THIRD-PARTY MOTOR INSURANCE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 24 June 1937, Page 11

THIRD-PARTY MOTOR INSURANCE

INTEREST OF VICTORIA With the approach of the forthcoming session of the Victorian Parliament, interest has been quickened in the possibility of the introduction of compulsory third-party motor-car insurance, says the “Argus.” The Chief Secretary (Mr Bailey) recently visited New Zealand, where he investigated the system of compulsory third-party insurance in operation there. In New Zealand the premium for third-party cover for a private motor vehicle is 17s per annum, with unlimited risk. The premium is payable when registration is renewed, the prospective insurer having the right to nominate any company he may choose. It is not thought in insurance circles in Melbourne that, if the Victorian Ministry legislates for compulsory third-party insurance, business will be able to be

| written at anything near 17s. It was i explained recently that all kinds of j motor-car insurance risks were much greater in Victoria than they were in New Zealand, chiefly because of the greater concentration of traffic in a city of the size of Melbourne, i Compulsory third-party insurance ; has already been introduced in Queens- | land, Tasmania, and South Australia, i but in each of these three states the j puremium is in excess of that charged in New Zealand. In Queensland, where n ost of the third-party business is written by the Stale Insurance Office, the premium has been fixed at 30s for city land country risks, with liability limited to £750 a person. In South Australia, where the tariff was approved by the Government as “fair and reasonable,” the rates are 27s 6d for city and 17s 6d for country, and in Tasmania there is a fiat rate of 255. Insurance managers consider that the Ministery, before arbitrarily fixing any rates, should first consider carefully the views of experts on the subject.