When making a claim for personal injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident, assessment of your injuries needs to be undertaken as part of determining what compensation you might be entitled to. Those medical assessments must be performed by an independent medical expert (IME) certified to perform those assessments.
During the compensation claim process, Allianz, as the compulsory third party insurer, are entitled to arrange for injured people to be examined and assessed by one or more IME's of their choosing under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act 1959.
Allianz must provide details of the medical appointment in writing with sufficient notice to the injured party. Those details will include the doctor's name, address, and appointment date and time.
An injured person is required to attend at an appointment as arranged unless there is a valid reason why they cannot attend such as being away interstate or overseas. If an injured person cannot attend the insurer's medical appointment, they must notify the insurer at least 72 hours in advance to avoid incurring a non attendance fee. In those instances the appointment will be rescheduled. The non attendance for late cancellation fee often exceeds $200 and cannot be recovered as part of the compensation claim.
In addition to seeing an IME at the request of Allianz, an injured person also has the right to be examined and assessed by an IME of their own choosing, provided that IME is suitably qualified and certified to provide such an assessment. When selecting an IME as an injured person, careful consideration should be given prior to arranging that assessment to ensure the most suitable IME to provide the required report is used. The IME report obtained by an injured person is in addition to the treatment they receive from their treating physicians such as their general practitioner, physiotherapist or surgeon.
At Andersons Solicitors we are experienced in arranging independent medical assessments with suitably qualified doctors experienced in assessing all injury types. If pursuing a personal injury claim arising from a motor vehicle accident, you should contact us to discuss your claim and arranging for an independent medical assessment to occur.
