Gerard Morson featured on 2GB discussing personal injury claims - 8 June 2021

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DK – Deborah Knight/GM – Gerard Morson /C1,2,3, etc – Callers

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Read the transcript below:

DK      And as we do at this time every Tuesday, Turner Freeman Lawyers are with us looking at personal injury today, if you’ve got a question, a query, 131 873. We’re in for a cold blast with heavy rain along the east coast this week, maybe you’ve slipped on the street had a serious injury or maybe you were zapped by rogue electrical wire, let me know 131 873. Do you think you might have rights to compensation, well Gerard Morson is a personal injury specialist at Turner Freeman Lawyers and he is here now to take your calls, we’ve got our $100 Westfield voucher for the best call as well, so added incentive, Gerard thanks so much for joining us.

GM     Deb, good afternoon, thank for having me as always, pleasure to be here.

DK      Well it’s good to have you with us, we’ll get to the calls in just a moment, but this is an interesting that I wanted to hear from you about, a group of teenagers in Australia sought an injunction to stop the expansion of a coal mine and late last month the Federal Court ruled that our environment minister, currently Susan Lee had a duty of care to protect children of the future from personal injury because of climate change, now that was deemed a world first, have you ever seen anything like that before?

GM     No, I haven’t Deborah, in deed a world first and I think there will be lots of water to flow under the bridge on that one, the governments of course in as much as they can have duties of care to citizens and of course children of the future and it will be a very interesting case to certainly keep an eye on and I will be keeping an eye on it as to how it plays out perhaps in even higher courts than the Federal Court, perhaps up to the High Court, we’ll just have to keep an eye on it.

DK      Yeah, because it’s curious, I mean what exactly would or could constitute personal injury because of climate change?

GM     Well there could be a number of conditions, I guess the warmer weather could result in respiratory conditions, there could also be skin cancer related conditions as well that could arise from climate change and increased temperatures, there’s certainly a vast number of injuries and illnesses that could be caused or substantially contributed to of course by climate change, so it really is a watch this space exercise I think at this point in time.

DK      Yeah, very curious, we’ll see how that plays out and it’s obviously very different to the normal personal injury that you’d be dealing your bread and butter on a day to day basis, the classic I slipped and fell in the supermarket story.

GM     Well that’s exactly right as well, we do a lot of work as compensation and motor accident compensation claims so that is more of the work we see on a day to day basis and certainly this case we will keep an eye on in regards to what the court’s rulings will be in that regard of course we’ll want to leave this planet as good as it possibly can be and we all want to be happy and healthy.

DK      Now let’s hear from you if you’ve got a question for Gerard, 131 873 is the number to call, the text line 0460 873 873. We’re speaking personal injury and it’s free legal advice and we’ve got a $100 Westfield voucher to give away for the best call. We talk a lot Gerard about individuals when they’re impacted with personal injury but what about if you own a business, what are some of the ways that you can actually go about protecting yourself or being proactive about avoiding personal injury claims in the first place?

GM     Well if you are a business, it’s always good to have your insurances first and foremost set out, public liability insurance, the cost of your business plant and equipment, it’s good to have those insurances as a business owner you’ve got an obligation to have your worker’s compensation insurance in place so that if your employees are injured on the job that you can be covered and that they can be helped by the scheme and hopefully recover and rehabilitate and jump straight back into work as soon as they’re able to if they are able to of course, depending on the severity of injuries. So, as a business owner I would say as much as you can do try to have your insurances in place, try to conduct regular safety audits, take feedback from your staff, have toolbox meetings.

DK      Do you need to have signage and things in place if you’re dealing with customers on a daily basis? Signs and warnings up and visible?

GM     The answer is it depends on the particular hazards, if you have something that is a slip hazard for example that can be regularly an issue, a foreseeable hazard then of course it is prudent to have warnings and if people injure themselves on your property there could be a negligence claim against them if they foreseeable risk of injury materialises because they would certainly be in breach of their duty inviting invitees into the store and…

DK      And the risk would be there.

GM     It would be so always try to be vigilant and warn as much as possible, we don’t have to litter the walls with signs to ruin the decor or their interior but if there is a hazard you should certainly identify it for your customers or your clients.

DK      Alright, Brian is on the line with a question for you today. Hello, Brian, what did you want to know from Gerard Morson?

Caller No 1     Brian

C1       Yes, g’day Gerard, just wondering I had the misfortune to have a situation at work where I lost my job and applied for total and permanent disability to me, they…. the contents of my insurance on my super, just wondering can you be forced to go back into the work force when you can no longer get TPD, so in other words, if I go back and get further injured somewhere else, I’m no longer covered.

