MAIC’s latest financial year statistics (2016 financial year) show that in the 2008 financial year there were over 3,324,000 registered vehicles in Queensland, 6524 claims and a personal injury claim frequency score of 2. In the 2016 financial year there were around 4,064,000 registered vehicles in Queensland, 6888 claims and a claim frequency score of 1.7. This clearly indicates a decreasing claim frequency over the past 10 years.
In the financial years 2011 to 2015, there were around 7000 to 7300 claims for motor accident injuries each year. This dropped to 6888 in the 2016 financial year.
Queensland CTP Insurers are seeking claim restrictions, something they already achieved in 2003 with the introduction of the
Civil Liability Act 2003. This legislation significantly restricted claims for pain and suffering, capped loss of income claims, introduced thresholds for care claims, limited claims on interest on damages and restricted claims for recovery of legal costs.
We have a good and fair motor accident injury scheme in Queensland. We have a scheme that promotes funding of treatment & rehabilitation needs, settlement of claims without the need for litigation and when litigation is required, we have a reliable and highly competent judiciary determining motor accident claims. Our judicial decisions in such cases are some of the most conservative in Australia. We also have some of the lowest CTP insurance premium prices in Australia, with an increase of less than $60 over a 10 year period.
Insurers would like to increase their profits by increasing claims premiums and providing you with the excuse that it is due to increasing litigation and a litigant mentality in Queensland.
As a personal injury lawyer and motor accident lawyer, and one involved in this industry for more than 30 years, I can tell you from my own experience, Queenslanders are definitely not litigant-pro and are typically, quite reluctant litigants. And as indicated above, motor accident injury claims in Queensland have in fact reduced and not increased as insurers would have you believe.
Don’t let insurers pull the wool over your eyes to take away your rights. You may need them in the future. The Queensland Motor Accident Insurance Scheme works, so let’s not fix what’s not broken just because Queensland Insurers want increased $billion profits. And of course they do – they are in the business of insurance afterall.
