The Western Australian state government is proposing to add a no-fault catastrophic injury cover to the Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance scheme.
The government has released a green paper inviting comments on the proposal.
If implemented, a no-fault catastrophic CTP insurance scheme would mean that all people catastrophically injured as a result of a motor vehicle accident regardless of fault, would be entitled to make a claim for care and support.
Care and support required would no longer be paid as a one-off lump sum, but instead would be funded on an 'as you go' basis for the rest of their life.
The current scheme is a fault-based scheme, which requires negligence to be asserted against the driver or owner of a WA-registered motor vehicle for a CTP insurance claim to be successful.
Some people are able to claim lump sum compensation for catastrophic injury sustained in a car accident, but some receive no compensation because negligence against another driver was unable to be determined.
Instead, these people now rely on support from government-funded health and disability services, personal insurance, families and friends.
There has been much debate about whether insurance schemes should be expanded to provide lifetime care and support for anyone who suffers a catastrophic injury as a result of a motor vehicle accident, whether or not fault can be asserted against another driver.
Under the proposed scheme, to fund the care and support needs of all people who are catastrophically injured each year under a proposed no-fault catastrophic CTP insurance scheme, the CTP premium would need to increase each year by about $109 (including GST and insurance duty). This would bring the annual CTP insurance premium for a family car to about $400.
Disability Services Minister Helen Morton said the cost of caring for a person with catastrophic injuries was, on average, about $4m per person over the course of their life.
“I expect this green paper will raise a range of issues and there will be good community debate. It is an important conversation and I encourage everyone to have their say on these proposed changes,” she said.
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