When we register or re-register a motor car in Victoria, we pay two fees. The first is the actual registration fee and the second is a transport accident charge.

The transport accident charge goes to the Transport Accident Commission (TAC). Currently, to register a private motor car in Victoria, a registration fee of approximately $180.00 is payable. The transport accident charge varies depending upon where the vehicle is garaged, however, the maximum annual fee is currently about $487.00 in a high risk zone.

In NSW, the registration for a similar vehicle varies between $195.00 and $422.00, depending on the weight of the car. The NSW “green slip fee”, which is the equivalent of the Victorian transport accident charge, varies depending upon the private insurer that you choose and your risk profile. However, for a standard vehicle driven by a low risk driver the cost of the green slip fee varies between $503.00 and $867.00.

As you can see, both the registration fee and the transport accident charge (green slip) are higher in NSW than in Victoria.

So what do you get for the transport accident charge in Victoria and the green slip fee in NSW?

Victoria:
The transport accident charge provides you and your passengers with:
No-fault benefits that cover hospital, medical and like expenses for life, income benefits for a period of 3 years and a potential entitlement to receive a lump sum payment called an “impairment benefit” regardless of the nature of the injuries sustained.
It also provides you or any driver of your vehicle with an indemnity that protects you from any common law claim made by a person seriously injured as a result of your negligence.

New South Wales:
The green slip protects you against a claim made by any person injured in a car accident as a result of your negligence.

It also provides limited no-fault cover in circumstances where the driver or passenger sustains a catastrophic injury. However, the catastrophic injury coverage in NSW is limited to hospital, medical and like expenses. It does not provide any income support or lump sum payments. It only applies to people with catastrophic injuries, such as severe brain injury, paraplegia and quadriplegia.

Comparison:
Registration and compulsory insurance fees in Victoria are much cheaper than in NSW. It is therefore remarkable that the actual insurance cover provided by the TAC in Victoria is so comprehensively better than the insurance cover provided in NSW.
To highlight the difference in cover, consider the following example:

Example:
Joe Brown, a 30 year old factory worker, fell asleep at the wheel of his car, left the roadway and hit a tree. As a consequence he suffered severe injuries to his left leg, which required a below knee amputation. He spent one month in hospital and then two months in a rehabilitation hospital. He required a prosthesis and in all it took him two years before he could find suitable employment again.

Victoria:
If this accident occurred in Victoria, Joe would have all of his ambulance, hospital, surgical, prosthetic and associated rehabilitation treatment costs paid by the TAC for life. He would have received income support benefits from the TAC for the two year period he couldn’t work. He would also have received a no-fault lump sum payment worth in excess of $38,000.00.

New South Wales:
Had this accident occurred in New South Wales, Joe would have received an account from the Ambulance Service and whilst his hospital bills would have been covered as a public patient, he would only have received Centrelink benefits for the two years he was off work and he would not receive any lump sum payment. He would be out of pocket a considerable sum for medical and like expenses not covered by the public hospital system or Medicare.

Whilst we tend to think that registration and transport accident charges are expensive, in Victoria we get a much better deal compared to NSW.

For more information you should telephone either Peter Burt or Clara Davies, specialist TAC Compensation Lawyers of Burt & Davies, Level 11, 451 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. They are both Accredited Personal Injury Lawyers who practice exclusively in transport accident compensation & TAC claims.
Telephone (03) 9605 3111 or freecall 1800 109 940

www.burtdavies.com.au

© Burt & Davies 2014