In my capacity as a local member, at least every month I see some poor battler who has been involved in an accident where significant damage has been caused to another vehicle.Only yesterday, a distraught young woman came to my office over an accident which admittedly, was mainly her fault. She was not insured and the other car is probably a write-off.
As a result, she could be $10,000 or more out-of-pocket - an amount which she simply cannot pay.
Many of these battlers cannot afford comprehensive vehicle insurance - which covers their car as well as all other vehicles involved in an accident.
What these drivers don't realise is that for about $50 a year, you can buy a Third Party Property Damage policy - which means that even though you are not insured for your own car, if you smash up a Rolls Royce or Mercedes Benz, you will be covered under the policy.
State Governments in Australia have been very wise in the past 60 years to make compulsory third party insurance a condition of registration renewal.
But this covers only death or injury caused to people involved in the accident. There is no cover for any damage caused to the other vehicles.
For about another $50 per car per year, everyone could be automatically covered for third party property damage.
It would not be an enormous impost at the time of registration but would save many battlers from the trauma of paying off huge debts after an accident or even being forced into bankruptcy.
For those people who say - "Well, it's their fault that they didn't obtain a third party property damage policy", the simple fact of the matter is that the availability of this type of policy is not very well known and, being voluntary, is often overlooked.
If Third Party Property cover was rolled into the annual registration & insurance bill, the financial heartbreak currently being suffered by many battlers and their families would disappear overnight.
