£5000 Indemnity For Passengers

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30738, 30 April 1965, Page 12

£5000 Indemnity For Passengers

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, April 29. Car owners will be indemnified by statute to a maximum of £5OOO for each passenger carried—regardless of the number—for any accident.

This will apply as long as passengers are not being carried for a charge.

This was revealed in amendments to the MotorVehicles (Third Party Risks) Regulation of 1963 which were gazetted tonight. The indemnity will take effect from July 1 this year. It ensures financial protection on behalf of passengers, and an important feature is that the amendment will cover the wife or husband of the negligent driver. This was approved by the Government after recommendations from the third party premiums advisory committee had been considered. Since compulsory motorvehicle third party insurance was introduced in 1928, indemnity for passengers has been confined to fare-paying passengers carried on public passenger vehicles. Other passengers injured, or the dependents of those killed by their driver’s negligence, have been ineligible for the statutory financial protection of the legislation. Their only chance of compensation has been the driver’s personal ability to pay, or payment from the driver's personal passenger insurance cover.

The car and station waggon premium for the current year will be £4 12s 6d, made up from £2 14s existing premium, is extra to meet increasing claims for worsening experience, and £1 17s 6d for the new passenger cover. Other Vehicles Apart from cars, station waggons and public passenger service vehicles, the extra premium for passenger cover is calculated on the car amount (£1 17s 6d) in the ratio of passengers injured in the particular vehicle group to passengers injured in cars. The total third party premiums for these other vehicles (with existing rates in parentheses) are:— Motor-cycles £3 Ils (£1 16s).

Power-cycles 12s (8s). Vehicles exempt from licence fees Ils (7s). Goods service vehicles £4 14s (£3 9s).

Trailers 4s (unchanged). Rental cars £22 (£l2). Miscellaneous group £6 (£2 14s). Many owners have passenger indemnity with their comprehensive vehicle insurance policies, and it is understood that insurance companies are making adjustments either in the form of credits or rebates where optional cover is no longer required or by providing passenger indemnity above the new statutory maximum cover.

Car owners without passenger cover will pay £1 17s 6d extra for this in their new third party premiums. Owners already carrying optional passenger insurance will have the benefit of a corresponding saving in this cover (if no longer required) or indemnity over the £5OOO statutory limit if they keep their optional policy going. Some owners with optional passenger cover carrying a premium of over £1 17s 6d may pay less over all if they abandon their optional policies.