Rider CTP premiums may drop

Welcome changes to CTP in NSW may result in a drop in premiums in the future, says former Motorcycle Council of NSW chairman Christopher “CJ” Burns.

This comes as the Victorian Motorcycle Safety Levy is to continue to rise and Queensland riders are best off with rego.

The MCC-NSW launched a campaign last year against NSW Government proposed changes to compulsory third party insurance that would make it more difficult to access compensation.

CJ says the campaign was “short and sharp” and “not without its fair share of dirty tricks and politics”.

After several changes to the proposal which come into effect from December 2017, CJ says the new legislation is a win for all motorists.

“The biggest wins here are that all injured parties can claim and then receive payments straight away,” he says.

“Essentially the Accident Notification Form (ANF) payment has been increased which is something the MCC had lobbied for all along. The argument proposed by the MCC that all insurance companies could start making payments straight away, if they choose to, was listened to and implemented.”

He says car drivers will see a reduction in CTP premiums of about $100 a year while riders get the added protection of the increased ANF and payments starting straight away.

However, due to the forecast number of ANF claims for riders, CJ does not expect an immediate decrease in CTP costs.

“But this is not to say it will not happen in the future,” he says.

CJ has called on all riders and drivers to check pricing for their CTP premiums on the Government website as prices vary considerably.

“This is a hybrid system that certainly is streets ahead of the old system yet without the issues inherent in the Victorian TAC system that loses close to $1 billion per annum,” he says.

Victorian safety levy

Meanwhile, in Victoria the motorcycle safety levy which started in 2002 at $50 is now $73.20 as it is automatically indexed by inflation (CPI) each financial year.

The Victorian Motorcycle Council, Victorian Freedom Riders and Independent Rider’s Group have called for the levy to be scrapped.

Former No 1 member of the Motorcycle Riders Association of Australia and former Rehabilitation Co-ordinator at The Public Transport Corporation, Rodney Brown, says car crashes are more likely to have multiple injuries and deaths, yet drivers do not pay a safety levy.

“In a motorcycle accident there may only be one person involved,” he says.

Rod points to a recent seven-car pile-up on the West Gate Freeway in which five people were injured and all were admitted to hospital.

“What would the TAC pay out on this one crash alone?” he asks. 

Funds collected go to safety initiatives such as education and training, infrastructure upgrades, enforcement and improved data collection and analysis.

Since 2012, the safety levy is reported to have raised $70 million.

Rod says riders are still asking where does the money go and has it been effective, pointing out that Victorian motorcycle fatalities increased last year.

He says in 2002 the Opposition State Liberal Transport Minister promised they would immediately remove the impost if they were elected.

However, successive governments have retained it.

Current Roads Minister Luke Donnellan says motorcyclists are over-represented in serious and fatal crashes.

“That’s why we’re identifying the routes riders use and making safety upgrades that we know save lives,” he says.

“Since the Motorcycle Safety Levy was introduced, we’ve completed more than 170 road improvement projects that wouldn’t have happened without the Levy.”

 Rod calls the levy an “unfair tax”.

“Why are motorcyclists paying this unfair tax at all, especially when the Victorian Road Safety Committee, Inquiry Into Motorcycle Safety, recommendation 25, clearly states that the motorcycle safety levy be abolished?” he asks.

Queensland rego

In Queensland, rego charges have just increase 3.5%, the third increase in three years, but the MRAQ still says Queensland riders have the cheapest CTP of all.

Sunshine State riders pay a slightly higher traffic improvement fee than drivers, but the MRAQ says that is offset by lower CTP.