Compulsory Third Party Insurance

In the ACT there is a requirement for the CTP insurer to provide early payment of up to $5,000 of your medical expenses by your CTP insurer - click here or view our brochure online.

CTP News Update

The Road Transport (Third-Party Insurance) Amendment Bill 2011 was introduced in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday, 17 February 2011. This Bill was referred to the Legislative Assembly's Standing Committee on Public Accounts on 31 March 2011. For more information, you can access the Committee's website by clicking here.

For a copy of the Amendment Bill and associated Explanatory Statement please visit the ACT Legislation Register website here.

The key objective of the Bill is to put the focus back on health and rehabilitation of claimants. To this end, the substantive elements of the Bill are:

1. the establishment of a statutory minimum impairment threshold process for non-economic loss;
2. to provide a mechanism for independent, expert medical assessments to be undertaken shortly after the injury occurred, to assess the impairment of a person injured in a motor crash;
3. allowing for medical assessments to be peer reviewed, and if necessary reviewed by a court. These medical assessments are binding on the parties to a motor crash claim and conclusive proof in any court;
4. physical and psychological injuries must be assessed separately; and
5. if a person is injured in a motor crash then they will be entitled to non-economic loss if their injuries are serious such that their whole person permanent impairment is 15% or more for either physical or psychological injuries.

In addition, the following elements will be introduced:

1. provisions that ensure transparency in awarding damages for a claimants future loss of earning capacity;
2. increase the discount rate from 3% to a 5% statutory discount rate in line with what is already applied in NSW and Queensland;
3. interest on compensation is to be paid only in circumstances were an insurer has not met their obligations under the Act as specified in the Bill.

Importantly, the key provisions of the Bill:

• DO NOT take away any claimants ability to make a claim for compensation;
• DO NOT take away any claimants ability to choose to litigate their claim;
• ONLY apply to non-economic loss (otherwise known as general damages or pain and suffering);
• ALL claimants will still be able to access all other heads of damage as compensation, such as medical and rehabilitation costs (past and future), economic loss (past and future earnings) and attendant/domestic care if required.

In summary, you will still be able to make a claim for compensation if you are injured in a motor accident that was not your fault.

This Amendment Bill was released in October 2010 for consultation. To view the submissions received click here or on the link below.

The Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance scheme is a compulsory scheme of third party insurance applying in the ACT that is paid when you register your car.

For more information about the ACT's CTP insurance scheme click on the topics below.