Injury compensation lawyers for Sunnybank, Runcorn and Calamvale

Who we act for in Sunnybank, Runcorn and Calamvale

We act for people who live or work in Sunnybank, Sunnybank Hills, Runcorn, Calamvale, Kuraby, Stretton, Robertson, Macgregor and Eight Mile Plains and have been injured in a car, motorcycle, bicycle or pedestrian accident, at work, or in a public place such as a footpath, park or shopping centre. We also act on total and permanent disability (TPD) and income protection claims through superannuation.

Our main office is at Level 2, 8 Clunies Ross Court, Eight Mile Plains, one of the suburbs on this page, and we have a Brisbane City office for meetings by appointment. We can meet at our office, at your home, or wherever you feel is most convenient, or by phone or video. We act in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka or Malay.

Car accidents on Mains Road, Compton Road and the motorways

A crash on Mains Road, Compton Road, Kessels Road, the Pacific Motorway (M1) or any other road in the area is a CTP claim against the compulsory third party insurer of the vehicle at fault. It starts with a Notice of Accident Claim Form. The Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC) says the form must be lodged within nine months of the accident (or of when symptoms first appeared), or within one month of your first meeting with a lawyer, whichever is earlier. Our guides on what to do after a car accident and on how a CTP claim works go through each step.

If anyone is hurt or in danger, call 000. Where someone was injured and police did not attend, report the crash at a police station; Policelink on 131 444 and online reporting are for crashes where nobody was hurt. Keep the police reference number (the QP number), as the CTP insurer will ask for it. A CTP claim requires the accident to have been reported to police.

If the vehicle that hit you cannot be identified, or was unregistered and uninsured, the claim is made against the Nominal Defendant. Where the vehicle cannot be identified, MAIC says the claim form must be lodged within three months of the accident. Pedestrians and cyclists hit by a vehicle claim through CTP in the same way as drivers and passengers.

Injured at work

Workers injured anywhere in Queensland are covered by WorkCover Queensland or their employer's self-insurer. That includes people working in the offices of Brisbane Technology Park at Eight Mile Plains, in the shops and restaurants around Sunnybank Plaza and Calamvale Central, and people who live here and travel elsewhere for work. The WorkCover application must generally be lodged within six months of the injury. The statutory claim pays weekly compensation, medical treatment and rehabilitation whoever was at fault; where the employer was negligent, a separate damages claim may also be available.

An injury on the ordinary journey between home and work can be covered as a journey claim. If another driver caused it, there may also be a CTP claim, and the two run side by side. If you are working in Australia on a visa, you can still claim; our guide on being injured on a visa explains how.

Footpaths, parks and shopping centres

All of the suburbs on this page are in the Brisbane City Council area. If you are hurt because of the condition of a council footpath, park or other council land, in Sunnybank Hills, Runcorn or anywhere else on this page, the claim is against Brisbane City Council. The council has an online Notice of Injury, Loss or Damage form for people who believe council wrongdoing caused an injury. A personal injury claim must still follow the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld), which starts with a formal Notice of Claim to the party responsible.

For a defect on a state-controlled road such as the Pacific Motorway, the notice goes to the Department of Transport and Main Roads. For a fall in a shopping centre, such as Sunnybank Plaza on the corner of Mains Road and McCullough Street or Calamvale Central on Compton Road, the notice goes to the occupier or owner of the centre. Our guide on slip and fall claims explains what has to be proved.

• Notice of Claim (part 1): within nine months of the incident (or of when symptoms first appeared), or one month after you first instruct a lawyer and the party responsible is identified, whichever is earlier.
• Court proceedings: generally within three years of the injury.

Treatment and hospital records

Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hospital (QEII), on the corner of Kessels Road and Troughton Road in Coopers Plains, is a Metro South Health public hospital. Metro South Health also runs the Eight Mile Plains Satellite Health Centre at 59 Levington Road, which treats minor illnesses and injuries that are not life-threatening, from 8 am to 10 pm, seven days a week. It is not an emergency department. Princess Alexandra Hospital at Woolloongabba is also part of Metro South Health.

Hospital and clinic notes are often the first record of how an injury happened and what was found. Metro South Health says its records are its property but you have the right to request the information in your medical record, with certified identity documents. A lawyer can request them on your behalf with your written authority.

Languages spoken at home

In the 2021 Census, 23.8% of Sunnybank Hills residents used Mandarin at home and 6.3% used Cantonese; 59.4% of households in Sunnybank Hills used a language other than English. In Sunnybank, 26.7% used Mandarin and 6.8% Cantonese. In Calamvale, 21.4% used Mandarin and 6.9% Cantonese. In Runcorn, 16.0% used Mandarin, 8.1% Punjabi, 6.1% Cantonese and 5.3% Korean.

We act in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka or Malay, so you can explain what happened, and hear the advice, in the language you are most comfortable in. Claim forms and insurer letters are in English; we go through them with you.

Getting to our office

Our office is in Brisbane Technology Park at Eight Mile Plains, which sits at the junction of the Gateway Motorway and the Pacific Motorway (M1). Eight Mile Plains busway station on the South East Busway is in the same suburb. The Beenleigh train line runs through the area, with stations at Banoon, Sunnybank, Altandi, Runcorn, Fruitgrove and Kuraby.

You do not have to travel to us. We can meet at our office, at your home, or wherever you feel is most convenient, or by phone or video.

Fees

No win, no fee. The first consultation is free. We fund the outlays needed to run the claim, and in most cases they are not payable if the claim is unsuccessful. There are situations where they become payable; these are set out in the costs agreement, which we explain before you sign.