CTP Claims in NSW: The Complete Guide

CTP stands for compulsory third party insurance. Every registered vehicle in NSW has to carry it, which is why most people know it as the green slip. It has one job: covering people hurt in motor accidents. That means the driver, their passengers, and any pedestrian, cyclist or rider injured when a motor vehicle is involved. When someone is hurt, a CTP insurer handles the claim, not the driver personally — so you claim against an insurer even when the other driver is a neighbour or a relative.

So what does claiming actually involve? You tell the right insurer what happened, prove who you are, lodge the correct form, and give the insurer enough medical information to decide what it will approve. Behind that sits a scheme with two separate limbs: statutory benefits, which cover treatment and income support while you recover, and a damages claim that only some people can make. Our explainer on how motor accident compensation works in NSW sets out who decides what.

A crash scrambles your thinking, and adrenaline can hide pain for hours. You don't need to get everything perfect in the first couple of days. A handful of simple steps protects your health and lays the groundwork for the claim, and each of them is much harder to do well a few weeks later.

• Make the scene safe: hazard lights on, and if the cars can't be moved, stay buckled in rather than standing on the road, unless the car itself isn't safe.
• Swap names, phone numbers, licence details and registration plates with every driver, and get witnesses' details before they leave.
• Photograph the scene, the vehicles and any visible injuries, but only when it's safe to do so.
• Report to police if anyone was hurt, a driver left the scene or a car was towed. Keep the event number.
• Write down what happened and any symptoms while it's fresh, and keep the accident off social media.

Then see a doctor as soon as you can, ideally within a day or two, even if you feel fine. It's the step people skip most. An early check can pick up injuries sooner and creates a dated record linking your symptoms to the crash, which the rest of the claim leans on. Pain that appears days later is common, especially after a rear-end collision, and our guide to car accident injuries and delayed symptoms covers what to watch for. For the full order of operations, read what to do first after a car accident.

Most claims start the same way, and you don't need every document in hand before you begin. You don't need a claim number to see a doctor either — the medical assessment can start while you sort out the paperwork. If you're not sure where you're up to, our short 'where do I start?' checker points you to the right first step. Otherwise, this is the usual order.

The Application for Personal Injury Benefits is the document people mean when they talk about the personal injury claim form. Our walk-through of how to fill in the Application for Personal Injury Benefits goes through it section by section, and official CTP forms and where to download them covers the certificate and other paperwork. Always take a fresh copy from SIRA's motor accidents pages rather than an old PDF you found in a search.

The scheme has time limits at several points, and the ones for claiming run from the date of the accident — not from when you first saw a doctor or first spoke to an insurer. Put that date somewhere you'll see it. If you're reading this weeks or months after a crash, don't decide on your own that it's too late. Check where you actually stand first.

Not sure where you stand? The Am I too late to claim? checker asks four quick questions about your dates and where things are up to, then points you to a sensible next step. For how each deadline fits around the stages of a claim, see the general timeline of a NSW claim.

Lodging starts a process rather than ending one. The early weeks are mostly paperwork — the insurer processes the form, requests records and hands your file to a case manager — and that quiet stretch is normal, not a sign something has gone wrong. Every claim moves at its own pace, and the letters the insurer sends you always take priority over any general description, including this one.

If you're self-employed or earn through gig platforms like rideshare or food delivery, the scheme is the same, but proving your income takes more than a payslip. Pull together recent tax returns and notices of assessment, BAS statements if you're registered for GST, bank statements, platform earnings summaries, and invoices or a letter from your accountant. A certificate that spells out your limits in practical terms — hours, tasks, what you can lift or drive — helps when there's no employer offering lighter duties. The guide for self-employed and gig workers covers it in full.

• A child injured in a car accident may be able to claim, usually with a parent or guardian managing it. Time limits can work differently, so get advice early.
• After an accident while pregnant, get assessed promptly even if the crash seemed minor, and involve your obstetric care provider too.
• When someone has died, the scheme has provisions for families and dependants. Fatality and dependency claims sets out, with care, where to begin.

A lodged claim is the route to statutory benefits: reasonable and necessary treatment, and income support where you can't work, all within rules that depend on whether you were mostly at fault and how your injury is classified. Some people can also bring a separate damages claim, but only where the scheme's thresholds are met, and that's a legal question rather than a medical one. Our guide to CTP benefits in NSW explains each kind of support and what it depends on.