Green slip changes flicked from Parliament as supporters of compulsory third party insurance prevail
August 19, 2013
New South Wales has ditched its attempt to reform its compulsory third party (CTP) insurance scheme.
Also known as ‘green slip’ crash insurance, CTP insurance has seen premiums rise strongly in recent years – 70 perent in five years, according to the State Government.
But the proposed reform faced community concern as well as political opposition that saw it fail to get upper house support in State Parliament.
Critics charged that, under the ‘no fault’ proposal, the vast majority of innocent victims would lose their right to claim full damages, with negligent drivers being a partial beneficiary.
Prominent NSW lawyer Maurie Stack said in late June that truck drivers and owners would also lose out, given that “most truck drivers are professionals and they normally don’t cause the accident”.
New NSW Finance Minister Andrew Constance says premiums would rise next year, rather than fall 15 per cent.
The reform proposal was mired in controversy over insurance industry involvement when first proposed by former finance minister Greg Pearce, who has since been stood down for a ministerial code of conduct breach in a separate matter.
