We have previously posted about the recent attempts by insurance companies to remove common law rights for people injured in motor vehicle accidents in Queensland as well as the latest statistics published by the Motor Accident Insurance Commission who have announced the “Queensland CTP scheme remains sound, fair and affordable”.
It appears the citizens of Queensland agree with the views expressed by the Motor Accident Insurance Commission following a recent campaign by RACQ (one of Queensland’s main CTP insurers) called “Rethink CTP”.
RACQ’s campaign, which is promoting the removal of common law rights for injured Queenslanders, created a “citizen’s jury” to obtain feedback from the Queensland community regarding the current CTP scheme and their proposed changes to the scheme.
Various concerns were raised in relation to RACQ’s plan for a citizen’s jury given:-
- it was not endorsed by the government or the Motor Accident Insurance Commission;
- existing and former claimants (the people with direct experience with the CTP scheme) were excluded from the process;
- the jury consisted of 50 people (yet there are over 5.2 million registered vehicles in Queensland);
- RACQ and Suncorp were the only CTP insurers who supported the process with the other main CTP insurers in Queensland (QBE and Allianz) opting not to participate.
Despite these concerns, RACQ’s final report from the citizen’s jury process confirms the participants all agreed any future CTP scheme in Queensland should retain existing common law rights.
RACQ’s campaign has obviously fallen well short of its intention to further restrict the rights of injured claimants in Queensland. Although this is a pleasing development, there is no doubt that RACQ and other insurers will continue to advocate for legislative changes that further restrict the rights of injured Queenslanders into the future.
Accordingly, it is important that the government, legal profession, and the Queensland community remain vigilant and take the necessary steps to fight back against any future attempts to restrict the rights of Queensland motorists.
However, we are optimistic that at least for now, the insurer’s advocating for these changes can recognise one important consideration in this ongoing debate – the jury has spoken.
