Single Vehicle Accidents

#37 – Claimant Who Suffered an Unforeseen Medical Episode Not Wholly or Mostly at Fault

Decision

McManus v QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited [2026] NSWPIC 175

Sixty-Second-or-Less Read

A Claimant loses control of their vehicle on a gravel road whilst negotiating a bend. The Claimant argues that the accident was caused by his left arm locking-up due to left cubital tunnel syndrome.

Is the Claimant entitled to ongoing statutory benefits.

In McManus v QBE, a PIC Member accepted the Claimant’s explanation of his loss of control and found that he was not wholly or mostly at fault for his accident. It followed that he was entitled to ongoing statutory benefits.

Principles

✅ A Claimant is entitled to ongoing statutory benefits unless they suffered a threshold injury or they were wholly or mostly at fault for their accident.

✅ In wholly or most at fault disputes, the onus of proof is on the Insurer.

✅ A Claimant is not wholly or mostly at fault if their accident was caused by an unexpected medical episode.

Facts

On 25 January 2025, the Claimant was driving along Williwa Creek Road at Portland when he lost control and rolled his vehicle. The Claimant attributed his loss of control to pre-existing left cubital tunnel syndrome which caused his left arm and hand to lock-up whilst he was driving.

On Internal Review, the Insurer found that the medical evidence did not support the Claimant’s argument that his left cubital tunnel syndrome caused his loss of control. Rather, the Insurer concluded that the Claimant was wholly or mostly at fault for his accident because he failed to adjust his driving to negotiate a bend in the gravel road.

The Member’s Decision

The Member decided that the Claimant was not wholly or mostly at fault for the following reasons:

🟪 In order to be entitled to statutory benefits, the Claimant did not need to show that another party was responsible or culpable for their injury.

🟪 The Claimant is entitled to ongoing statutory benefits unless they are wholly or mostly at fault for their accident (or their only injuries are threshold injuries).

🟪 The onus is on the Insurer to demonstrate that the Claimant was wholly or mostly at fault.

🟪 On the evidence, the Claimant was travelling at 40 kph, before the accident, and he was driving in a cautious manner having regard to the gravel conditions and the presence of horses in the area.

🟪 On the evidence, the accident was wholly caused by the Claimant suffered an unforeseen medical episode.

My Perspective

The decision in McManus turned on its own facts given that the Member accepted the Claimant’s evidence regarding his medical condition and rejected the Insurer’s argument that the accident was caused by his speed.

Be that as it may, having made those factual findings, the Member applied the Supreme Court’s decision in Evic by concluding that the only issue was whether the Claimant was wholly or mostly at fault. There was no need to enquire into whether any other party was at fault.

Given the finding that the accident was caused by an unexpected medical episode, no fault could be attributed to the Claimant and it followed that he was neither wholly nor mostly at fault.

PJH

#24 – Slippery When Wet – Another Driver’s Speed Means They’re Mostly-at-Fault

Decision

Salazar Renteria v AAI Limited t/as GIO [2025] NSWPIC 623

Sixty-Second-Or-Less Summary

A Claimant rides her motorcycle on a wet road. She’s riding at 60 kph in a 50 zone. She slows to 25 kph to make a ninety-degree turn at the bottom of a hill. The Claimant loses control on the wet road and suffers injury.

Was the Claimant wholly or mostly at fault for her accident?

In Renteria v GIO, a PIC Member found that the Claimant was 70% responsible for her accident because her speed was too high for the wet conditions and the sharp turn. The Claimant was, therefore, wholly or mostly at fault for her accident.

Principles

✅ Pursuant to section 3.11 and section 3.28 of the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017, a Claimant is not entitled to ongoing statutory benefits if they are wholly or mostly at fault for their accident.

✅ In single vehicle motor accidents, assessing the Claimant’s contributory negligence requires an evaluative judgment of the extent to which they departed from the required standard of care.

Facts

On 14 August 2024, the Claimant was riding her motorcycle in Hurstville. She lost control of her motorcycle, on the wet road, whilst turning left from King Georges Road onto Hurstville Road. She argued that the accident was solely caused by the wet conditions rather than any want of care on her part.

The Insurer determined that the Claimant was not entitled to ongoing statutory benefits, beyond 52 weeks, because she was wholly or mostly at fault for her accident.

The Insurer’s determination was confirmed on internal review and the Claimant lodged a miscellaneous assessment in the Commission to resolve the most-at-fault dispute between the parties.

The Member’s Decision

The Member found that the Claimant was wholly or mostly at fault for the following reasons:

🟪 The Claimant’s Speed – the Claimant was riding at 60 kph in a 50 zone in wet conditions. She slowed to 25 kph in order to make the left hand turn into Hurstville Road. An inference can be drawn that a wet road can be slippery and that the presence of water on the road requires a driver or a motorcycle rider to pay additional attention to how they control their vehicle and to reduce their speed. The Claimant’s speed was too high given the wet road, the downhill slope and the sharp ninety-degree corner. By commencing the turn at 25 kph, the Claimant failed to exercise reasonable care.

🟪 The Claimant’s Control – after losing balance, the Claimant failed to appropriately apply the brakes of her motorcycle and, instead, steered to the right, causing the motorcycle to fall to the right-hand side.

