Parenting and dependant-care costs
Can CTP pay childcare costs caused by a motor accident injury?
Ordinary childcare is not automatically a CTP benefit
CTP may cover some paid domestic services for a claimant’s dependants under section 3.26 of the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017, but only where strict conditions are met. The claimant must have provided the services before the accident, the dependants must be incapable of performing them, the need must meet the statutory duration and hours requirements, and the post-accident service cannot be gratuitous. A childcare invoice alone does not prove entitlement, and other childcare arrangements may fall outside this provision.
A parent may need help with school runs, meals, bathing, supervision or household tasks after a crash. The legal classification matters. Some assistance may be an attendant-care service for the injured parent; some may be domestic services provided to dependants; and some may be ordinary childcare connected to work or family arrangements rather than an accident-related statutory benefit. The evidence should describe the actual task instead of labelling every expense “childcare”.
Section 3.26 is narrow. It addresses reasonable expenses incurred because the injury causes a loss of capacity to provide gratuitous domestic services to dependants. The Act requires, among other things, that the claimant provided those services before the accident, that the dependants cannot perform them, and that the need is expected to be at least six hours per week for at least six consecutive months. These are statutory conditions, not flexible insurer preferences.
Reviewed by Herman Chan, Stephen Young Lawyers
Which parenting or childcare costs may fit the statutory provision?
Potential examples include paid help with meals, cleaning, transport or practical supervision that the injured person previously performed for a dependant and can no longer provide because of the accident injury. Whether a particular childcare service is “domestic services” depends on its nature and the statutory facts. The scheme does not convert all nursery, daycare, after-school care or babysitting costs into treatment and care.
The dependant relationship and incapacity must be established. A young child may plainly be unable to perform household services, but the claim still requires proof of what the injured person did before the accident and what paid service became necessary afterward. If another adult previously shared the task or the child already attended care for work-related reasons, only the accident-caused change should be identified.
Section 3.25 separately excludes statutory benefits for gratuitous attendant care supplied to the injured person. That is different from section 3.26, which can address paid domestic services for dependants under its conditions. Do not combine unpaid family help, professional care for the injured person and paid childcare into one undifferentiated total.
How should the accident-caused expense be proved?
Start with a pre-accident weekly routine. Record who prepared meals, transported children, supervised homework, cleaned, shopped and provided personal assistance. Then record the injury-related restriction, the date the task changed, who now performs it, hours, rate and actual payment. School calendars, care-provider agreements, bank payments and family schedules can support the chronology.
The treating evidence should explain why the parent cannot safely perform the task and the expected period of restriction. A statement that the person is “unfit for work” may not answer whether they can supervise a child or prepare a meal. Conversely, return to some paid work does not automatically prove full parenting capacity. The tasks and demands should be assessed directly.
Claim only the additional accident-caused cost. If a child attended daycare three days each week before the crash and attendance increased to five days because the parent could not provide care, the evidence should distinguish the existing three days from the additional two. The example does not guarantee payment; it demonstrates the required causal comparison.
What if the expense does not meet section 3.26?
Failure to meet section 3.26 does not mean every other claim issue disappears. The injured person may separately need reasonable and necessary attendant care, rehabilitation or equipment for their own injury. Weekly payments may address lost earnings where the person is an earner with reduced work capacity. A damages claim, if separately available, has different eligibility and loss rules. None of those pathways automatically reimburses childcare.
Ask the insurer to identify the statutory basis for its decision and which condition it says is not met: pre-accident provision, dependant incapacity, accident causation, hours, duration, actual payment or reasonableness of cost. Then obtain evidence directed to that condition rather than sending general parenting statements.
A dispute about the expense may involve medical causation, statutory interpretation or amount. Review rights depend on the actual decision. Preserve the invoice and the written refusal, and do not assume that a service complaint substitutes for internal review or PIC.
Practical next steps
How to present a childcare or dependant-services request
Separate the pre-accident routine, accident-caused change and paid service.
Map the pre-accident tasks
List the domestic and parenting services the claimant personally provided, with usual hours and any shared care.
