In General

When dealing with death payments, any common law or third party action (collectively known as 'damages') that is being, or has, commenced must be investigated.  For death claims, either form of damages action is legitimate; however settlement usually precludes any further right to compensation.

In fact, any compensation paid to the date of settlement must be repaid to Comcare from settlement monies.  The amount of compensation paid will normally be accounted for when the Court makes a decision about how much to award.

However, sometimes less money is awarded; there are repercussions to this, which will be discussed in this Part.

Before explaining each of the legislative provisions which apply to suing for damages for death claims, it is important to clarify what each of 'common law' and 'third party' means and to identify the penalties which apply to claimants undertaking action without Comcare's knowledge.