New no-fault car insurance for Western Australia
The Western Australian state government has announced that drivers in the state will now have access to no-fault catastrophic injury cover as an expansion of existing Compulsory Third Party insurance.
The introduction of the new car insurance scheme comes after the release of a Green Paper - that asked the WA community for feedback on adding no-fault cover to the existing scheme - received more than 2,300 responses.
"We have listened to the community and there has clearly been an overwhelming response for support of a no-fault insurance scheme in WA," said Premier Colin Barnett.
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The new insurance scheme is designed to cover the costs of long term care for people catastrophically injured in car accidents in WA and will cost drivers no more than $99 in the first year. That means that from July 1 2016, the premium for compulsory third party car insurance in WA will reach about $415 per year for a family vehicle.
Other vehicles such as tractors, mopeds, vintage cars and farm fire-fighting vehicles would see smaller rises in insurance premiums, while trailers and caravans wouldn’t increase at all.
Treasurer Mike Nahan said that the price of CTP insurance in WA - even including the new premium for no-fault catastrophic insurance - would remain cheaper than other CTP insurance schemes in Australia.
CTP insurance costs by state
| State | Cost |
|---|---|
| Western Australia | $415 |
| South Australia | $476 |
| Victoria | $487 |
| Northern Territory | $531 |
| Australian Capital Territory | $604 |
| New South Wales | $613 |
Approximately 92 Western Australians suffer a catastrophic injury in a car crash each year, according to Disability Services Minister Helen Morton, and an estimated 48 are able to assert that another person was at fault and receive compensation as a lump sum.
The other 44 people, however, are either at fault or unable to assert fault, and are unable to claim compensation.
"The cost of providing lifetime care for people catastrophically injured in motor vehicle accidents is estimated to be an average of $4 million per person over the course of their lifetime," Mrs Morton said.
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