Identify the medical restriction
Ask the treating practitioner to address the particular tasks, not merely general work capacity.
Record the additional service
Identify provider, dates, tasks, hours, rate and how it differs from childcare already used before the accident.
Check section 3.26 conditions
Address dependant incapacity, expected six-hour weekly need, six-month duration and whether the service is paid rather than gratuitous.
Obtain a reasoned decision
Ask the insurer to state the legal basis, evidence and review rights if any part is refused.
Evidence
Childcare and domestic-services evidence checklist
The request should prove the prior service, accident-caused incapacity and actual additional expense.
- Pre-accident family timetable and description of tasks personally performed.
- Child or dependant details relevant to inability to perform the service.
- Treating evidence addressing the particular parenting or domestic task.
- Expected duration and weekly hours of the accident-related need.
- Pre-accident childcare arrangements and costs for comparison.
- Provider agreement, roster, itemised invoices, receipts and bank payments.
- Record of unpaid family assistance kept separate from paid services.
- Insurer decision identifying the disputed statutory condition or amount.
Common errors
- Treating all childcare as treatment and care without identifying the statutory basis.
- Claiming costs that already existed before the accident as if they were entirely new.
- Failing to prove that the claimant personally provided the service before the crash.
- Counting unpaid family assistance as a paid expense under section 3.26.
- Assuming reduced work capacity automatically establishes reduced parenting capacity.
Timing
Do not wait to document the change
The statutory duration test looks forward, but the evidence should start when the need arises.
- Section 3.26 requires an expected need of at least six hours per week for at least six consecutive months. Verify the current provision against the individual facts.
- Submit paid-service requests and invoices promptly through the insurer’s approved channel and keep proof of receipt.
- A written refusal should state review rights. The applicable period depends on the decision type, so act from the notice rather than waiting for the six months to finish.
- Different principles may apply to a separate common law damages claim or an accident under the pre-December 2017 scheme.
Frequently asked questions
- Will CTP pay my usual daycare fees?
- Not merely because a crash occurred. The request must identify an accident-caused additional expense and a valid statutory basis.
- Can my family member be paid for looking after the children?
- Section 3.26 does not pay where the post-accident domestic services are provided gratuitously. A genuine paid arrangement requires careful evidence and must satisfy all statutory conditions.
- What if I need help for less than six months?
- The specific section 3.26 entitlement may not be met. Other accident-related treatment or care needs should still be assessed separately, but there is no automatic alternative childcare benefit.
- Does a Certificate of Fitness prove the childcare need?
- It may support the medical context, but it usually addresses work capacity. A focused report should explain why the particular parenting tasks cannot be performed.
- Can childcare be part of damages?
- A damages claim has separate fault, injury and loss requirements. Do not assume an expense excluded from statutory benefits is automatically recoverable as damages.
- Can travel for my child be claimed?
- Only where a statutory basis and accident-caused need are established. Record the purpose, person travelling, distance, cost and why the claimant could not provide the transport.
Related NSW CTP guides
Official sources
- Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (NSW), current in-force version
- SIRA Motor Accident Guidelines, current published version
- SIRA: what an injured person can claim after a NSW motor crash
- SIRA: medical expenses after a NSW motor crash
- Personal Injury Commission: medical disputes
- Personal Injury Commission: merit review disputes
The current legislation, SIRA Guidelines and official CTP Care material linked above are the public-source basis for this page. Treatment and care decisions remain fact-specific and should be checked against the written request, clinical evidence, accident date and insurer reasons.
Dependants and care costs
Has the insurer refused accident-related childcare or domestic-service costs?
Send the written decision, pre-accident family routine, treating evidence, provider agreement and invoices. We can identify the statutory condition in issue and any separate care or damages question.
General information only: This page explains the NSW motor accidents scheme in general terms and is not legal or medical advice. It does not guarantee approval, reimbursement, continued funding, a review outcome or damages. Keep acting on any date stated in an insurer, CTP Care or PIC notice while obtaining advice.