Law body pushes to save Queensland’s CTP scheme from insurer campaign for change

Queensland's Compulsory Third Party (CTP) vehicle insurance system is under threat as insurers push for the scheme to be changed to a no-fault system.

The campaign, pushed especially by insurers RACQ and Suncorp, has been intense and played out in the news media over the past year or so to foster fear among the state's motorists.

Now a leading national legal body is putting its name to a push to challenge the insurers. The Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) is strongly opposing moves to change Queensland's Compulsory Third Party (CTP) system to a no-fault scheme.

The ALA,a national association of lawyers, academics and other professionals striving to promote justice, freedom and the rights of the individual, states the insurers want to strip rights from Queensland's CTP scheme, transforming it into a restricted, 'no-fault' scheme similar to the schemes that operate in the ACT and New South Wales.

We strongly endorse the ALA's stance which builds on our earlier arguments that the insurer moves are another scaremongering campaign designed to lower compensation to injured motorists and boost insurer profits.

Late last year the insurers' renewed a public lobby campaign to change the State's CTP scheme, using accident victims' stories to justify a change that would directly boost insurer profits.

RACQ launched its latest volley for a CTP change under the guise of informing Queenslanders what their CTP insurance covers (and does not cover) them for.

But the public should not be fooled by RACQ's claims.

In 2018 I noted RACQ's 2018 profits of $64.4 million attributable in part to the premiums they collect from Queensland's CTP scheme. That amount was more than double the $26.7 million profit RACQ made in 2017.

During that same period the two of the three largest CTP Insurer's in Queensland, RACQ and Suncorp, ran a campaign blaming Queensland lawyers for a spike in the State's compulsory third party insurance claims.

In its rebuff the Australian Lawyers Alliance argues Queensland currently has virtually the lowest CTP premiums on the Australian mainland and is renowned for having a CTP scheme that is fair for injured motorists.

"A no-fault scheme will mean higher prices for all drivers, less compensation for injured motorists and more profits for big insurance companies like RACQ and Suncorp," it claims.