Bona v Jeffries & Another
[2021] QSC 84 · Burns J
The plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident at Wynnum in November 2018 and brought a claim for damages. Liability was not in dispute. This ruling dealt only with two procedural applications, not the amount of compensation. The insurer wanted the plaintiff to be examined by an occupational therapist, but over roughly nine months it repeatedly failed to put forward a panel of therapists who could see the plaintiff within a reasonable time, offering appointments many months away. The plaintiff refused to wait and served a Request for Trial Date, which the insurer would not sign. The court found the insurer's delay was lengthy and unexplained, and that requiring the plaintiff to submit to the examination on those terms would be unreasonable. It dismissed the insurer's application, dispensed with the insurer's signature on the Request for Trial Date so the case could move toward hearing, and ordered the insurer to pay the plaintiff's costs.
Incident & injury
Motor vehicle accident
- Body regions
- Multiple regions / generalised, Orthopaedic
- Incident date
- 24 November 2018
- Location
- Wynnum
Quick facts
- Date of judgment
- 28 April 2021
- Claim type
- MAIA
- Proceeding
- Interlocutory
- Plaintiff outcome
- Successful
- Plaintiff age at injury
- Occupation
- Principal / Partner in a law firm Professional
Outcome
The court dismissed the defendants' application to compel the plaintiff to undergo a further occupational therapy examination under ss 46A and 50 of the Motor Accident Insurance Act, finding the request unreasonable due to the insurer's lengthy unexplained delay. The court ordered that the defendants' signatures on the Request for Trial Date be dispensed with and that the defendants pay the plaintiff's costs.
Key issues
Bona v Jeffries & Another [2021] QSC 84
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