The four deadlines, in order
NSW CTP runs on a stack of overlapping timelines. Each one controls something different. Here's the full set.
1. 28 days — statutory benefits backdating
Submit your CTP claim form within 28 days of the crash and your statutory benefits (weekly income payments, medical funding, rehab) backdate to the day of the crash. Submit after that and benefits usually start only from the day you got it in.
This is the deadline that costs the most money to miss because every unfunded week between the crash and the submission is real out-of-pocket loss. See the 28-day rule explained for the detail.
2. 3 months — internal review window
When the insurer makes a formal decision you disagree with (denial, classification of injury, treatment refusal), you have 28 days from the date of the decision letter to request an internal review by the insurer. Each individual decision starts its own 28-day clock.
Miss the internal review window for a particular decision and you can usually still escalate to the Personal Injury Commission directly. But internal review is the cleanest and fastest path. See CTP claim denied.
3. 6 months — full damages claim form
For damages (the lump sum payment for serious / non-threshold injuries at the end of the claim), there's a separate full claim form. It needs to be in within 6 months of the date of the crash for the cleanest path. Late submission is allowed with explanation, but the 6-month mark is the soft deadline you want to hit.
4. 3 years — damages proceedings hard limit
The hard outer limit. You have 3 years from the crashto start formal damages proceedings (typically at the Personal Injury Commission). After 3 years, the door is much harder to push open — leave is required and it's not routine to get.
For children, the 3-year clock starts from their 18th birthday, not the crash. So a child injured at 14 has until they're 21.
What "full and satisfactory explanation" means
NSW law accepts that life happens. If you miss one of these deadlines and can give a "full and satisfactory explanation" for the delay, the insurer (or, on review, the Personal Injury Commission) can accept the late submission. We've seen this work for:
- Long hospitalisation.
- Serious mental health crisis after the crash.
- Language barriers (couldn't read the forms or understand the scheme).
- Simply not knowing the scheme existed.
- Delayed-onset injuries that didn't become apparent until later.
- Being given bad advice (you were told you couldn't claim).
None of these are automatic. But none of them are dead ends either.
If your situation is at-fault
The 28-day rule applies to at-fault drivers too — and matters even more, because your 52-week benefits window starts ticking from the crash whether you've put the claim in or not. Lose the early weeks to delay and you can't get them back at the other end. See can I claim if I was at fault.
The bottom line
If the crash was recent, the 28-day clock is the one. Call us today. If the crash was weeks or months ago, call anyway — late submission has a real pathway and we run it routinely.
Take the short check at /check, or call (02) 7238 7379 and a real person picks up.