Who Can Claim CTP in NSW? Passengers, Pedestrians, Cyclists and Motorcyclists
After a motor accident, one of the first questions people ask is whether the compensation scheme even applies to them. Drivers often assume that only the innocent party can claim. Passengers worry that claiming means blaming a friend. Pedestrians and cyclists frequently think that because they were not in a vehicle, the road accident scheme is not for them. In almost every case, these assumptions are wrong.
The New South Wales compulsory third party, or CTP, scheme is deliberately broad. It is designed to support people injured on the road, whoever they are and however they were travelling, and that includes drivers, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists alike.
This guide explains who can make a CTP claim, walks through each type of road user, and points you to more detailed guidance for your situation. Please treat it as general information rather than advice about your own claim, and you should seek legal advice about your particular situation before making decisions about it.
Who can make a CTP claim in NSW?
The scheme is set up by the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (NSW) and regulated by the State Insurance Regulatory Authority, known as SIRA. In broad terms, if you were injured as a result of a motor accident in NSW, you can generally make a claim, regardless of the role you were playing on the road at the time.
Two features of the scheme make it far more inclusive than people expect.
First, for an initial period after the accident, you can access benefits regardless of who was at fault. This means income support and treatment can begin soon after the accident, even before blame is sorted out, and even a driver who caused the accident can receive early benefits.
Second, the scheme is not limited to people inside vehicles. Anyone injured by the use or operation of a motor vehicle can be covered, which is why pedestrians and cyclists are included just as much as drivers and passengers.
The practical message is simple. Do not rule yourself out. The question is rarely whether you can claim at all, but what you can claim and against whom.
The road users who can claim
The table below sets out the main categories and how a claim generally works for each. The sections that follow, and the detailed guides linked throughout, go further.
| Road user | Can they claim? | Who they generally claim against |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Yes | The at fault vehicle’s insurer, or their own vehicle’s insurer for initial benefits |
| Motorcyclist | Yes, as the rider of a motor vehicle | The at fault vehicle’s insurer, or their own for initial benefits |
| Passenger | Yes | The CTP insurer of the vehicle at fault |
| Pedestrian | Yes, if injured by a motor vehicle | The vehicle’s insurer, or the Nominal Defendant |
| Cyclist | Yes, if a motor vehicle was involved | The vehicle’s insurer, or the Nominal Defendant |
Drivers and motorcyclists
Drivers of cars, trucks and other vehicles can claim when injured in a motor accident. If another vehicle was at fault, the claim is made against that vehicle’s CTP insurer. If you were at fault, you can still access statutory benefits for an initial period through your own vehicle’s insurer, though being wholly or mostly at fault limits your entitlements beyond the first 52 weeks and rules out a damages claim.
Motorcyclists are in the same position as drivers, because a motorcycle is a motor vehicle and a rider is treated as its driver. That is an important distinction from cyclists, who ride bicycles. A motorcyclist injured in a collision claims as the rider of a motor vehicle, against the at fault vehicle’s insurer, or their own vehicle’s insurer for initial benefits.
Motorcyclists do face some particular issues. Their injuries tend to be more serious, so common law damages claims are relevant more often, and questions of contributory negligence can arise, for example around helmet use. None of these changes the basic point that an injured motorcyclist can claim.
Passengers, pedestrians and cyclists
These three groups are the ones most likely to wrongly assume they cannot claim, so each has its own detailed guide.
Passengers can claim whether they were in a private car, a taxi, a rideshare vehicle, a bus, or on the back of a motorcycle. Importantly, a passenger can claim even where the driver of their own vehicle was at fault, because the claim is made against the vehicle’s insurer, not the driver personally. We cover this in detail in our guide for a passenger injured in a car accident.
Pedestrians injured by a motor vehicle are covered, including in a hit and run, where a claim can be made against the Nominal Defendant. Our guide for a pedestrian hit by a car explains their rights, including how being partly at fault affects a claim.
Cyclists are covered where a motor vehicle was involved in the crash, including situations such as dooring, and even some crashes where the vehicle did not physically touch the rider. A genuinely solo cycling crash with no vehicle involved is not a CTP claim, though another type of claim may apply. Our guide for a cyclist injured by a vehicle sets out where the line falls.
Other people who can claim
The scheme reaches further than the main road user categories.
Riders of personal mobility devices, such as electric scooters, occupy a developing area of the law, but where such a rider is injured by a motor vehicle, they may be able to claim in a similar way to a pedestrian or cyclist, so it is worth getting advice rather than assuming.
Family members of a person killed in a motor accident may be entitled to claim as well. The scheme provides for certain benefits to dependants and for funeral and related expenses where someone has died, which is an important entitlement at the hardest of times.
Children injured in motor accidents can claim, whether as passengers, pedestrians or cyclists, and a parent or guardian can pursue a claim on their behalf. The law also approaches questions of fault differently for young children.
Does being at fault stop you from claiming?
This is where a lot of confusion sits, so it is worth being clear. Being at fault does not shut you out of the scheme entirely.
For the first 52 weeks, statutory benefits are generally available regardless of fault, so even a driver who caused the accident can receive early income support and treatment. Beyond that period, fault matters more. If you were wholly or mostly at fault, your benefits generally stop after 52 weeks and you cannot bring a common law damages claim. If you were only partly at fault, you can still claim, though your damages may be reduced for contributory negligence.
So being at fault, or partly at fault, changes what you can claim and for how long, rather than whether you can claim at all. Only in limited situations does fault remove your entitlements completely, and even then usually only after the first year.
How Stephen Young Lawyers can help
Because the scheme is so broad, the more common problem is not that people cannot claim, but that they never find out they could. Passengers stay silent to protect a friend, pedestrians and cyclists assume they are outside the system, and at fault drivers assume they get nothing. In each case, an entitlement often goes unclaimed.
An experienced personal injury lawyer can quickly tell you whether you have a claim, who to claim against, and what you may be entitled to, and can then make sure the claim is lodged correctly and on time. Whatever your role on the road when you were injured, it costs nothing to find out where you stand.
For more detail, we have guides on how to make a CTP claim in NSW, on statutory benefits versus common law damages, on claiming against the Nominal Defendant after a hit and run or uninsured driver, and on how contributory negligence affects a claim, along with the dedicated guides for passengers, pedestrians and cyclists. You can read about your broader options on our motor vehicle accident claims page. As an Accredited Specialist personal injury firm based in Sydney CBD, with a multilingual team and a No Win No Fee approach for eligible matters, we can review your situation and tell you where you stand.
No lawyer can promise you a particular outcome, and every claim turns on its own facts. What can be said is that the CTP scheme covers far more people than most realise, and that being unsure whether you qualify is a good reason to ask rather than to assume you do not.
Speak with an experienced motor accident lawyer today
If you have been injured in a motor accident anywhere in New South Wales, whatever your role on the road, do not assume you have no claim, and do not let the 28 day deadline for backdated income support pass before you act.
Contact Stephen Young Lawyers today for a free, no obligation consultation. Call us or get in touch through our website to speak with an experienced personal injury lawyer about your accident and your options.