Dear Sir/Madam.

I am 60 years of age.

Up to the 30/10/1996 I was a hardworking carpenter and builder. I was relatively financially secure. And had just completed my 36 bluestone home, on an acre, in Belgrave sth.

I laid every bluestone myself, and did all the work on it, except for the elec, and plumbing. I trained for grade cricket twice a week, and played every Saturday. I also went out socialising and dancing, (rock & roll) at least twice a week. The acre was to become a sanctuary, in a similar vein to the William Ricketts sanctuary, I knew Mr Ricketts well as a child. I needed 2 more years of hard yakka to realise my dream.

On the 30/10/1996 at approximately 3 pm, while working for a developer, I stepped backwards down an unguarded stairwell from the second floor of a unit we were constructing. My head travelled 5.6 metres, my feet 3.8mtrs to the corner of the lower floor, which I landed backwards over, embedded my carpenters square in to my lower back and ripped open my right arm. I bounced of this corner and travelled a further 1.5 metres to the ground, and hit a brick with my right temple.

To this day I remember very little of the event.

The bricklayer, picked me up by my arms and carried me to my car, I sat there for approx. 3 hours unable to move, in and out of consciousness. I only remember 2 things of this time: My face being burnt on the left side, and a drink on the pile of bricks in front of the car.

I ended up in Boxhill hospital. Apparently I drove there I only remember the barkers Rd street sign. They sutured up my right arm, took X-rays, tested my cerebral functioning, and sent me home at about 1.30am.

I remember nothing of the next day, except that it was hot sunny day, and I had this thing hanging out of my right nostril, down to my bottom lip. I tried wiping it away, but it was in a sac?? I just kept pushing it back into my nose.

I saw my gp on the Saturday, he also tested my cerebral functioning and ordered a ct scan. It was normal.

6 months I had off, and luckily got a job on the crown casino. My mate from trade school was the foreman’s brother, so I was able to keep that job. It was an extremely well paid job. When it finished I kept working doing bits and pieces, and did my best to get back on the horse, and get back my fitness. Within 2 years of trying, I could not even get to work some-days. I was in pain, unable to sleep, freezing on top of ladders, non-stop headaches,

My doctor was sending me to a psychiatrist Mr Webber and an Orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Hadley. Eventually they sent me for an MRI 3/1999. That MRI found I had a damaged spinal chord (post traumatic syringomyelia) and 2 bulging neck discs.

I had to stop work and put in a workers compensation claim. During the initial part of my claim an undercover investigator from the insurance company assaulted me on a building site, they used a karate move designed to kill and stop a person breathing fracturing my costal cartilage.

Despite making a complaint to police, and having 2 independent witnesses, the police would not charge him. I was never told the reason why they wouldn’t do that.

My first court case for the fall was 2 days later. Imagine if I had of got involved in this fight, I would not have a case for support from the insurer for the 'Fall' in 1996.

I found out 5 years ago who he was. He was ex-army. Obviously trained in martial arts (that would make the charge attempted murder, or at the very least, assault with a deadly weapon).

After being off work for approximately 3 months, and still no support from the insurer, still seeing psychiatrists for the PTSD. I accidentally happened to read the report for the MRI scan.

My GP had told me it was “normal”. The MRI said I had post traumatic Syringomyelia.

After countless medico legal appointments, psychiatrists, orthopaedic surgeons, neurologists, brain testing experts, Neurosurgeons…the insurance company offered me 135k for sec98/98a injuries. I was never told of this (I only found out last year).

The next thing I know I have to go to the county court to get a 'serious injury certificate'.

Found out later I did not need to do this... As my permanent impairment injuries were well over the 30% required.

So how come I had to go to the court? Both sides withheld the brain testing experts report by the insurer. One report gave me 15% organic brain damage and agreed with my side’s brain testing expert, by hiding this report, they made sure I was borderline 30% and they could all have a grand picnic on the taxpayers purse. 3-4 days county court, 2-300 k? I was never allowed into the courtroom except to answer 4 questions but I won the case.

How come? I don't know? The judge may have smelled a rat? However the judge never got to see both brain experts’ reports? He only got to see the brain testing expert report. Not the insurance companies report.

This act, turned the county court into nothing more than a kangaroo court and what an insult to the judge let alone our justice system.

After I won the case, knowing I was not sure I could deal with a lot of money, I decided to stay on weekly payments until retirement thinking my future was reasonably financially secure.

Since 2003, the insurance companies have gone on a campaign to do everything they can to deny me the following:

​My entitlements to fair and reasonable support, for Brain damage; Spinal cord damage. (Ptsm) PTSD, anxiety depression, back and neck damage, right arm, hip and knee damage.

The insurers have made it a nightmare to get even my travelling entitlements and medicine reimbursed.

They have systematically slowly tried to rewrite my personal history and medical history by sending me to new IME’s and making sure the information sent to each new IME, is perverted, so as to hide everything that happened to me before 2007.

The latest reports I do not believe were written by the latest IME’s. All of them have information and paragraphs taken from reports written before 2003. These reports have the signatures of the new IME,s and the recent dates, but have clearly been cut and pasted from 15 year old reports by other IME’s and are fabrications. I have all the original medico legal reports, and can prove this.

I believe the latest IME reports are written by lawyers, working for a company specialising in medico legal work for insurance companies. The insurer cannot throw me off WC, with my current state of health and would not find a doctor who would sign for this.

So the only way they can do this is to falsify my history and medical records by falsely rewriting it all, and palming off the reports as genuine.

I never have sought ‘shekels, I only sought support for a situation I found myself in and a fair go.

What the insurer is doing is exactly what the insurers were doing in the 4 corners program.

In my case, the insurance I receive is 'life insurance', maybe not technically by definition, but certainly life insurance by the support I should be getting, and am clearly not getting.

The actions by the insurer and the lack of an authority to make sure this type of fraud is not permitted is alarming.

I have dozens of examples of this fraud and I know that this applies to more injured workers than myself. We need a royal commission to investigate not just one life insurance company, but all insurers and all the practices of the insurers.