Car Accidents, Third Party Registration Fees and Personal Injury Law

As a personal injury lawyer I am intimately aware of the law in Australia associated with car accident Personal Injury Claims and third party green slip insurance which covers these type of injuries.

Each state in Australia has similar legislation covering the registration of vehicles. More recently it is noted that insurance premiums have risen dramatically in Australia. This is not primarily due to the fact that more people have been injured nor that there have been more accidents but simply that insurance companies have all sustained significant financial losses as a result of down turn in share markets world wide since the global financial crisis occurred 18 months ago.

Many people are not aware that the insurance companies that provide cover for personal injury arising from green slip insurance for motor vehicles (or general insurance for that matter) invest their premiums in the stock market.

In fact most of an insurance companies profit is derived not from the premium that is paid by the insured, but more so as a result of the policy premiums invested into the financial equity markets. As a consequence, the insurance companies earn significant income if the equity markets increase in value and of course make less or even lose money when the markets fall as happened so dramatically in the last 18 months.

It was only when the global financial crisis occurred and stock prices fell up to 40% that massive losses occurred in profitability for these insurance companies.

As a result of these losses premiums have steadily risen in Australia. It is grossly unfair that third party insurance has now risen by up to 30% over the last six months not so much because of an increase in claims, as clearly the statistics show that this has not occurred, but because of equity losses by the major insurance companies.

It was not so long ago in the early 2000s that the insurance companies in Australia cried poor and argued that they were paying out too much for injured parties. What then occurred was Australia wide legislation that was introduced to radically reduced the benefits payable to injured parties in not only car accident claims but also in Personal Injury generally including work accidents and public liability accidents.

At the same time many state governments in Australia introduced legislation restricting advertising of personal injury and compensation legal services in the hope that by restricting the flow of information to the injured, less claims would be made.

Since these radical changes occurred insurance company profitability dramatically rose much to the malign of seriously injured people. It seems grossly unfair now that premiums have once again started to climb particularly when benefits paid to the injured have declined so markedly.

Why should people seriously injured in:

a. Motor Car or Cycle accidents or;
b. Public Liability – due to a slip and fall say in a supermarket or public place;
c. In a Work Accident situation

be disadvantaged because private insurance company’s invest its premiums unwisely!!!

Gerard Malouf is an Injury Compensation Lawyer in Sydney Australia with over 26 years experience handling compensation cases.

Author Profile: Gerard_Malouf_Solicitor

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