court action for personal injury generally can’t start more than three years after you became aware of the injury, usually the date of the crash, though a court may extend the time in the limited cases set out under “If you have missed a deadline” below. |
| SA | As soon as you can. After six months you must give a reason for the delay; after three years a claim will generally not be accepted, except in very limited legal circumstances. If a claim is approaching three years without settling, court action must be filed to keep it open. |
| TAS | Application for Benefits within 12 months of the accident. For common law compensation, you generally have up to three years. |
| ACT | For accidents on or after 1 February 2020, send the application within 13 weeks to the insurer of the vehicle most at fault. A late application needs a written explanation, and may not get all benefits back to the accident date. A quality of life benefit must be applied for no later than four years and six months after the accident. |
| NT | A claim should be made within six months. A claim made later, but within three years, may still be considered; after three years it will not be. |
If you have missed a deadline
A late claim is not always the end, but it is never certain either. The schemes handle it in different ways:
- NSW: a claim for statutory benefits made after three months needs a full and satisfactory explanation for the delay, and must be made within three years of the crash unless it is for a death or a permanent impairment greater than 10%. Where workers compensation for medical, hospital and rehabilitation expenses has been payable for the injury, a claim for treatment and care can also be made within three months after that compensation stops. A claim for common law damages made after three years also needs a full and satisfactory explanation for the delay.
- Queensland has an “Additional information/excuse for delay” section on the claim form. Whether a late claim is accepted is entirely up to the insurer.
- South Australia asks for a reason after six months, for example being too unwell to complete a form, or not knowing you could claim.
- The ACT asks for a clear explanation as a separate document, and back-payment may be limited.
- Victoria sets out its exceptions in a published TAC policy.
- Western Australia: a court may extend the time to start an action for a personal injury even after the limitation period has passed, but only where, when the period expired, the injured person was not aware of the physical cause of the injury, was not aware that it was attributable to the conduct of a person, or after reasonable enquiry had been unable to establish that person’s identity; or where the failure to start in time was attributable to fraudulent or other improper conduct of the defendant. The court can extend the time by up to three years from when the person became aware, or ought reasonably to have become aware, of the cause of the injury, that it was attributable to a person’s conduct, and of that person’s identity; or, for fraud or improper conduct, by up to three years from when the action ought reasonably to have been started. Separate rules apply to people injured before they turn 18 and to people with a mental disability.
Queensland’s regulator also notes that you can lodge a claim before you have every document; the claim isn’t treated as complete until the missing details arrive, and if they aren’t provided in time the claim may not be accepted or may take longer. SA and NSW say the same about lodging with information still to come. What to gather: medical records and evidence.
Children and young people
Different limits apply to people injured before they turn 18. In the states below, they run longer.
- Queensland: a child’s claim should still be lodged as soon as possible, but the usual limitation period for court proceedings doesn’t start until they turn 18, which generally means they have until their 21st birthday.
- Northern Territory: a person injured as a minor must make a claim within three years of their 18th birthday.
- Western Australia: under the Limitation Act, a person under 15 has six years to start proceedings, and someone aged 15 to 17 has until they turn 21. If, before the child turns 18, a defendant is a person in a close relationship with them (such as someone who at law has responsibility for their care), they have until they turn 25. A court may also extend a child’s time up to age 21 if it was unreasonable for the child’s guardian not to start the action in time.
For other states, ask the scheme directly. The rules for children are set by each state’s law and aren’t always on the scheme’s main pages.
Why the early deadlines matter most
Some short deadlines decide when money and treatment start, not only whether a claim exists. In the ACT, an application made on time means treatment, care and income replacement can be paid from the date of the accident. In Queensland, lodging early can help you get treatment and rehabilitation sooner.
One Queensland rule is easy to miss: the nine-month deadline shortens to one month after your first meeting with a lawyer you have engaged, if that comes first. More on that decision in do I need a car accident lawyer?