Quick answer: what should you do first after a section 78 notice?
Save the notice exactly as received, map each insurer reason to a specific evidence task, and book your treating doctor immediately for a reason-by-reason response. If payments or treatment are affected, run dispute steps and income-protection steps in parallel.
First 48 hours: lock down the record
- Save the notice exactly as received, including email headers or attachments.
- Translate each insurer reason into plain language (causation, capacity, treatment necessity, etc.).
- Book your treating doctor and ask for a report that addresses each insurer reason directly.
- Build a chronology of incident date, reporting date, certificates, treatment requests, and insurer responses.
- If the notice came from a claims officer or scheme agent you do not recognise, confirm the file owner against the NSW insurer directory and contacts before you send records, complaints, or escalation correspondence.
Days 3 to 7: build dispute-ready evidence
- Request missing records (imaging, specialist reports, employer incident records, wage data if payments are affected).
- Identify the live issue type so you pick the right channel: liability, work capacity, treatment, or weekly payment dispute.
- Cross-check your facts against the section 78 notice guide and the claim denied framework.
- Where weekly payments are impacted, compare insurer calculations with your PIAWE records before underpayments stack up.
How to read a section 78 notice before you start answering it
Read the notice as a list of separate issues, not as one global rejection. A section 78 notice may talk about liability, factual history, pre-existing conditions, treatment necessity, current work capacity, or wage consequences in the same letter. If you answer it as one general complaint, the insurer can keep saying your response did not address the real point. A stronger approach is to pull each stated reason into its own line item, note the documents the insurer says it relied on, and identify what evidence is missing, inaccurate, or taken out of context.
- Highlight each separate insurer reason and give it a short label, such as causation, delay in reporting, capacity, treatment reasonableness, or wage calculation.
- Mark any reason that is not actually explained with evidence or dates, because vague reasoning often needs a written clarification request.
- Separate what is factual, what is medical opinion, and what is legal conclusion, because each category usually needs a different response.
- Check whether the notice changes payments, treatment approvals, or return-to-work expectations immediately, so you can protect those issues in parallel.
Common mistake that weakens section 78 challenges
Many workers respond with broad fairness arguments instead of matching each insurer reason to objective evidence. In practice, targeted clinical and factual rebuttal usually carries more weight than general disagreement.
Evidence checklist: what usually belongs in the first response pack
- The full section 78 notice, including attachments, email cover note, and the exact date received.
- Your current certificate of capacity and any earlier certificates that show how symptoms and restrictions changed over time.
- Treating GP, psychologist, physiotherapist, or specialist material that answers the insurer's stated reasons point by point.
- Employer incident records, return-to-work plans, suitable duties proposals, and correspondence showing what duties were actually offered.
- Wage records, payslips, rosters, overtime, shift, or allowance evidence if weekly payments are reduced or disputed.
- A short chronology that lists the injury event, reporting date, certificates, treatment requests, insurer responses, and any missed or delayed decisions.
If a key document does not yet exist, note that gap in writing and request it. Waiting silently for missing records can make the insurer narrative look settled when it is not.
If escalation is needed
If the insurer does not reverse quickly, map out your next procedural step early through the PIC disputes process. Files involving payments, capacity, and treatment at once often need a joined-up strategy, not separate reactive replies.
When treatment is denied at the same time
A common risk pattern is liability dispute + treatment interruption. Keep treatment evidence moving while you challenge the notice. Use the treatment denied guide for medical continuity steps, and the unfair IME response guide when insurer reliance is built on a thin one-off assessment.
Do not hand over a broad medical authority without fixing the dispute scope first
Some insurers respond to a section 78 challenge by asking for a wide medical authority before they clearly identify what issue is actually disputed. That can shift control of the file away from the worker. Ask the insurer to confirm the exact issue, provider scope, date range, and purpose of any authority request in writing before you sign.
- Ask whether the dispute is about liability, treatment, capacity, weekly payments, or causation wording.
- Narrow the authority to the providers and dates that genuinely relate to that issue.
- Keep a copy of anything signed and state in writing that the authority does not replace the insurer's obligation to explain reasons.
- Keep building your chronology and treating evidence in parallel so the section 78 response is not delayed by an open-ended records request.
If the real fight is about weekly payments, also cross-check the insurer's wage logic with the PIAWE calculation guide. If the insurer is pressing a medical-report narrative, compare that request with the unfair IME report guide before the file drifts further.
Timing cautions that often matter in real files
A section 78 notice does not always mean the same thing as a final endpoint for every dispute. Different issues can trigger different review steps, internal insurer processes, or commission pathways. The practical risk is not only the notice itself, but losing days while you assume the insurer will clarify later.
- Record the exact date the notice was received and whether anything stopped or changed on that date.
- Do not assume an informal complaint or phone discussion preserves your position if a formal step may still be needed.
- If you need fresh treating evidence, ask for an appointment early and send the doctor the actual notice before the consultation.
- If several issues are moving at once, create separate headings in your correspondence so treatment, weekly payments, capacity, and liability do not blur together.
This page gives general information, not legal advice for your specific file. If the notice affects income, treatment, work capacity, or the ongoing acceptance of the claim, it is sensible to get tailored advice quickly so the response path matches the actual dispute type.
Frequently asked section 78 questions
What is a section 78 notice in NSW workers compensation?
A section 78 notice is written notice from the insurer setting out that liability is denied, disputed, or changed and explaining the reasons for that position.
How quickly should I act after receiving a section 78 notice?
Act immediately. Preserve the notice, gather records, and obtain targeted treating-doctor evidence early. Delay can make it harder to challenge the insurer narrative effectively.
Can a section 78 notice be challenged?
Yes. Depending on the issue type, section 78 outcomes can be challenged through insurer review channels and/or Personal Injury Commission dispute pathways with focused evidence.
What if treatment is denied at the same time as a section 78 notice?
Run treatment-protection and dispute steps together. Preserve treating records, respond reason-by-reason to the notice, and prepare the correct treatment dispute pathway so care does not stall while liability issues are argued.
What if the insurer asks me to sign a broad medical authority before it explains the issue?
Do not treat a broad authority request as a substitute for reasons. Ask the insurer to identify the exact issue, date range, provider scope, and purpose of the request in writing. Keep a signed copy, narrow the authority where appropriate, and continue preparing your section 78 response so evidence control stays with the actual dispute.