Section 37 NSW: weekly payment rates between weeks 14 and 130

If you are not even sure which insurer currently holds the file, check the NSW workers compensation insurer list and make the insurer confirm the active case owner and email for payment-review documents. That sounds procedural, but it often decides whether your section 37 evidence is actioned this pay cycle or lost in a handoff.

Step 1: confirm whether section 37 or section 38 is actually being applied

The weeks 14 to 130 period is generally section 37 territory. But insurer letters can blur categories and apply the wrong assumptions. Ask for the exact statutory basis and compare it against your claim timeline. If you are already beyond week 130, review the section 38 post-130-weeks guide to avoid arguing the wrong legal test.

Step 2: audit rate math first: PIAWE, current earnings, and hours assumptions

A large share of section 37 disputes are arithmetic, not just medical. Recheck your wage baseline through the PIAWE calculation guide and compare against what the insurer used for post-injury earnings and hours. If figures are stale or incomplete, lodge a formal PIAWE recalculation request in parallel.

This is also where insurers sometimes strip out earnings components that mattered before injury, including regular overtime, shift penalties, allowances, or income from a second job. If those inputs formed part of your real pre-injury average, the section 37 rate can be underpaid from the start even before the insurer argues about capacity. Ask for the exact earnings categories they excluded and match that against payslips, payroll summaries, rosters, and employer confirmation.

Step 3: replace generic certificates with specific functional evidence

A brief certificate saying "partially fit" rarely shifts a section 37 rate decision. Ask treating providers to address sustainable hours, tolerated duties, symptom escalation pattern, and why insurer-nominated suitable employment is not practically available.

Step 4: escalate early if work-capacity assumptions drive the reduction

If the insurer decision hinges on your alleged earning capacity rather than your actual situation, follow the work capacity dispute pathway and map escalation through the Personal Injury Commission process before arrears and return-to-work pressure expand.

Where the insurer relies on a generic suitable-employment or labour-market theory, make them identify the actual role basis: role title, core duties, hours, location, and why that role was said to be realistically available to you at the time. Then compare that against the suitable employment guide so the dispute stays tied to real work options, not broad occupational labels.

Step 5: if the dispute is about "assumed hours", lock employer-availability evidence immediately

A common section 37 problem is this: the insurer says you can work more hours, but your employer has no genuinely suitable hours available at present. If you do not document that gap early, the insurer can keep relying on hypothetical earnings assumptions over multiple pay cycles.

• Ask the insurer to state in writing exactly how many hours they assume you can work and in what role.
• Get a short employer email confirming real duties/hours available this fortnight, not just generic role titles.
• Record failed or reduced shifts with dates, reasons, and who made the decision.
• Have your treating doctor align certificate wording to sustainable hours and duty limits in practical terms.
• Send one combined evidence pack so hours assumptions and role availability are assessed together.

This avoids a common delay pattern where the insurer treats medical capacity, available duties, and earnings as separate files and keeps the reduced rate in place while asking for piecemeal updates.