The Great Compulsory Third Party Swindle?

ant said :

Everyone knows that they should charge girls under 25 in Excels and Lancers double. And triple if they have frangipanis.

Very true.

Tylers, yah – sorry about that.

I needed to check with my usually unimpeachable source. I understand it is coming.

Everyone knows that they should charge girls under 25 in Excels and Lancers double. And triple if they have frangipanis.

Yup, this sucks. However, in the late 90’s in Melbourne it was reasonably well known and publicised that young women under 25, at least for a few years, were involved in more accidents – including high-repair value ones – than males, yet the insurance companies still charged men more as ‘Melbourne was a statistical anomaly’ and they had to ‘look at national trends’ yet down here if your suburb is ‘high risk’ your premiums are higher due to ‘local factors’

I guess it’s just a matter of the insurance companies picking and choosing the figures they like to justify the premiums they want to charge.

I’ve heard a rumour that the NRMA’s CTP monopoly in the ACT may be soon be over . . .

That’s what I suggested earlier – but didn’t hear anything?!

I’ve heard a rumour that the NRMA’s CTP monopoly in the ACT may be soon be over . . .

A big advanatage with AAMI is that you can reduce your premium considerably by selecting a higher excess. I you consider yourself to be a very low risk of having an at fault accident this is a very good option.

For example our full comprehensive policy cost $242 for this year for an agreed value of $18,600 BUT the excess is $2100 if we have an “at fault” accident.

bd84 said :

I actually found their price competitive with every other major insurer when I was shopping around for insurance for my new car about 2 months ago. Most of the insurers quoted a price within $100 of each other (around $1000 – being under 25), except for AAMI who I had been insured with for the past 5 or so years (no accidents), who wanted almost $500 more. You can safely say I am no longer a customer of AAMI.

Ouch. A couple of months back I compared NRMA, AAMI and …hmm, someone else!… for both myself and my folks and the difference between NRMA and the other two was about an extra $15/mth in both cases.

Well, monomania, some of us are giving back, by living outside the ACT but keeping our cars registered in teh ACT. It’s just more convenient, you send the dep’t some money, and a rego sticker turns up. I like that.

In NSW, you have to futz around getting colourful slips, and there’s this massive conflict of interest whereby the bloke checking your car stands to make money if he finds problems and won’t pass it until you buy something off him. Bugger that.

12 months ago I bought a brand new car, Shopped around for insurance… NRMA and AAMI were quoting me around $1200-$1500 for full comprehensive insurance.. Which I thought to be way too much. Rang GIO and almost had a heart attack when the guy quoted me a measley $650.

My insurance was up at the end of the month so I decided to do some shopping again as GIO has increased to about $800… NRMA and AAMI were still well into the 4 digits and would only insure my car for a max value of $20k. So I have decided to stick with GIO.

As for rego… cant complain too much about that. Can’t exactly get it anywhere else.

Primal said :

The NRMA is more expensive than others for Comprehensive cover by a fair margin but having recently made a claim (big accident, not my fault, very aggrieved with universe, needed them to be nice to me) and received excellent service I am happy to pay the extra.

Not two weeks prior to that accident I was seriously considering chucking insurance in. It’s amazing how one prang and some good service can change your perspective.

I actually found their price competitive with every other major insurer when I was shopping around for insurance for my new car about 2 months ago. Most of the insurers quoted a price within $100 of each other (around $1000 – being under 25), except for AAMI who I had been insured with for the past 5 or so years (no accidents), who wanted almost $500 more. You can safely say I am no longer a customer of AAMI.

If you have a modified car (ie street machine type) then it can pay to contact Shannons for comprehensive insurance. I was with NRMA with my modified car (no it’s not a multi-coloured mini truck with airbag suspension and doof doof stereo!) and when it was due for renewal I got a quote from Shannons and found them to be cheaper. NRMA wouldn’t insure the car any more anyway because it was too modified.

Well I was planning on giving the finger to the man by keeping the car registered in NSW at an alternative address and getting the most competitive NSW CTP I could… until I did the sums.

Squil, lots of people in Canberra are keeping vehicles registered in other states. Their giving us the finger because we are paying more to maintain and build roads etc. They are free loading on us and you might have too if the sums didn’t add up. And what about all those earth moving trucks wrecking the roads and intimidating drivers, they’re mostly NSW registered. And in many ways, those living close to Canberra and relying on it for most aspects of their lives are freeloading on A.C.T. taxpayers.

>What about a gym in which females are prohibited from joining.

