Have you ever wondered why you need a green slip? Do you know what your green slip covers and doesn’t cover? Do all insurers offer the same green slip? These are all good questions you ask that greenslips.com.au will answer.
This is the first article in our reissued 8-part series, How greenslip insurance works.
What is a greenslip?
A greenslip is an insurance policy that pays compensation to people who are killed or injured in a road accident involving your vehicle. It protects you from an expensive damages claim and ensures they can claim for compensation.
greenslip is the term we use in NSW for Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance. It can also be called CTP greenslip, green slip, greenslip insurance, CTP or CTP insurance.
The first NSW CTP insurance scheme started in 1942 but it was not until 1988 that these insurance policies were first called green slips.
Why do I need a greenslip?
You need to buy a green slip so you can register a vehicle in NSW. A greenslip is compulsory for all vehicles registered in NSW, except trailers. This is because a trailer is covered under the greenslip of the vehicle towing it.
Without a green slip:
- The injured person would have to recover heavy costs from you, the at-fault driver.
- If you could not pay, the injured person would have no compensation at all.
It is illegal to drive without current green slip insurance on your vehicle. If you don’t have a green slip, then your vehicle is unregistered.
The same legal cover
Each insurer offers exactly the same green slip because they are required by law to provide the same legal insurance cover.
When you buy a greenslip you contribute to two NSW schemes:
- Third-party Insurance scheme, which pays compensation when people are killed or injured in a road accident.
- Lifetime Care and Support scheme, which pays separate benefits for people who are catastrophically injured in a road accident.
If you are injured in an accident:
You are entitled to benefits and, if you have serious injuries, to claim for damages.
- Benefits include payments for loss of income, medical costs and rehabilitation costs.
- These benefits are payable whether or not it was your fault, but the period they are payable for depends on fault and the level of injury.
Only one of the 6 insurers now offers At-Fault Driver Cover on top of the cover provided by their green slips. We look at At-Fault Driver Cover in our last article, Do all greenslip insurers cover me if it’s my fault?
Last word
Your greenslip is an insurance policy that pays compensation for people who are killed or injured in a road accident involving your vehicle. It is there to protect you from expensive damages claims and other heavy costs of a road accident. This is why green slips are compulsory for all vehicle owners in NSW.
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