Mark Queensland repayment charges on a settlement deed
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- Mark the Medicare, Centrelink and insurer-charge clauses on the firm's deed precedent from the figures the lawyer supplies.
- What the lawyer must review
- Name who notifies, who pays, and how that sits against release of the funds
- Do not release funds before the clearances the deed and the pages require
- Do not settle below the section 207B charge without the insurer's written consent
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. Queensland personal-injury settlements with a Medicare, Centrelink or WorkCover charge. Commonwealth recovery rules apply according to the opened Services Australia pages.
Produce. Charge and clearance clauses marked on the firm's deed, for the lawyer to check before the client signs.
Have ready. The firm's deed precedent; Figures the lawyer supplies for each charge; Whether damages include treatment, care and support damages.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: The draft releases the insurer on payment into the firm's trust account, before the notice of charge is paid. The lawyer stops the release until the page's payment step is done and the section 207B consent, if needed, is in writing.
Stop and hand it back when
- A charge figure is not one the lawyer supplied.
- The deed would release funds, or settle under the section 207B charge, without the required consent or payment.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Do not begin AI assistance until the responsible lawyer has defined and confirmed its permitted scope. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Services Australia: a notifiable person tells the agency where a judgment or settlement fixes more than $5,000, with legal costs included for a settlement, or where a reimbursement arrangement is made more than six months after the claim was lodged. A settlement under $5,000 including all costs need not be notified. The payer's notice is due within 28 days. The date is the last date the agreement is signed.
- The same page says it is an offence to pay the injured person any part of the compensation unless the notification has been sent and either the notice of charge has been paid or a valid advance has been paid. A 10 per cent advance has conditions, including prior written notice to the injured person and receipt within 28 days. There must be no valid notice of past benefits at that date.
- Centrelink: a preclusion period usually starts on the date of injury, or the day after periodic payments stopped. The number of weeks is 50 per cent of the lump sum divided by the income-test limit for a single rate pension at settlement. Do not invent that dollar limit. A contested hearing uses the loss-of-earnings amount. Later lump sums for the same injury are added if one or more has a loss of earnings.
- Section 207B: compensation paid is a first charge on damages where there is an entitlement to compensation, an independent liability to pay damages, and the employer is not indemnified under the Act. Chapter 4A compensation is charged only if the damages include treatment, care and support damages. A person cannot settle for less than the charge without the insurer's written consent.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deed of release for a personal injury damages claim | Deed | AI use Yellow | Deed of release for a personal injury damages claim in Victoria, Queensland or New South Wales, conditional on sanction or approval where the claimant cannot give a binding release. |
| Settlement distribution statement for a personal injury claim | Checklist | AI use Yellow | Statement the client receives showing the gross personal injury settlement, the costs, the disbursements and the statutory amounts the lawyer has sourced, and the resulting net sum. |
| Letter to the payer sending a personal injury deed and payment terms | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter to the payer's solicitors sending a personal injury deed and stating when the compensation may be paid, including the Medicare hold on any payment to the injured person. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.
Sources
- Services Australia: Medicare compensation recovery notification requirements · 2026-10-23
- Services Australia: how preclusion periods are calculated · 2026-10-23
- Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld), section 207B · 2026-10-23
- WorkCover Queensland policy: recovery of compensation and report fees · 2026-10-23
WorkCover's policy, opened today, recovers weekly compensation, treatment and rehabilitation under section 207B, and report fees under section 207A. The report-fee component is a debt of the insurer and is not duplicated in the settlement. The policy applies to claims that settle on or after 1 February 2022, dated by the last signature on the deed. The text of section 207A was not opened.
The client signs the deed. The lawyer checks the figures, the charge and the release wording. Guidance Statement No. 37 applies to the use of the file in a tool.