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Lawyers slam secret threats made by RACQ

15th Feb 2018

The Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) has slammed secret threats made by the RACQ to pull out of Queensland’s Compulsory Third party (CTP) insurance scheme, as reported in today’s Courier Mail.

ALA Queensland Director Rod Hodgson said the threats, which were made in response to Queensland Government scrutiny of CTP premiums, are yet another example of the insurer’s desire for profits at the expense of motorists.

“Today’s reports in the Courier Mail reveal the backroom tactics of an organisation that promotes itself as an honest advocacy group for motorists, whilst secretly working against them,” Mr Hodgson said.

“From time to time we see the insurers running the argument that there is a crisis in the Queensland CTP scheme – however this simply isn’t true.”

Mr Hodgson said that a comprehensive review of the Queensland CTP scheme commissioned by the government in 2016 suggests that any savings should be coming from reduced insurer profits.

“This review found the fundamentals of the scheme to be sound, but that further action is needed to address high insurer profits,” Mr Hodgson said.

“It showed that over the past ten years insurers have achieved an average profit margin substantially above the eight per cent profit ceiling, with the Motor Accident Insurance Commission estimating it at $65-$81 per car per policy per year."

“This equates to a total profit for insurers of around 25 to 31 per cent of total premiums taken – which the independent review describes as 'excessive',” Mr Hodgson said.

Mr Hodgson said that the RACQ has also recently called for changes to Queensland’s CTP scheme that would have seen significantly less benefits for injured motorists, including its members.

“In August RACQ called for the introduction of a defined benefits scheme would have seen a smashing of the rights and benefits for people who had the misfortune of being injured in Queensland roads, often through no fault of their own,” Mr Hodgson said.

“The detriment to RACQ members threatened by that type of proposal is another example of how the RACQ insurance company tail wags the advocacy dog. This is an organisation which talks about members’ interests, but their actions are those of a greedy insurer,” Mr Hodgson said.

Tags: CTP