25 March 2011

Greens side with lawyers on CTP

| johnboy
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The ABC reports that the Greens are going to do the bidding of Canberra’s legal fraternity and at best delay changes to compensation for car accidents that would lower the cost of compulsory third party insurance.

The main change would be the introduction of a threshold of 15 per cent of whole person impairment before pain and suffering damages can be sought.

But the Greens have announced they will not support the changes until a three-year review of the system is completed later this year.

“We think it’s fair and reasonable that no changes should be going through until that review has been conducted,” said Greens Leader Meredith Hunter.

The Liberals now have to decide who they like more: lawyers, or working families.

It’s going to be a tough one but in general while they like talking about working families they tend to do what the legal fraternity tell them to.

UPDATE: The Greens have now deigned to publish their statement:

ACT Greens Parliamentary Convenor and Treasury spokesperson, Meredith Hunter MLA, has announced that the ACT Greens will not support the Government’s proposed reforms to Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance scheme until the statutory review is undertaken.

“This issue has been the subject of much community interest and concern and it deserves a much more considered review before we debate the proposed changes,” Ms Hunter said.

The CTP Act requires that the Minister review the operation of the current scheme after 3 years.

“This is a review that is required under the act, and is scheduled for October this year. It makes sense to do the review, and assess the impact of the 2008 reforms before changing the laws.

“The Greens agree that the scheme could be improved, however, without a clearer understanding of how the scheme is currently operating we are essentially flying blind in our attempts at reform.

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Yes yes, for the Legislative Assembly this is a question of whether you support lawyers or working families? A choice between insurance companies and working families more like.

During the so called “insurance crisis” at the beginning of the noughties (brought about by fraudsters bringing down the insurance industry, HIH anyone?) we were told in NSW that public liability laws had to be reformed so that insurance premiums would come down for ordinary people, “working families” if you like.

So, “reforms” of this kind were implemented, and did the working person get any benefit? Did premiums come down?

NO, is the answer. The only thing to happen was that insurance companies made more profit.

In truth this is just an attempt by the government to find a way around it’s inability to properly fund the court system, by blocking access to the judicial system for worthy plaintiffs.

Gungahlin Al said :

So under the ALP proposal, that would have rated zero assistance from the responsible (read: guilty) party?

Based on prior reporting, I believe it’s only the “pain and suffering” component that’s being removed below 15% impairment. Medical costs and lost income are still covered.

Gungahlin Al said :

I am disgusted at the CTP prices that the NRMA foist on us all here in the ACT, and with the pathetic job done by the NRMA’s local elected rep Alan Evans, who has done nothing to resolve how ACT motorists are being shafted by the NRMA.

Wait, what?

Early this year when I renewed the rego on the largest (1157cc engine) of my motorcycles in the ACT it was $569 for 12 months — the entire registration cost, that is, not just the CTP component.

I just checked the NSW CTP quote website[1] and the cheapest CTP cover I can get is apparently $575 for 12 months, with GIO. And then there’s the registration cost…

For one of my smaller (652cc engine) bikes the cheapest CTP quote was again with GIO, $304/year. The NSW government enacted changes last year to make CTP cheaper for bikes in the ~600cc class; I think prior to that it would have cost more than in the ACT.

The NRMA quotes were $674 and $357 respectively, by the way. The CTP quotes from QBE (who provide my comprehensive cover for both bikes) came in at $450 and $881

[1] http://prices.maa.nsw.gov.au/

Gungahlin Al12:31 pm 25 Mar 11

I am disgusted at the CTP prices that the NRMA foist on us all here in the ACT, and with the pathetic job done by the NRMA’s local elected rep Alan Evans, who has done nothing to resolve how ACT motorists are being shafted by the NRMA.

However, changing the lower impact limit to 15% impairment is absurd.

In 99 I was run down by a car on my bike and lucky to be walking, but was unable to stand for more than a few minutes (think twice about having a Gear Sack Rack on your bike folks). Even though nothing showed on x-rays, and I would not have gone anywhere near this 15% limit, I faced work limitations and a stack of medical costs over the next 5 years. 12 years on and I still have ongoing issues that only hammering my back in yoga and pilates classes keeps manageable.

So under the ALP proposal, that would have rated zero assistance from the responsible (read: guilty) party?

I couldn’t support that.

“The Liberals now have to decide who they like more: lawyers, or working families”

“The Liberals now have to decide who they like more: people through no fault of their own, or people who want to pay $80 less per year”

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