TAC informal review process
Once you have a TAC claim accepted, you might find the TAC make a decision in relation to your claim that you disagree with.
If so, there are a few options open to you to contest the decision.
You can ask the TAC to perform an internal review, if you have legal representation then you can lodge a dispute application and pursue a dispute conference, or you can pursue the matter to VCAT.
This page will look specifically at the informal review option.
What is informal review?
Basically, a TAC informal review involves a decision of the TAC being reviewed by a TAC employee.
The TAC employee is required to be someone who works independently of the area where the original decision was made.
What decisions can I asked to be informally reviewed by the TAC?
Most decisions that the TAC make in relation to your no fault entitlements can be reviewed by way of informal review:
Some common decisions you might seek to have reviewed are;
- Rejection of your TAC claim
- Rejection of payment for a medical related expense, such as a particular type of medical treatment or medication.
- Non-payment of income benefits.
- Incorrect calculation of income benefits.
What is the informal review process?
To initiate an informal review, you need to complete the informal review form which you can find on the TAC website.
The form will ask you for your name, address, claim number, date of birth, date of accident and phone number.
Another person is able to complete this form on your behalf and there is a section on the form where they need to provide their details and list their relationship to you.
On page two of the form you need to list the decision or decisions that you want the TAC to informally review.
You will need to outline the reasons as to why you would like the decision reviewed and explain why you believe the TAC’s decision is incorrect.
Once you have completed the form you need to either post it back to the TAC or email it back to them.
Alternatively, the TAC has an online form that you can use to lodge an informal review.
Once you have lodged the informal review application, then someone from the TAC should contact you to discuss your application within a few days.
They will then review the decision.
They are able to take into account any new information that you provide so if there is any further information that the TAC didn’t have when they made their original decision that you think they would benefit from, then you should provide this to the TAC.
An informal review can take weeks or months, depending upon the matter that the TAC is reviewing.
They do say that they aim to complete all inform reviews within 60 days. However, whether this occurs or not can depend upon the issue in dispute.
Once the review has been completed then you’ll be contacted by the TAC and informed of the decision.
The decision will either be to maintain, overturn or alter the original decision.
Is there a cost for internal review?
There is no cost for an informal review.
If you have a lawyer assist you, then that lawyer may bill you for work done in relation to the informal review however.
Is an informal review the correct option?
As mentioned above, you’re able to also pursue a dispute application if you have legal representation.
Generally speaking, we recommend that people pursue a dispute application first as opposed to an informal review in most cases.
This is because when you have a lawyer representing you in relation to a TAC matter, they will will understand the TAC system and how things work.
Generally speaking, you are more likely to get a better result with a lawyer then handling things yourself.
Also, if you pursue a dispute application and you succeed, then the TAC will pay protocol costs to your lawyer and because of this it is quite possible that you will not receive a bill from your lawyer for work done.
So you will essentially get, in many cases, a better result in a comparative amount of time to an informal review, at no cost.
Although, if you do have a lawyer you should discuss costs with them before pursuing a dispute application so you are clear as to what costs may need to be paid if you succeed and what costs might be payable if you don’t succeed.
What if the TAC don’t change their decision following informal review?
Then you can either speak to a lawyer and ask them to consider lodging a dispute application and pursue the matter to a dispute conference.
Or alternatively, you can pursue the matter to VCAT either with or without legal representation.
Conclusion
A TAC informal review is one option open to people that may wish to dispute a decision made by the TAC.
An informal review involves a TAC employee reviewing the original decision and either maintaining the original decision, or altering it.
Decisions in relation to informal reviews should be made within 60 days however in some instances it can take longer than this depending upon the nature of the dispute.
