The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has urged the Queensland Government to retain its privately underwritten compulsory third party (CTP) scheme as the current setup promotes competition, thereby leading to “best” outcomes for motorists. 
 
Queensland is reviewing its CTP scheme and the Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC) – which oversees the program – has flagged three scenarios in its discussion paper. 
 
One of the scenarios suggests transitioning to a public underwriting model. 
 
ICA says there is a “strong case” to retain a competitively underwritten model in Queensland. 
 
ICA’s submission to the review says data demonstrates that Queensland’s competitively underwritten CTP scheme is one of the most affordable in the country and compares favourably against other schemes. 
 
For example, the total Class 1 annual CTP premium in Queensland in 2022 was $364 compared to an equivalent of between $430 to $552 in Victoria, which has one of the four publicly underwritten schemes in Australia. 
 
“Transitioning Queensland’s CTP scheme to a public underwriting model would represent a major policy shift from a model that has been underwritten by private insurers since the scheme’s inception in 1936,” ICA says. 
 
Such a move “would put at risk the affordability that Queenslanders have enjoyed for many years”, the submission says. 
 
“The ICA believes that managing the risk of injury is performed most efficiently by the private sector and that Queenslanders injured on the roads will be best protected under the current system of competitive underwriting. 
 
“Government monopolies do not allow customer choice and the benefits of competition.” 
 
The Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) has also made a submission to the review. 
 
ALA says it supports greater competition within Queensland’s CTP scheme and also touched on what a publicly underwritten scheme would mean. 
 
Publicly underwritten schemes tend to be more bureaucratic, less efficient and foster more disputes, the ALA submission says. 
 
The submission says they also “tend to grow in size and expense, which puts pressure on premiums and can lead governments to restrict common law rights for injured motorists and other injured people in response to the financial pressures on that CTP scheme”. 
 
“As such, the ALA recommends that the Queensland Government does not pursue a public underwriting model for Queensland’s CTP scheme.”