🟪 The Claimant’s Contributory Negligence – the Claimant’s contributory negligence should be assessed by reference to the degree she departed from the required standard of care. On that basis, the Claimant’s contributory negligence was 70%

My Perspective

The decision in Renteria illustrates, once again, how contributory negligence is assessed where the Claimant is the only party involved in the accident.

As established by the Supreme Court in Evic, in single vehicle accidents, the concept of relative culpability does not apply because there is no relative culpability to compare. Instead, contributory negligence is assessed by measuring the extent to which the Claimant’s driving behaviour departed from the standard of care required of them to protect their own safety.

My Case Note on Evic can be found here.

To explore other claims where PIC Members have applied Evic:

🟪 Evic Applied – Assessing Contributory Negligence in Single Vehicle Accidents

🟪 Evic Rides Again – Driver in Single Vehicle Accident Not Mostly at Fault

🟪 Slippery When Wet – When an Unsafe Speed Means You’re Livin’ on a Prayer

🟪 Bicyclist Found Wholly at Fault

🟪 Evic Applied – How to Assess Contributory Negligence in a Chain Collision?

🟪 How is Relative Culpability Assessed When One Party Disobeys the Road Rules?

🟪 How Most at Fault Disputes are Assessed When the Insured is Not at Fault?

Interestingly, in assessing the Claimant’s contributory negligence at 70%, the Member’s decision mirrored that of a prior most-at-fault dispute involving a driver losing control in wet conditions: Mellor-Langham v QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited [2025] NSWPIC 194.

PJH

#14 – Single Vehicle Accidents – How Liability is Assessed Differently in Statutory Benefit and Common Law Claims

Decision

BVV v QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited [2025] NSWPIC 496; (23 September 2025)

Sixty-Second-Or-Less Read

A Claimant suffers an unexpected hypoglycaemic episode, whilst driving, and crashes into four cars. He successfully makes a claim for ongoing statutory benefits because he was not wholly or mostly at fault for his accident.

Can the Claimant recover damages under common law pursuant to the no-fault provisions in Part 5 of the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017?

In BVV v QBE, a PIC Member found that s 5.4 precluded the Claimant – as a driver in a no-fault accident – from recovering damages.

Principles

✅ A driver who experiences an unexpected medical episode, whilst driving, might be able to recover ongoing statutory benefits, beyond 52 weeks, because they are not wholly or mostly at fault for the accident.

✅ Section 5.4 of the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (MAIA), however, prevents the same driver from recovering damages under common law, pursuant to the no-fault provisions in Part 5, because they are the driver of the vehicle deemed to be at fault.

Facts

The Claimant was involved in a motor accident on 11 March 2024 on the Cumberland Highway. The accident was caused by a hypoglycaemic episode which resulted in him losing control of his vehicle and colliding with four stationary vehicles.

The Insured denied liability to pay the Claimant damages under common law and the Claimant lodged a damages dispute in the Commission.

Relevant Definitions

A “no-fault motor accident” is defined by s 5.1 of MAIA, as follows:

“no-fault motor accident means a motor accident in the State not caused by the fault of the owner or driver of any motor vehicle involved in the accident in the use or operation of the vehicle and not caused by the fault of any other person.”

Section 5.4 limits the ability of the driver in a no-fault accident to recover damages, as follows:

5.4 No recovery of damages for driver who caused accident

(1) There is no entitlement to recover damages because of the operation of this Part in respect of the death of or injury to the driver of a motor vehicle if the motor accident concerned was caused by an act or omission of that driver.

(2) The death of or injury to a person is taken to have been caused by an act or omission of the driver for the purposes of subsection (1) even if—

(a) the act or omission does not constitute fault by the driver in the use or operation of the vehicle, or

(b) the act or omission was involuntary, or

(c) the act or omission was not the sole or primary cause of the death or injury.

The Member’s Decision

The Member found that the Claimant was not entitled to Damages under Common Law, for the following reasons:

🟪 In the context of a claim for damages, “fault” means the tort of negligence.

🟪 The Claimant did not owe a duty of care to himself and his injuries were, therefore, not caused by any breach of duty of care.

🟪 Given that the accident was caused by an unexpected medical episode, and no other party was at fault, the accident was a no-fault accident within the meaning of s 5.1 of MAIA.

🟪 Section 5.4 of MAIA, however, prevents the Claimant, as the driver in a no-fault accident, from recovering damages.

Pete’s Perspective

The decision in BVV provides a useful case study of how liability in single vehicle motor accidents is assessed differently in statutory benefit and common law claims.

The PIC Member found, in a prior decision, that the Claimant was entitled to ongoing statutory benefits, beyond 52 weeks, because he was injured in a motor accident in NSW and he was not wholly or mostly at fault for his accident. The outcome may have been different if the Claimant had warning that he was at risk of suffering a hypoglycaemic episode whilst driving and decided to drive anyway, but the PIC Member made a factual finding that the episode was unexpected.

In this decision, the PIC Member found that the Claimant was not entitled to recover damages under common law because (a) his injuries were not caused by the fault of another owner or driver, and (b) section 5.4 precluded him, as the driver in a no-fault accident, from recovering damages.

These decisions illustrate that, for the most part, the only chance a driver in a single vehicle motor accident has of receiving compensation is in the statutory benefits arena.

My Case Note on the prior decision in BVV can he found here.