New South Wales Consolidated Acts

MOTOR ACCIDENTS COMPENSATION ACT 1999 - SECT 50

50 Acceptance of provisional liability by insurer

(1) An insurer of a motor vehicle must give written notice to an injured person who has duly submitted a completed accident notification form to the insurer stating whether or not the insurer accepts provisional liability in respect of the treatment expenses and lost earnings concerned.

(2) It is the duty of the insurer of a motor vehicle involved in the motor accident that resulted in an injured person's injuries to accept provisional liability in respect of the treatment expenses and lost earnings of the injured person (whether or not the person's injuries were caused by the fault of the owner or driver of the vehicle in the use or operation of the vehicle and even if the motor accident was caused by the fault of the injured person).

(3) The notice is required to be given within 10 days after the insurer receives the accident notification form. The regulations may shorten or extend that period.

(4) If the insurer fails to notify the injured person in accordance with this section, the insurer is taken to have accepted provisional liability.

(5) Despite anything to the contrary in this section, an insurer who is, or is acting for, the Nominal Defendant under section 34 (Claims against Nominal Defendant where vehicle not identified) is not taken to have accepted provisional liability unless the insurer has given written notice accepting provisional liability.

(6) Nothing in this section prevents the insurer from accepting provisional liability after having denied that liability.

(7) An insurer is required to pay for the treatment expenses and lost earnings of an injured person in accordance with this Part only if the insurer has accepted or is taken to have accepted provisional liability in respect of them.

(8) Payments under this Part are payments as compensation for the treatment expenses or lost earnings concerned, but neither those payments nor the acceptance of provisional liability under this Part by an insurer constitutes an admission of liability by the insurer in connection with a claim in respect of the motor accident.

(9) A payment made under this Part before the injured person obtains judgment for damages against the defendant is, to the extent of its amount, a defence to proceedings by the injured person against the defendant for damages.

(10) It is a condition of an insurer's licence that the insurer must comply with this section.

(11) In this section--

"insurer of a motor vehicle" means the insurer who insures the owner of the motor vehicle against liability in respect of the death of or injury to a person caused by the fault of the owner or driver of the vehicle in the use or operation of the vehicle.