Zest Personal Injury Lawyers Brisbane - Blog | No Win No Pay, Super Claims

On Tuesday 26 November 2019, the Motor Accident Insurance and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019, which aims to stamp out the practice of claim farming (or ‘car crash scamming’), was passed by the Queensland Parliament. These laws will take effect from the date the Bill receives royal assent by the Governor which can take anywhere up to two weeks. The reforms will create some new requirements for insurers, lawyers, medical practitioners and claimants. Importantly, the legislation does not change any existing entitlements to compensation.

Notice of Accident Claim Form

On the date of assent, the information required to be provided in the Notice of Accident Claim Form (NOAC) will change. New versions of the NOAC (Non-Fatal) and NOAC (Fatal) will be made available on the Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC) website at this time.

The additional questions required to be answered in the NOAC are:

Medicare card number and reference;
Whether an interpreter is required, and, if so, the language required;
The number of occupants in the same vehicle as the claimant and the seating positions of these occupants;
Details of any property damage claim lodged for the vehicle the claimant was travelling in (if known);
Email addresses of any witnesses to the accident (if known);
Claimant’s weekly net income and average weekly net income for the past 12 months;
The date on which the claimant first consulted a lawyer about the possibility of making a CTP claim; and
The date the law practice representing the claimant was retained to act.

The NOAC will be required to be witnessed by a Justice of the Peace, Commissioner for Declarations or a lawyer and initialled at the bottom of each page. Claimants who are aged 15 years and over are also required to provide certified government-issued photographic identification.

The Medical Certificate has also been updated to require medical practitioners to advise whether the claimant was an existing patient of theirs as at the date of the accident, whether they physically examined the claimant and to provide their Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) registration number.

Furthermore, all new claims will be required to be accompanied by both a Claimant Certificate and Law Practice Certificate (if the claimant is legally represented).

Claimant Certificate

The Claimant Certificate requires a claimant to state whether they are making the claim on their own initiative or if they were contacted by another person who solicited or induced them to make the claim. The Claimant Certificate also asks whether the claimant is aware of any consideration being paid for their referral to a law practice. The Claimant Certificate will be a fillable template made available on the MAIC website on the date of assent.

Law Practice Certificate

The Law Practice Certificate requires legal practitioners to certify that neither they, nor any associate of their firm, have engaged in ‘claim farming’ activities in relation to the claim from the date of assent. Also, if the claim is a speculative claim (also known as ‘no win, no fee’), that the costs agreement complies with the new section 79 of the amending legislation and the ‘50/50 rule’ under section 347 of the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld). The Law Practice Certificate is required to be given at both lodgement and settlement/judgement of a claim. The Law Practice Certificate will be a fillable template made available on the MAIC website after the date of assent.

The Law Practice Certificate is required to be given at both lodgement and settlement (or judgment) of a claim as well as in circumstances where a law practice sells a matter to another law practice. The requirement for the Law Practice Certificate to be given on settlement (or judgment) applies to all open claims which have not been resolved prior to the date of assent. The Law Practice Certificate will be a fillable template made available on the MAIC website after the date of assent.

Zest Injury Law wholeheartedly supports these new measures to defeat unscrupulous claims farmers.

From the Queensland Law Society on 28 November 2019:

“Free” public Wi-Fi is a cyber criminal’s playground

Free Wi-Fi might cost you thousands if it allows cyber criminals to access the data on your phone, laptop or office network. Once an esoteric form of hacking, the low cost and ease of use of “Pineapple” Wi-Fi faking devices now puts them in reach of anyone with an eBay account. The scam is simple: buy such a device (under $100) and hide it somewhere near a venue. Set the network name it broadcasts to be similar to the legitimate Wi-Fi the venue supplies. “BNE Domestic free Wi-Fi” might be replaced with “BNE domestic free Wi-Fi”, for example.

Once a victim logs onto the fake network, their passwords and confidential documents can be copied or malware inserted onto their computer. Hundreds of different attack types can be run until the criminals find one that works on your device. This can then grant access to your email, practice management system or bank accounts. All the attacker needs is access to a public area somewhere nearby. Even a reputable venue can be vulnerable – in fact, as they attract a higher density of executives and professionals, premium locations are more likely to be targeted. Five star hotels, top tier convention centres and exclusive airport lounges have all been used to launch these attacks.

The Queensland Law Society Cybersecurity and Scam Prevention Working Group reports an increase in attacks on business travellers in Australia using this method over the past few months.

How to avoid becoming a statistic: · Avoid free Wi-Fi: don’t use or let staff use free Wi-Fi with any device that can access important data. · Don’t visit insecure websites: use https web addresses rather than http (notice the lack of an “s” at the end?). Check for a locked padlock next to the web address in your browser. Remember that https or “Secure” websites do not mean safe websites, it just means visiting them is less open to this particular type of attack. · Connect to the internet using a 4G dongle or your phone hotspot when you are away from your office (this applies to access from home as well, domestic routers can be insecure too). · If you must use public Wi-Fi, use a paid VPN service (which encrypts your traffic for about $15 / month) and never supply passwords or log into sensitive websites such as your email. Note that domestic & business VPN systems are configured differently. The higher cost of the business system adds some security but mainly extra stability and convenience. · Check the Wi-Fi network address for hotel supplied Wi-Fi when you check in. Compare it carefully with any log in instructions supplied and do not ignore any anomalies. · Ideally, use separate business and private devices. A designated tablet for watching video, entertaining children and general web surfing is a small investment with potentially big safety returns. Do not use this device to access confidential documents, your work network, email or banking apps.