Not in Canberra but there are plenty in sydney. Funny though it seems the straight guys don’t like them very much though.

The NRMA is more expensive than others for Comprehensive cover by a fair margin but having recently made a claim (big accident, not my fault, very aggrieved with universe, needed them to be nice to me) and received excellent service I am happy to pay the extra.

Not two weeks prior to that accident I was seriously considering chucking insurance in. It’s amazing how one prang and some good service can change your perspective.

Insurance is only a rip off if you don’t use it.

Over my lifetime I have spent around $14,000 on insurance, and so far have claimed back around $60,000.

That’s right, when I was younger, I was personally pushing up your premiums!

INSURANCE dont get me started…but I will. Few rare occassions that I had insurance all the bloody bureaucratic bull you have to go through for small claims they claim are possible make it impossible and worthless … im not insured for anything life, job, car, house, travel, moving, bike, back or arse. They are like banks with high fees, interest rates but this isn’t your savings … they get to keep it… whats a sista to be but uninsured.

Pretty sure in QLD much cheaper and according to cylinders is suppose to be some incentive to own small cars; 4 cylinders = $480 or something like that and the difference is a couple of hundred if your a 6 cylinder, unlike here 20 buck difference between being under or over 1000kgs, where’s da incentive ay? Im taking da risk!

My present insurance grump is that for the past 7 years since I got my licence at age 17 I was told that once I got to 25 the cost of insurance dropped being no longer a 24yo male.

When I bought a new car last year at age 24 I even went so far as to check that the $800 premium would in fact drop and yes, if I was a 25 year old at that time it would have been closer to $500. Cut to this year, and the insurers (yes I’ve shopped around) are now no longer dropping at 25 and are basing it on years driving, and so the coupled with ‘teh’ world financial crisis the policy is now $1150.

Anyway the car’s in tomorrow’s Times…anyone wanna buy it?

How is this for a rip-off.

I live in NSW and recently had to renew my compulsory third party with NRMA, so down to the local registry I drive.

I think it was around the $800 mark (I just forget the exact figure but it was in the $800’s because it is a 7 series BMW).

Whilst waiting in line and having further examined the policy I noted that the vehicle had been listed as being garaged at my previous residential address.

I have lived at my new address for almost twelve months.

Somehow NRMA had listed my vehicle as being garaged in Gymea, now get this, I didn’t have a policy with NRMA when I lived in the Sutherland Shire, I was with Allianz, I only made the switch to NRMA after having moved and I am pretty particular in regard to ensuring that my policy details are correct when it comes to dealing with insurance companies especially with a European vehicle.

We all know how sycophantic insurance companies are.

After raising the query with the employee and after her re-assessing the cost of such policy given that the vehicle had always been garaged at my current address the final cost from memory was $437. Which was about what I paid last year for compulsory third party.

Strangely enough when I first bought the vehicle I received a letter from AAMI wanting to insure my vehicle at a discount rate because I was such a loyal customer even though I had never held a policy with them in my life.

I wonder how many other innocent mistakes are made by insurance companies and just think of the profits they would make if they did this to 150,000 motorists?

I recommend you get an online quote from AAMI.
I have 2 cars, and they were both 50% cheaper than NRMA.

Where do people like nomnomnom get the idea that different prices is evidence of competitive markets? It also comes up a lot when people complain about petrol prices.

Seriously, if anyone’s a statistician and the data is available I’d love to lobby for reform in this area.

I’m sure the stats would support us.

correct me if I’m wrong but I believe our compulsory third party insurance is the same for all privately used vehicles in the ACT. The rego difference is down to the weight of the vehicle. AFAIK they dont ask about your age, driving history or crash history – just send in the cash each year.

And the ACT gov did try to open up the CTP market but got no takers other than the NRMA when it advertised last year….

You see, using NRMA, there’s your first problem. If you’ve always had your policy with them, they are unlikely to give you any incentives to try and keep your business. Shop around, $1200 for a 96 Mazda seems excessive, considering I’m the same age as you and my insurance on my ’07 Mazda is half what your paying, no doubt my ’07 Mazda is worth significantly more.

Oh, and you also don’t get any surety that the registered vehicles on the road meet any sort of reasonable safety standard (ie brakes, lights work, tyre condition, structural rust, etc).

