AAI Limited t/as AAMI v Tran - [2024] NSWPICMP 740

DETERMINATION OF REVIEW PANEL
CITATION:	AAI Limited t/as AAMI v Tran [2024] NSWPICMP 740
CLAIMANT:	Thieu Hung Tran
INSURER:	AAMI
REVIEW PANEL
MEMBER:	Cameron Thompson
MEDICAL ASSESSOR:	Michael Hong
MEDICAL ASSESSOR:	Atsumi Fukui
DATE OF DECISION:	25 October 2024
CATCHWORDS:	MOTOR ACCIDENTS – Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (the MAI Act); claimant suffered physical and psychological injuries in a motor accident on 9 January 2018 whilst driving a vehicle which had stopped at a red traffic light; another vehicle collided with the rear of the claimant’s vehicle causing his vehicle to collide with the vehicle in front of it; dispute as to whether the claimant’s psychological injury caused by the motor accident is a minor injury for the purposes of the MAI Act; Medical Assessor (MA) issued a certificate when the relevant term was “minor injury”; minor injury now described as a threshold injury; MA determined that the claimant had a specific phobia of car travel now in partial remission and a persistent depressive disorder which were caused by the motor accident and that these injuries are not minor (threshold) injuries; claimant re-examined; Held – the claimant meets the DSM-5 criteria for a specific phobia of car travel in partial remission and this injury was caused by the motor accident and is not a threshold injury for the purposes of the MAI Act; claimant does not meet the DSM-5 criteria for a diagnosis of a persistent depressive disorder; a psychiatric injury caused by a motor accident which fulfills the diagnostic criteria under DSM-5 for the diagnosis of a specific phobia at any time after the accident remains a specific phobia and therefore a non-minor (non-threshold) injury even if the symptoms relating to that injury subsequently improve or go into remission (applying Lynch v AAI Limited t/as AAMI); Panel certified that the psychological injury caused by the accident is not a threshold injury for the purposes of the MAI Act; certificate of MA revoked.
DETERMINATIONS MADE:	CERTIFICATE OF DETERMINATION Review Panel assessment of threshold injury Replacement certificate issued under s 7.23(1) of the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 1. The Review Panel revokes the certificate of Medical Assessor Barrett dated 31 August 2021. 2. The Review Panel certifies that the psychological injury caused by the motor accident is not a threshold injury for the puroses of the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017.

STATEMENT OF REASONS

BACKGROUND

The claimant, Thieu Hung Tran, suffered physical and psychological injuries in a motor accident on 9 January 2018 (the accident). At the time of the accident Mr Tran was driving a Honda Civic Sedan which was stationary behind other vehicles which had stopped at a red traffic light on Rawson Road in Guilford, New South Wales, when a Toyota HiAce van collided with the rear of Mr Tran’s vehicle causing it to collide with the vehicle in front of it.
The claimant’s claim and entitlements to compensation and/or damages are governed by the provisions of the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (the MAI Act).

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [2024] NSWPICMP 740
Decision Date: 25 October 2024

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the matter of AAI Limited trading as AAMI versus Tran, the Court was called upon to determine the nature of the psychological injuries sustained by the claimant in a motor accident, and whether these injuries met the criteria for a minor (threshold) injury under the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017. The claimant had been involved in a motor accident on 9 January 2018, when his vehicle was rear-ended while he was stopped at a red traffic light, which in turn caused his vehicle to collide with the one in front of him. The dispute centred on the classification of the psychological injuries resulting from this accident, specifically whether they were minor injuries as defined by the Act.

The primary legal issue was whether the psychological injuries suffered by the claimant qualified as minor (threshold) injuries under the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017. The Medical Assessor had initially issued a certificate indicating that the injuries were minor, but later determined that the claimant had a specific phobia of car travel now in partial remission and a persistent depressive disorder, which were not minor injuries. The claimant sought to challenge this assessment, arguing that his injuries should not be classified as minor.

The Court found that the claimant met the DSM-5 criteria for a specific phobia of car travel in partial remission, which was caused by the motor accident and was not a minor (threshold) injury. However, the Court determined that the claimant did not meet the DSM-5 criteria for a diagnosis of a persistent depressive disorder. The Court applied the principle from Lynch v AAI Limited t/as AAMI, holding that a psychiatric injury caused by a motor accident which fulfills the diagnostic criteria for a specific phobia at any time after the accident remains a specific phobia and therefore a non-minor (non-threshold) injury, even if the symptoms relating to that injury subsequently improve or go into remission. Consequently, the Panel certified that the psychological injury caused by the accident was not a threshold injury for the purposes of the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017, and the certificate issued by the Medical Assessor was revoked.

Orders