GM     Well it’s a good question, good afternoon Brian. An injured worker that has been able to call on their total and permanent disablement insurance has multiple rights, first of all while we would have determine whether your injury or illness has been caused by your employment or your employment was the substantial contributing factor to the exacerbation, deterioration or aggravation of any underlying disease, so that would have to be explored but secondly just onto the TPD question, if you, it depends on your specific superannuation policy, so most policies have a generic definition that if you’re unable to return to employment you’re suited to by education, training or experience you’ll be paid out on that policy and the super fund or insurer makes a specific determination on that specific policy so if you were a truck driver and you hurt your lumbar spine and you couldn’t sit down for long periods of time but could get back into an office job or reception at a club where you could stand all the time that is suitable with your restrictions then you could get back to work at another location, but the devil is in the detail Brian, best to leave your details after this call and we’ll get in touch and can chat a bit more about it.

DK      Alright stay on the line Brian we’ll get your details and have a follow up with Gerard. We’ll take a quick break Gerard, more calls coming through 131 873, you’re on Afternoons with Deborah Knight. We’re talking Legal Matters with Gerard Morson from Turner Freeman Lawyers, if you’ve got a query 131 873, personal injury is our focus today. Elle has got a question for Gerard, hello Elle.

Caller No 2     Elle

C2       Thank you Deb, I love your show.

DK      Oh thank you.

C2       So I’m asking with the boom in car sales if you’re buying a car privately, what might be a prudent thing to do when you get behind the wheel of someone else’s car?

GM     Elle, good afternoon, in relation to buying a car privately, always do your research as best as you possibly can. You can organise a number of, insurance companies have a mechanical inspection service, I would first of all recommend you do that, hopefully you’ve negotiated a good or fair price in the circumstances and once it is yours ensure it is insured for property damage, well you’re not obligated to have your property damages insurance but it’s of course a good idea but to have the car registered in your name of course, you need you compulsory CTP insurance.

C2       Sorry, when you actually taking it for a drive before you decide to buy it.

DK      So before you’ve purchased it, just during the test drive process Gerard.

GM     Right, well, sorry, the CTP insurance when you’re behind the wheel would cover you for any injuries and other road users for any injuries. In terms of whether you cause any property damage to that vehicle it would depend upon the vehicle’s property damage policy as to whether you would be covered or if you had an accident and injured or damages other cars as to whether you would have to pay for that or the person’s car that you’re driving would have to pay for that.

DK      You would be covered though for the injury.

GM     Absolutely yes, assuming the car is registered, both yourself and the other person would be covered for injury as well and happy to talk about it again in a bit more detail after this call if you’d like.

DK      Alright, Elle thank you, that’s a great question in fact because we have seen a boom in car sales, I’m going to give you our $100 Westfield voucher Elle because it’s really fitting I think. We keep talking about the boom in car sales, second hand and new so stay on the line Elle and I’ll send you out our $100 Westfield voucher cause that’s a ripper of a question, thank you so much for asking it. Jeanette’s also got a query for you Gerard, hi Jeanette.

Caller No 3     Jeanette

C3       G’day Deb, hi Gerard. At the local supermarket I parked my car in the car park, when I got out I picked up approximately 15 two inch screws, unfortunately one went through my tyre. I went in and spoke to the supervisor and said about it, you know who’s going to pay for my tyre and they said they’re not responsible for the car park, there’s no park at your own risk sign or anything like that.

DK      Would Jeannette have any follow up?

GM     Well Jeanette it sounds like they might not have wanted to deal with the very unfortunate situation you found yourself in but secondly it may be that they do not own the car park, if you went to a shopping centre and they are leasing the premises, generally they’re only leasing the actual store that they’re in and the car park might be somebody else’s completely responsibility, so it could be helpful if they could pass you on those details if they’re not responsible. If they are responsible for the looking after the car park, and the screws were there on the ground for a long time and your car has picked one up unfortunately on the way through, then I would be giving them the invoice that new tyre that you need and any costs associated with that and ask for them to pay it and if they refuse they’ll probably send you, point you in the right direction if they’re not the ones liable.

DK      Follow that up Jeanette, I think that’s a good one to actually ensure that you can ask a few more questions about. We are out of time Gerard, thank you so much for joining us and if you want some help regarding any of the specialist legal services that Turner Freeman offers including compensation and negligence law, asbestos litigation, superannuation and disability claims, you can get in touch, wills and estates too and property law. Visit turnerfreeman.com.au or give them a call 13 43 63.