A car crash can leave motorists facing another battle — getting their insurer to fund the treatment they need to return to work, compensation lawyer Travis Schultz has warned.
And his warning carries a local weight, with the Logan–Beaudesert region accounting for 2932 compulsory third party insurance claims relating to crashes between July 2023 and June 2026, about 13.6% of Queensland’s regional total.
“Queenslanders should be able to access the rehabilitation they need, regardless of whether they have a lawyer beside them at the table,” Mr Schultz said.
Queensland Treasury figures obtained by his firm through Right to Information show average treatment and rehabilitation payments for direct claimants fell 25.5% from $6122 for claims finalised in 2024–25 to $4559 in 2025–26.
For legally represented claimants, the average rose 6.2% to $18,699 — more than four times as much.
“What concerns me even more is what we are seeing with rehabilitation because this is what helps injured people get back to work and everyday life,” Mr Schultz said.
Treasury cautioned that large claims influenced the figures. The previous year’s direct-claim rehabilitation average was also the highest in the five-year data supplied.
Mr Schultz said his firm had successfully challenged an insurer’s refusal to fund a client’s back surgery.
He said injured people could find themselves navigating an unfamiliar system while recovering.
“We recently had a client come to us after lodging their own CTP claim and being denied funding for back surgery,” Mr Schultz said.
“We challenged that decision through an application and won, allowing the client to access the surgery they desperately needed, while their broader compensation claim continues.”
“What worries me is that the people most likely to be outmatched in this process are the very people who are injured, recovering and trying to navigate a system they may never have dealt with before.
“On the other side of the table is an insurer that deals with these claims every day. It really is a David and Goliath battle.”
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