The Costs section in the By Lawyers Motor Vehicle Accidents From 1 December 2017 guide has been reviewed and enhanced.
The By Lawyers NSW Motor Vehicle Accident publication contains two separate guides – one for motor vehicle accidents which occurred before 1 December 2017, another for motor vehicle accidents which occurred from that date. This reflects the two separate statutory schemes which apply.
The Costs section of the matter plan and commentary has been re-organised with new sub-headings for improved searchability and additional content. Enhancements include:
- Restrictions on costs generally clarified and emphasised, given their significance to practitioners for claims under the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017;
- Costs in statutory benefits claims – maximum allowances for work relating to each of the three types of disputes in statutory benefits claims – merit, medical and miscellaneous;
- Costs in common law claims – the allowable costs for common law claims divided into stages of the matter now listed in the commentary;
- Contracting out of the maximum costs provisions, with commentary on the restrictions that apply;
- Addition of the recent case AAI Limited trading as GIO v Moon [2020] NSWSC 714 on the ability of the Dispute Resolution Service to award costs above the maximum in certain cases;
- Payment – how a practitioner submits a tax invoice to the insurer; and
- Costs disclosure to SIRA – lawyers representing claimants are required to provide SIRA with a breakdown of the costs charged to the client at the end of the matter.
This review is part of By Lawyers continuing commitment to enhancing our content and helping our subscribers enjoy practice more.