Squil – I got this level of pricing because I am a long term (about 15 years) continuous customer of NRMA (for comprehensive car, 3rd party personal and home contents), and despite having a couple of accidents many years ago, now carry the largest available no claim bonus. I have my other car insured with AAMI (also at full no claim bonus), and similarly split my house and contents across the two insurers. I’ve also been an NRMA member since I was 16 (when I bought my first car). Because of the long history, and the no claim bonus, they give me a 3rd party personal insurance rate of about 280 bucks a year. Add the 250 or so bucks the RTA charges, plus 30 bucks for a yearly inspection, and rego works out at about 560 a year.

It still costs, but my frank opinion is that Canberrans are getting really ripped off with their rego arrangement.

GB said :

So, is it because insurance claims are higher in NSW; or did the ACT government use its market power (sole purchaser) to get a better deal from NRMA than the free (ish) market in NSW? Or something else?

What about the idea that if you haven’t had an accident in the first x years of driving then your probability of having an accident in subsequent years drops substantially regardless of age or gender? True or false?

Any insurance experts out there? Any data?

I’m pretty sure a bloke from the RTA told me last year that if you’re involved in any sort of bingle (including a paint scraper in the car park) your chances of being in a fatal accident in the next year double.

(before anyone panics that’s a low chance doubling to a still low chance, it doesn’t mean you’re 50-50 to make it through the year)

tylersmayhem said :

What’s being white got to do with it again?

Nothing. Ignore.

Mr V8: Can you illuminate me (and us all) as to how I might be able to access a similarly low fee?

You’re right, I’m not complaining about being young, white and male.

What’s being white got to do with it again?

Back on topic: when I registered my car in the ACT earlier in the year, the person at the rego office said that later in the year Canberran’s will be able to choose who they use for CTP insurance. I understood this as NRMA no longer hold the monopoly, and punters can now seek competitive quotes? Has anyone else heard this?

Ha! Even when I was still in my 20’s, had multiple speeding tickets as a younger man and was driving a nearly new (and modified) V8, my third party insurance and rego combined was only about $550! And guess what, it still is!

God bless NSW!

I think some of what we pay is actually paying for other bad drivers. I suspect some drivers claim more than they ever pay in premiums.

I’ve never had an at-fault accident but last year someone drove up the back of our car – they were driving an unregistered vehicle and also about to leave the ACT for QLD. We supplied the drivers details to AAMI and they paid to have our car fixed – we didn’t pay an excess because we could name the driver but they (AAMI) may never have tracked down the driver who hit us. So I think the cost of a car’s parts would also come into it.

The system in NSW is, at best, an oligopoly.

If you go to every registered CTP insurance provider with the same details their quotes won’t vary by more than $5. Its a joke and clearly non-competitive.

The system here is much better!

At the very least there must be an inverse relationship between time since last at fault accident and probability of causing an accident.

Anyone here an actuary?

Anyone here a statistics major and want to do the math to support a submission to the Government and insurance ombudsmen? 🙂

So, is it because insurance claims are higher in NSW; or did the ACT government use its market power (sole purchaser) to get a better deal from NRMA than the free (ish) market in NSW? Or something else?

What about the idea that if you haven’t had an accident in the first x years of driving then your probability of having an accident in subsequent years drops substantially regardless of age or gender? True or false?

Any insurance experts out there? Any data?

You’re right, I’m not complaining about being young, white and male. I’m certainly not hard done by.

Regardless of genitalia or birth date insurance should be weighted most heavily to driving record after a certain amount of time behind the wheel. Certainly driving history would be the best indicator of a driver’s risk of having another accident but insurance companies prefer to generalize with little regard for individual driving history.

I agree that young males should have to pay higher insurance when they receive their licenses because they obviously represent a higher risk category. But I’m sure the statistics would show that if you haven’t had an accident in the FIRST TWO YEARS of driving then your probability of having an accident in subsequent years must drop substantially regardless of age or gender.

There are NO rewards for driving responsibly. And don’t talk to me about no claim bonus, that only rewards you for not using your insurance. I lost that because of an act of vandalism while parked at Westfield Belco.

I am (despite a spotless 8 year driving record) demanded to pay the highest insurance premiums because of my age and penis.

This is an old bugbear of mine too. I wonder, are there are “legitimate” services in which females are subjected to higher pricing? What about a gym in which females are prohibited from joining. Yes, I know there have been clubs or varying description in which men only could join, and I think their bunk too.

I know, by and large, men have it far better in our society, so I see these observations as a bit cute, rather than anything too serious.

Ah, 96 mazda. Nevermind.

Crazy!

You’re over 25 with a clean record and NRMA still want $1200 for comprehensive?

What sort of car do you drive?