Hit by a Drunk, Drug-Affected or Uninsured Driver in Queensland: Your Compensation Rights

Can you get compensation if a drunk driver hit you?

Yes. Every registered vehicle in Queensland carries CTP insurance, which covers the driver’s liability for injuries they cause. Your claim is made against that insurer, which deals with it and pays the compensation. The driver being drunk or drug-affected does not take away your right to be compensated. It usually makes proving fault easier.

CTP covers personal injury: treatment, lost income, pain and suffering, and care. Damage to your car is a separate claim against the driver’s property insurer, or your own.

What happens to the driver

Under section 58 of the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld), a CTP insurer can recover from its own driver the claim costs reasonably attributable to the driver being unable to exercise effective control of the vehicle because of alcohol or a non-medicinal drug. That recovery is a matter between the insurer and the driver. It does not reduce your claim. The driver may also face criminal charges, which run separately.

Can you sue the drunk driver personally?

Your claim is technically against the driver and owner of the vehicle, but in practice the CTP insurer handles it and pays it on their behalf. If court proceedings are needed, the driver or owner and the CTP insurer are named together, but any judgment is given against the insurer only. You do not need to chase the driver or find out whether they have money or assets.

If the vehicle was uninsured, unregistered or never identified

The Nominal Defendant is Queensland’s insurer of last resort. It pays claims when there is no CTP insurer to claim against.

• Uninsured or unregistered vehicle. The Nominal Defendant is liable for the damages the owner or driver would have had to pay. The accident must have happened on a road or in a public place.
• Unidentified vehicle (hit-and-run). You must show the vehicle could not be identified after proper enquiry and search, so report it to police quickly and look for witnesses, dashcam and CCTV footage. Notice must be given to the Nominal Defendant within 3 months of the accident. Notice given after 3 months but within 9 months needs a reasonable excuse for the delay. If it has not been given within 9 months, the claim is barred, with no exceptions.

Our guide to unidentified and unregistered vehicle claims explains these claims in more detail.

Passengers who rode with a drunk driver

Passengers can claim against the driver’s CTP insurer, but the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) reduces compensation for a passenger aged 16 or over who relied on a driver they knew, or should reasonably have known, was intoxicated (section 48). If the insurer alleges the passenger was partly to blame (contributory negligence), that is presumed, and damages are reduced by at least 25%.

The minimum reduction rises to 50% if the driver’s blood alcohol was 150mg or more per 100mL of blood, or the driver was so affected by alcohol or a drug that they could not exercise effective control of the vehicle (section 49).

The reduction can be avoided only by showing that the driver’s intoxication did not contribute to the driver’s negligence, or that you could not reasonably have avoided relying on them, for example because you had no other safe way home.

The criminal case and your claim

You do not have to wait for the criminal case to finish before claiming, and your time limits keep running while it continues. If the driver is convicted, the conviction can be used in your claim. Under section 79 of the Evidence Act 1977 (Qld), the driver is taken to have committed the acts that make up the offence unless the contrary is proved.

Victims of crime assistance

Victim Assist Queensland can sometimes help people hurt by dangerous driving, but it expects you to claim through CTP or the Nominal Defendant first. If you apply before that claim is finished, your application is usually put on hold (except for counselling costs), and anything you receive from the CTP claim is taken into account.

Catastrophic injuries

The National Injury Insurance Scheme Queensland (NIISQ) provides treatment, care and support for people with serious injuries from motor vehicle accidents in Queensland on or after 1 July 2016, whoever was at fault, including lifetime support for those accepted as lifetime participants. It covers injuries such as permanent spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, multiple or high-level amputations, severe burns and permanent blindness. A CTP claim can still be made against an at-fault driver for other losses, such as lost income and pain and suffering; treatment and care are then funded by NIISQ instead.

What you can claim

• General damages for pain and suffering, assessed on Queensland’s injury scale.
• Past and future lost earnings and superannuation.
• Medical, hospital, rehabilitation and travel costs.
• Paid care, and unpaid care from family if it is necessary because of the injury and provided for at least 6 hours a week for at least 6 months.

Our claim estimator explains how Queensland damages are made up.

Time limits

CTP notice9 months (or 1 month after first consulting a lawyer) Hit-and-run3 months (barred after 9) Court3 years

• Notice of accident claim. Within 9 months of the accident, or of symptoms first appearing, or within 1 month after you first consult a lawyer about a possible claim, whichever is earlier. A late notice needs a reasonable excuse.
• Unidentified vehicle. Notice to the Nominal Defendant within 3 months; after that, a reasonable excuse is needed. After 9 months the claim is barred.
• Court proceedings. Generally within 3 years of the accident.

What to do after being hit by a drunk or uninsured driver

1. Step 1 Call 000 if anyone is hurt, and make sure police attend or are told.
2. Step 2 Get the other vehicle’s registration number and the driver’s name, and note what you saw of their condition.
3. Step 3 Keep the police report or event number.
4. Step 4 Photograph the scene and the vehicles, and save any dashcam footage. Ask nearby businesses about CCTV quickly, because it is often overwritten.
5. Step 5 Take the names and phone numbers of witnesses.
6. Step 6 See a doctor straight away, even if you feel fine, and keep your receipts.
7. Step 7 Get legal advice early, especially if the driver left the scene, because the 3-month deadline is short.