17 February 2011

CTP changes introduced to the Assembly

| johnboy
Join the conversation
10
cars

Katy Gallagher has announced she’s introduced the Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) Amendment Bill 2011 into the Legislative Assembly.

Following consultation, the Government has made three significant changes:

— Non Economic Loss (NEL) is uncapped;
— the physical and psychological whole person impairment is set to 15%; and
— the amendments will be reviewed in 5 years.

“These amendments build on the 2008 reform package by encouraging early rehabilitation and putting the focus back on health and not the gravy train that CTP claims once were for just about everyone but the claimant. These amendments do this by providing the necessary and critical value adding around injury identification, assessment, medical review and compensation structure to complement those reforms,” ACT Treasurer Katy Gallagher said.

Join the conversation

10
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

ACT, choice, ha, do we have a choice in anything, lets see, hmmmm: utilities – yea…NO transactmonopoly provides our dis-service there (apologies but the Kaoskave has had nothing but problems with them), taxi’s – it’s better/cheaper/more reliable to get a Queanbeyan one or a limo.

From the amount of non-ACT rego’d cars driving around this town and people looking to save a penny wherever they can, it seems to be cheaper to go out of state to rego vehicles (Vic, Qld, SA), might not be so legal but people don’t worry about that if they save a dollar or two. Maybe time has come for the kaosmobile to become a Queenslander (aaaaggh nooooo).

aronde said :

All wonderful I am sure but when do I get a choice of CTP insurer on my registration renewal? It was promised a long time ago.

+1

What is means to you is that if you have a minor car crash, perhaps break a nose or have moderate whiplash (ie if you are injured less than 15% whole person) you will get no compensation (well, you get medical expenses but nothing for the pain).

Essentially the cost of a less than 15% whole of person injury is now borne entirely by the injured person rather than a small amount borne by each holder of a CTP policy.

orangegirl said :

The ACT isn’t big enough for more than one insurer.

Why is CTP different from any other type of insurance, for which the ACT is clearly big enough for more than one insurer (think Comprehensive or Third Party Property Motor insurance, Home and Contents Insurance, Income Protection Insurance and the list goes on.

The market can’t be thought of as ‘only the ACT’ else we’d be unable to get any insurance at all.

I doubt the price of the CTP insurance component of your rego will change. In NSW there are, from memory, about 10 CTP insurers. I recently obtained quotes for a relative and while I can’t remember the exact figures, they only varied by about $20 or $30 from the cheapest to the dearest.

It will be interesting to see what sort of battle the lawyers put up over this, especially firms like Maliganis Edwards Johnson, who’s main line of business is “no win no pay” car accidents. A statutory scheme like that proposed would most likely result in them losing a lot of business as most matters could be resolved without going to Court [and generating a ridiculous amount in legal fees].

The ACT isn’t big enough for more than one insurer. From what I know the experience in NSW was that the premiums dropped in the first year and then went right back up again when the political heat was off.

What does this latest development mean for me? Will the price of rego change?

Surely someone must want to compete with NRMA? My latest ACT CTP was $487 for a small car. In Qld my brother is paying $313 for an SUV!

I imagine you will get that choice once a second insurer wants to offer you insurance and no sooner.

There isnt a legislated monopoly on CTP insurance, there is just an unwillingness by other providers to come into the market.

All wonderful I am sure but when do I get a choice of CTP insurer on my registration renewal? It was promised a long time ago.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.