Do I need to buy Compulsory Third Party Insurance when renting a car in Australia?

[thatsthatmattressman]

What I thought would be a simple insurance question I can't find the solution too!

My wife and i don't own a car any more and hence do not have comprehensive third party insurance or any insurance for that matter (no house, contents ...nothing!).

We are both citizens of Australia and will be renting a car in New South Wales for a week. Normally we go in knowing we have CTP but now we don't! I can't find any where that states the 'basic' cover for most car rentals here (in Australia) includes CTP ...

Has my google juice search prowess let me down?

(UPDATE) just realized that yes the basic insurance covers us however ..it only covers us in the event that we harm someone outside our own vehicle (i.e. hit another car/pedestrian) but that us, ourselves are not covered). Is the typical practice here then to cover myself with travel insurance or some other form. It will be my wife driving and myself and our nephew as a passenger. I feel like i am over complicating this ;-)?

thanks

 

[here2go]

Re: Do I need to buy Compulsory Third Party Insurance when renting a car in Australia

Get travel insurance from the country you live in will cover rental excess. Avoid insurance from the car company - over-priced to the point of often being dearer than travel insurance, and doesn't cover any other aspect of your travel.

 

[JohnK]

Re: Do I need to buy Compulsory Third Party Insurance when renting a car in Australia

You will need to get travel insurance to cover you on domestic trips and it also covers car rental excess.

From memory it is not that expensive from websites such as www.onlinetravelinsurance.com.au.

Actually just checked and the price has gone up considerably in the past few years. It used to cost something like $20 for short trips and that has now gone up to $39 for single. But still if you are going to hire a car for 3-7 days or more then it is worthwhile.

Another option is to purchase an annual frequent traveller policy and this also cover car rental excess on domestic trips.

 

[blu]

Re: Do I need to buy Compulsory Third Party Insurance when renting a car in Australia

as I understand it, the additional insurance cover sold by the car rental companies is only to cover the excess amount stated in the rental agreement (usually about $5,000). Therefore, your maximum exposure to the rental company is about $5k. Travel insurance policies cover this rental car excess.
What is less clear to me is 3rd party damage claims against you (eg: you crash into another car, spin & then go through a shop window causing much damage inside, a CTP claim etc).
Take time to follow the discussion here:
Car Rental Insurance Australia: Smarter Alternatives | Car Hire Insider

 

[RB]

Re: Do I need to buy Compulsory Third Party Insurance when renting a car in Australia

as I understand it, the additional insurance cover sold by the car rental companies is only to cover the excess amount stated in the rental agreement (usually about $5,000). Therefore, your maximum exposure to the rental company is about $5k. Travel insurance policies cover this rental car excess.
What is less clear to me is 3rd party damage claims against you (eg: you crash into another car, spin & then go through a shop window causing much damage inside, a CTP claim etc).
Take time to follow the discussion here:
Car Rental Insurance Australia: Smarter Alternatives | Car Hire Insider

Reading this reply the way I have I think this post provides some possible confusion- your mention of CTP and shop damage in the 1 sentence. The NSW CTP scheme is designed for people killed or injured in a motor vehicle accident. Any rental car registered in NSW must/will have the CTP insurance in place. There is a very clear distinction between 3rd party property damage and 3rd party personal injury (CTP). The OP is not eligible to buy CTP insurance for the rental vehicle-they are not the registered owners of the vehicle.
Outside of Domestic travel insurance there are insurances such as lump sum disability and income protection that are available and maybe the OP has them in some form

 

[thatsthatmattressman]

Re: Do I need to buy Compulsory Third Party Insurance when renting a car in Australia

Reading this reply the way I have I think this post provides some possible confusion- your mention of CTP and shop damage in the 1 sentence. The NSW CTP scheme is designed for people killed or injured in a motor vehicle accident. Any rental car registered in NSW must/will have the CTP insurance in place. There is a very clear distinction between 3rd party property damage and 3rd party personal injury (CTP). The OP is not eligible to buy CTP insurance for the rental vehicle-they are not the registered owners of the vehicle.
Outside of Domestic travel insurance there are insurances such as lump sum disability and income protection that are available and maybe the OP has them in some form

thank you to the last poster here ...you got it. The basic cover when you rent the car includes the insurance (i.e. CTP) that covers me if we harm another person.

 

[blu]

Re: Do I need to buy Compulsory Third Party Insurance when renting a car in Australia

Sorry for any confusion, my point is that there may be a number of different types of claims against you, which the insurances may or may not cover.
What I am not sure of is, additional third party injury and property damage claims, not adequately covered by the motor accident policy or the CTP insurance (if that's possible).

 

[dajop]

Re: Do I need to buy Compulsory Third Party Insurance when renting a car in Australia

Isn't CTP a condition of registration of the vehicle, and cover would be no different to if you drove a registered vehicle you owned? This would cover third party injury claims, property damage would be a different matter, and you would need to check the policies of the car rental company. From from recollection most car rental companies have included CDW cover in Australia, which includes damage both to the rental vehicle and the third party vehicles/property (with caveats around things like driving under the influnce etc), albeit with a substantial excess. Always pays to look at the policies to check what they cover.

 

[AVC]

Re: Do I need to buy Compulsory Third Party Insurance when renting a car in Australia

CTP or Compulsory Third Party, cover injury to other person, but not property. It is a requirement of registration. If the car is registered, it has CTP cover.

Vehicle damage is another story. Like dajop said, the rental should include insurance, but the excess (the amount you pay in the event of an accident) can be, well, excessive (pun intended). Depending on the class of vehicle it can be thousands (some trucks I've hired it can be a 12K basic excess).

Normally the rental company will try to sell you the extra cover to bring the excess down to a reasonable level. I always pay it, as unlike your own comprehensive insurance, there is no "not-at-fault" excess waiver.

i.e.
Your own car - Someone runs into your car and they are clearly at fault, they pay, and you pay no excess.
Rental car - You are generally required to pay the excess even if you are not at fault.

Some CTP, covers "driver at fault", but you need to check. If you are worried about covering yourself for personal injury, then a separate personal injury ploicy would need to be in effect.

 

[blu]

Re: Do I need to buy Compulsory Third Party Insurance when renting a car in Australia

Getting OT here.
What I was searching for in my poor example above: what about being sued for negligence (as advertised by the "No Win - No Pay" compensation lawyers)?
Because of the accident, a third party's future income prospects are diminished and sues you for say, $10million (a civil negligence claim?).