Threshold Levels for Different Heads of Damages in SA
If you’re involved in a motor vehicle accident in South Australia, your entitlement to certain types of compensation will depend on whether you meet a threshold on the Injury Scale Value (ISV).
The ISV is a 0-100 scale based on the type and severity of a person’s injuries. Minor injuries such as a cut finger are at 0 on the scale, up to serious injuries such as permanent disability or disfigurement in gradations to 100.
Once an injured person’s ISV is determined, usually after a thorough medical examination and assessment, the relevant number is given a monetary amount on the ISV Scale to determine the damages available for the injury.
The method is used to regulate and bring consistency to compulsory third party (CTP) payouts to those injured in accidents.
Once a person is assigned an ISV number, the CTP Insurer can determine the type/s and amount of compensation you are eligible for depending on the heads of damage.
Heads of damage in South Australia for motor vehicle accidents include non-economic loss, gratuitous services (voluntary assistance from your family), past and future economic loss (earnings) and loss of consortium.
In this post, we’ll look at the threshold ISVs for each of these heads of damage.
ISVs for heads of damage in South Australia
The CTP claim process will generally begin with the insurer organising an ISV medical assessment once a person’s initial injury has stabilised. Medical evidence plus a medical examination and details on how a person has been impacted by the injury will form the elements of the assessment.
ISV medical assessments are completed through South Australia’s Motor Accident Injury Accreditation Scheme, which accredits health professionals to undertake the assessments for injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents that occurred on or after 1 July 2013.
The Civil Liability Act 1936 (SA) sets out the thresholds for compensation for motor accident injury claims.
Non-economic loss: Damages for the pain and suffering an injured person has experienced as a result of the injury are only available if the person’s ISV is between 11-100.
Economic loss: No minimum ISV is required to claim for past loss of earnings as a result of the injury’s effect on a person’s ability to work and earn an income. In regards to future loss of income, excluding the first week’s loss of income after the accident, a person’s ISV must exceed 7 points, or be between 8-100.
Gratuitous services: This head refers to the value of unpaid domestic work performed by a parent, spouse, domestic partner or child for the injured party. Damages for gratuitous services are only available if the injured person exceeds an ISV of 10 points, or between 11-100 points, and only if they have been provided with care and assistance for a period of at least six hours per week for six consecutive months.
Loss of consortium: An ISV must exceed 10 (11-100 points) for damages in this category, which reflects the impact of the injury on the comfort and companionship the injured person provided to their spouse or domestic partner.
ISV thresholds are not required for damages claims for past economic loss, as mentioned, past paid care and assistance, and past medical treatment and expenses.
As an example of the damages amounts that can be paid under the ISV points, a value of 11 is worth $3,450 on the tables for 2021-22, 20 points are $13,800, 50 points is $103,310, and 79 points and above is valued at $344,370.
Multiple injuries and dominant injuries
In many cases, a person will sustain more than one injury in a motor vehicle accident. In this situation, it is the dominant injury – that is, the one with the highest value on the scale – that must exceed the relevant threshold in order to receive compensation.
Where the injuries are minor and the dominant injury has an ISV of 0-7, an injured person may still be eligible to receive payment from the CTP Insurer for reasonable and necessary treatment, care and therapy.
As discussed above, an injured person may also be able to claim for proven past economic loss (or loss of earning capacity) if time off work was required at the time of the accident.
There are also other payments an injured person may be eligible for, despite not meeting the minimum thresholds, including for paid care, interest on proven past economic loss, an allowance for proven future medical expenses, or an allowance for proven future paid care.
Discuss your case with experienced compensation lawyers
Complex legal arguments can develop between people making personal injury compensation claims and CTP insurers. Disagreements over the severity of an injury, what constitutes the dominant injury, whether the ISV given to a particular injury is accurate and many other issues can lengthen and complicate the compensation claims process.
For this reason, seeking the guidance of highly experienced personal injury professionals such as Gajic Lawyers is recommended. We can smooth this sometimes stressful process for you and help you towards the result you’re entitled to, given your injury.
To learn more about compensation claim, contact us Adelaide Compensation lawyers team for a consultation about your case.
