Drivers in suburbs which make more insurance claims have been punished by changes to the CTP car insurance scheme
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More than 40,000 motorists have been punished with rego hikes or rewarded with a discount, following a review of the number of CTP insurance claims in their suburb.
CTP Insurance Regulator Kim Birch has revealed details of the review, the first in 18 years, in his annual report tabled in state parliament last week.
All motor vehicles are charged compulsory third-party insurance based on whether they are garaged in a good driver low-claim area or a bad driver higher claim area.
For example, this year’s CTP premium for a private passenger vehicle can be $201.03 or $295.40 depending on where the car is garaged.
“A district boundary review confirmed the majority of postcodes or suburbs were assigned to the correct district,’’ Mr Birch’s report states.
But bills have changed for about 44,000 owners – or 3 per cent of registered vehicles.
About 16,000 people are now paying more for their CTP insurance, while 28,000 have enjoyed a saving.
Opposition treasury spokesman Stephen Mullighan was critical of the regulator’s increase for thousands of vehicle owners.
“The shifting of vehicles between CTP districts will result in a huge hit to the household budget for 16,000 vehicle owners and comes on top of last year’s huge increase to registration fees and charges,’’ he said.
A report by the Auditor-General has also found that South Australians paid an extra $42 million in car rego fees last financial year after the State Government increased charges by about 5 per cent in the 2019 State Budget.
Auditor-General Andrew Richardson said a rise in the number of registered vehicles also contributed to the revenue increase.
Mr Birch’s report also revealed details of insurer breach notices handed out to the four registered insurers for breaking rules during the 2019/20 financial year.
Many were for not providing reimbursement on time. In total, fines worth $100,000 were handed out.
AAMI was the company least put on notice with 7 cases, followed by SGIC (8), QBE (15) and Allianz (16). An Allianz spokeswoman said it self reported five incidents, including one which led to 12 breaches.
In terms of how quickly insurers closed claims, QBE was the most efficient, taking 10.8 months, SGIC took 10.9 months, Allianz 11.2 months, and AAMI 13.5 months.