Types of Car Insurance: Choosing the right policy for you
Whether you’re driving in the Brisbane CBD or Outback Queensland, or taking a Sunday drive to the Sunshine Coast, there’s always a chance you could make a mistake on the road. Usually accidents are small and don’t incur much damage — but sometimes serious accidents happen. When deciding what type of motor vehicle/car insurance will suit you, give some thought to whether you can live without your car if it’s written off or stolen, and if you can afford any expenses associated with damage to someone else’s car if you have an accident. The type of policy you choose should be guided by the level of coverage that you’re after.
Is Car Insurance compulsary?
In Australia, you are required to have Compulsary third party (CTP) insurance if you register a motor vehicle. All vehicles driven on public roads require registration. CTP is the most basic form of car insurance and helps cover the costs of compensation claims if you injure or kill someone in a car accident. All other types of car insurance are optional, and whether they are right for you depends on your personal circumstances. Before deciding which policy could work best for you, it’s important to understand the levels of cover provided by each type of car insurance.
What does CTP insurance cover in Qld?
Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance is designed to protect drivers from the potentially huge costs of legal liability when personal injuries or fatalities occur. CTP Insurance covers your liability, and the liability of anyone who drives your vehicle, for injuries caused to others in a motor vehicle accident. This can include injuries to:
- your passengers
- the driver and passengers in other vehicles
- cyclists, and
- pedestrians.
Basically, the cover is for anybody that was injured in an accident — except you, if you’re at fault.
Likewise, if you’re injured in an accident and you weren’t at fault, the other driver’s CTP insurance can help cover your medical bills.
How do you get CTP insurance in Qld?
CTP Insurance is mandatory in all states and territories. It’s how you get it that varies between states.
For drivers living in Western Australia, Northern Territory, Victoria and Tasmania, it’s managed by the state government body and is included in your rego payment.
But in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, drivers can choose their CTP provider, and must have it arranged before their registration can be finalised.
When you buy a new or used vehicle from a motor dealer, generally they can arrange registration and CTP Insurance for you. But it’s important to know that you have the right to choose your preferred provider.
How CTP differs from Third Party Car Insurance?
Third Party Car Insurance offers liability cover to get you started without the extra features of Comprehensive levels of insurance cover.
At the most basic level, Third Party Property Damage provides cover for:
- Liability for loss or damage your car causes to another person’s vehicle or property
- Damage by uninsured drivers
- Third party property damage caused by caravans and trailers towed by your car
You also have the option of upgrading your Third Party Property Damage to include fire and theft which gives you the basic cover plus:
- Liability for loss or damage from fire and theft
- After claim expenses after fire or theft
- Up to 21 days hire car after theft.
Third Party covers don’t cover you for accidental loss or damage to your own car. If that’s what you’re looking for, then you’ll need Comprehensive Car Insurance.
Comprehensive Car Insurance
Comprehensive car insurance is typically the highest level of cover available. With this level of cover, most insurance companies can help cover you for a wide range of damage caused by insured events, such as:
- Car accidents
- Theft
- Intentional damage and fire
- Severe weather events such as storms, hail and floods
Comprehensive car insurance generally doesn’t cover mechanical faults; damage due to poor materials or workmanship; or provide coverage for unlawful use (for example, a driver under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or a driver with a suspended licence).
Vehicles that may have conditional registration
Conditional registration is registration for non-standard vehicles that do not comply with the standard regulations for registration and have a genuine need for limited access to the road network.
Vehicles that may be conditionally registered include some agricultural, construction and recreational vehicles including:
- forklifts
- tractors
- graders
- harvesters
- 2, 3 or 4-wheeled recreational vehicles.
Do I need to conditionally register my non-standard vehicle?
In Queensland, it is illegal to drive a non-standard vehicle on the road without conditional registration. You may be fined if you don’t have registration and if the vehicle is involved in a crash, you may not be covered by insurance.
If a non-standard vehicle is not being driven on a road (see definition of a road), and is only used on private property, then it may not need conditional registration. Vehicles that comply with normal registration requirements are not eligible for conditional registration. This includes truck-based mobile machinery and cranes.
Contact Us
If you’d like to learn more about your motor vehicle/car insurance options, consider contacting us to see if there’s a policy available that’s right for you.
