CTP claim time limits in NSW: work out your dates

The short version

Within 28 days: report to police and lodge

Most time limits count from the date of the accident.

Report the crash to police within 28 days, unless police attended, and give the insurer the police event number. Call 131 444 or go to a police station.

Make your claim as soon as possible. To get weekly payments back-paid to the day after the accident, the insurer generally needs your claim within 28 days of the accident.

The first 28 days also matter for treatment. Once you've told the insurer about your injury, it can approve some treatment before you lodge, usually a GP visit and two further sessions, at its discretion and only within the first 28 days after the crash.

Between 28 days and 3 months

You can still claim up to 3 months after the accident, but weekly payments may only start from the date of the claim.

For accidents on or after 1 April 2023, if you claim after 28 days but within 3 months, you may still be paid from the day after the accident if you give a full and satisfactory explanation for the delay.

When deciding whether your explanation is full and satisfactory, the insurer looks at things like whether you knew you could claim, legal incapacity, and illness or injury that stopped you claiming in time.

After 3 months

Claims made more than 3 months after the accident can only be accepted in limited circumstances, usually where there is a full and satisfactory explanation for the delay.

Get advice straight away. Talk to a lawyer, or talk to us.

28 days after a decision

If you disagree with most insurer decisions, you can ask the insurer for an internal review, generally within 28 days of receiving the decision. The insurer usually has 14 days to decide (21 days for some medical and fault-related matters, or longer if you give it new information), but never more than 28 days in total.

If you're still unhappy, an application to the Personal Injury Commission for merit review must generally be made within 28 days of receiving the insurer's internal review decision. A review of a medical assessment certificate must generally be sought within 28 days of the certificate being issued.

Note the date each letter or email reaches you. The review clock generally runs from when you receive the decision. See insurer decisions and reviews and the Personal Injury Commission.

52 weeks

For accidents on or after 1 April 2023, people with a threshold injury can receive statutory benefits (weekly payments and treatment and care) for up to 52 weeks after the accident. For accidents between 1 December 2017 and 31 March 2023, the limit for what were then called minor injuries was generally 26 weeks.

If you were wholly or mostly at fault, your statutory benefits generally stop after 52 weeks. Children who were 16 or under at the time of the accident can receive treatment and care for as long as they need it, regardless of fault.

The insurer must tell you whether it has classified your injury as a threshold injury within 9 months of your claim being lodged, and it gives you a separate notice about benefits after 52 weeks.

2 and 3 years: damages

A common law damages claim must generally be made within 3 years of the accident. Lodge within 2 years if you want weekly payments to continue beyond 2 years.

Weekly payments generally stop after 2 years, and can continue for longer in some cases while a damages claim is pending.

Late damages claims may be allowed only with a full and satisfactory explanation. Damages claims are complex, so get legal advice early. See lump sum damages.

After a death

After a fatal accident, lodge within 3 months of the crash if possible. Later claims need a satisfactory explanation, and claims must generally be made within 3 years.

Trauma and grief support is available straight away through SIRA's CTP Assist line, 1300 656 919. See after a death.

Check the current rules

Rules change. This page reflects the rules as we understand them in September 2026. General information, not legal advice.