Ask yourself these three questions:

• Have you been injured in an accident that was someone else’s fault?
• Have you had any time off work to recover?
• Have you had any treatment?

If you answered yes to these questions, then it’s likely you can make a personal injury compensation claim.

But do you need a lawyer to claim compensation?

It’s possible to make a claim without using a lawyer or solicitor, however, it’s important to understand that you may be making a claim against and insurance company that does have lawyers on its side. So, you’ll have a much better chance of success and you’re likely to get a much better compensation payout with good compensation lawyers on your side.

If you’re not sure, you can simply call us for free legal advice, then decide if you want to claim.

Our compensation lawyers Melbourne can help you claim everything you’re entitled to in VIC:

• If you’ve had time off work, you’ll be paid back for your lost wages.
• If you’ve had medical or care expenses, these will be paid back to you.
• Depending on your injuries, you may also be entitled to lump sum payments for future lost wages, permanent impairment or pain and suffering.

Your compensation payout amount will also depend on how you were injured, your age and the extent of your injuries.

There are four stages to the claim process:

1. Our personal injury compensation lawyers will assess your situation and determine whether you have a valid injury claim, then provide you with advice on how to proceed. Part of this process may be to identify the insurer.
2. We’ll spend time getting to know you and your situation, so that we can thoroughly prepare your claim. This includes gathering the evidence to back up your injury claim, including medical reports to show evidence of your injuries.
3. We’ll submit your claim. If there’s an insurer involved, and it accepts your claim, it will generally offer to make a settlement payment to you. Your personal injury lawyer will negotiate hard on your behalf and advise you on what is a reasonable settlement and how much you should accept.
4. Most of our clients’ claims are settled out of court, but if an insurer denies your injury claim or we can’t come to a settlement agreement, we have the option to take your matter to court – this is known as litigation. Your personal injury lawyer will advise you on your options.

Many of our clients’ personal injury claims settle in 9 to 18 months, but some can take longer.

The amount of time it takes to settle your claim is determined by:

• How long it takes for your injuries to stabilise so that they can be assessed by medical experts.
• Whether the insurer accepts liability for your injuries.
• Whether we reach an agreed settlement with the insurer quickly.
• If we don’t reach a settlement with the insurer and need to litigate the matter, it can take considerably longer than 18 months.

It costs nothing to start your claim with Law Partners, and you only pay us after you receive your compensation.

For many law firms, ‘no win no fee’ means if they don’t win they won’t charge you for the work they’ve done, but they’ll still charge you for the costs they’ve incurred (disbursements) and barrister fees, and this can run into many thousands of dollars.

Our no win no fee, no disbursements guarantee also covers your costs – so you can pursue your claim with peace of mind.

We also put a cap on our fees, so there are no nasty surprises at the end of your successful claim. It’s important that you can speak to your compensation lawyer at any time, without worrying about the cost getting out of control.

If you’ve been injured, become sick or developed a psychological illness while doing your job, our specialist workers compensation lawyers can help you claim the maximum workers compensation benefits and lump sums you’re entitled to. We’ll also let you know if you’re entitled to any other benefits, such as a TPD lump sum.

Every workers compensation claim is different, and it can be hard to know if you’re getting everything you’re entitled to. It’s also common for insurers to deny part or all of a compensation claim. Our experienced workers compensation lawyers or solicitors can review your claim and make sure you receive your full entitlements. In particular, if you find yourself in a dispute with an insurer, having a one of our workers compensation lawyers on your side will give you a much better chance of success.

We’ll provide you with free advice. If you decide to proceed with your claim we’ll recover as much of your legal costs as we can from the insurer, and you’ll only need to pay the gap after you’ve received your compensation.

If we find that you’re entitled to Permanent Impairment or Work Injury Damages lump sum payments, we’ll work on a no win no fee, no disbursements basis, so you’ll only need to pay us if we win, and you receive your lump sum compensation.

If you’ve been injured in a motor vehicle accident in Victoria, as a driver, rider, passenger or pedestrian, Law Partners’ specialist car accident compensation lawyers can help you claim all your entitlements, including lump sum payouts for more serious injuries.

Here are three ways our lawyers can help you with your motor accident injury claim:

1. Give you free advice before you submit your claim. It’s critical that your car injury claim is submitted correctly and that your injuries are properly assessed, otherwise you could miss out on compensation you’re entitled to.
2. Help if you disagree with a TAC decision. If the TAC has denied any part of your claim, we can review the decision and provide free legal advice on your options.
3. Help you claim a lump sum settlement. Common law compensation and permanent impairment lump sums can be substantial. Our car accident lawyers are highly skilled at winning lump sum claims and we win over 99% of our cases.

Common accidents in public places include slips, trips and falls, and other accidents caused by unsafe or poorly maintained facilities. If you’ve been injured in a public place, shop or rental property, speak to one of our specialist public liability compensation lawyers to find out how much you can claim.

Here’s how we’ll manage your public liability claim:

1. When you first contact one of our public liability lawyers or solicitors, we’ll offer you a free consultation, either over the phone or in person. During this meeting, our lawyer will ask you questions about your accident and your injuries to determine whether you have a valid claim and what are your chances of success. Part of this process is to identify the insurer.
2. We’ll provide you with an indication of what you can claim – (e.g.) lost income, medical expenses, travel expenses, domestic assistance, pain and suffering and future losses.
3. If you decide to proceed with your public liability claim, our public liability lawyer will manage your claim on a no win no fee, no disbursements basis. We’ll gather the evidence to back up your claim, including photos of the accident location, witness reports and accident reports from the building or facility manager where the accident occurred.
4. Our public liability lawyer will also help you to get medical reports to show evidence of your injuries.
5. Once your claim has been submitted to the insurer, if the insurer accepts your claim it will generally offer to settle. This means it will offer to make a settlement payment to you. Our public liability lawyer will advise you on what is a reasonable settlement and how much you should accept.
6. If the insurer denies your public liability claim or we can’t come to a settlement agreement, you have the option to take the matter to court – this is known as litigation.

Medical negligence occurs in a range of situations – like hospital stays, specialist treatment, cosmetic surgery, GP and dentist visits. If you’ve been injured or become ill due to negligence by a medical professional, our medical negligence compensation lawyers can tell you whether you can claim compensation then help you get the maximum payout.

When you first call, our medical negligence lawyer will assess your situation and form an opinion on whether you have a valid claim. If they believe you do have a claim, they will then generally arrange one or more medical assessments for you to have their opinion verified by qualified medical professionals. To win your case, we need evidence from a medico-legal expert asserting that medical negligence has occurred.

Once our medical negligence lawyer has established the likelihood of success with your claim, we’ll advise you on your options, and we may offer to work for you on a no win no fee, no disbursements basis. If you proceed, then our medical negligence lawyer will prepare your claim by compiling all the evidence needed including medical records, witness statements, medical reports and forensic accounting reports to substantiate your claim.