ACT Citizens' Jury Selects Preferred Compulsory Third Party Insurance Scheme
Monday 9 April 2018 @ 8.24 a.m. | Torts, Damages & Civil Liability | Trade & Commerce
In a recent Media Release (25 March 2018) it was announced that Members of the ACT Government’s first Citizens’ Jury on Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance had selected a preferred new CTP scheme to deliver improved coverage and better protect the citizens of Canberra. We have previously reported on the establishment and work of the first ACT Citizens Jury, in our article ACT Government’s First Citizens’ Jury Hands Down Report on CTP, which also reports more generally on the concept of a "Citizens' Jury".
About the ACT Citizens' Jury
The Citizens' Jury, which is made up of a representative group of Canberra citizens, first met on 14 and 15 October 2017 and then again on 28 and 29 October 2017. In the four day period, the jury heard evidence from injured people and past CTP claimants, as well as medical, legal and insurance experts. Submissions provided by the experts were analysed and considered and feedback was provided by the Canberra community, informing discussions and debate.
The Citizens' Jury then handed their report on the scheme objectives to the members
of the "Stakeholder Reference Group" (SRG) - which included insurers, the legal profession, a health care consumer representative,
a rehabilitation researcher and representatives of the ACT Government, as well as
a scheme designer and an actuary. On receiving the jury's report in October 2017,
the SRG appointed an expert scheme designer to work with their input to develop four
models in line with the jury’s priorities. These models were costed by an actuary
to determine their potential impact on the premiums.
The Citizens' Jury had its final meetings on 24 and 25 March 2018 where the scheme
designer presented the four models developed with input from the SRG, and the contracted
actuary provided an indication of the impact on premiums for each model. Jury members
deliberated and voted on which model best meets the objectives they set in October
2017.
About the Chosen Model
The model chosen by the jury, Model 4, delivers the following improvements:
- everyone injured in a motor vehicle accident will receive up to five years treatment, care and income benefits, regardless of who was at fault. This means approximately 40% more people will be covered and everyone will have earlier access to benefits after an accident. There will continue to be exclusions for serious criminal offences, in line with other Australian jurisdictions.
- quality of life benefits, which provide compensation for non-financial loss, will be available for all people who meet injury thresholds.
- anyone whose injury was caused by someone else’s negligence and who is more seriously injured will still be able to access additional common law benefits.
According to the Media Release the Citizens' Jury decided this model best met the objectives they had set when they first commenced working in October 2017, namely:
- early access to medical treatment;
- economic support and rehabilitation services;
- equitable cover for all people injured in a motor vehicle accident;
- greater efficiency and value for money; and
- supporting people to better navigate the scheme and strengthening integrity of the scheme to reduce fraudulent behaviour.
Implementing the Chosen Model
The ACT government has indicated that it commissioned the Citizens' Jury process to work with the ACT community to improve the current ACT CTP scheme and better protect Canberra citizens. Because of this the ACT Government has committed to delivering the scheme model chosen by the jury and is to commence work with stakeholders to draft legislation and present it to the ACT Legislative Assembly - expectations are that a new scheme will commence in Canberra in the second half of 2019.
A summary of the preferred scheme and how it compares with the current scheme can be found here.
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