CTP stands for compulsory third party insurance. Every Queensland-registered vehicle has it, because you cannot register a vehicle without paying for it, yet many people only learn what it does after a crash. It is often confused with comprehensive or third party property car insurance, which is a different product covering different things. This guide explains what CTP covers, what it does not, and how to find, choose or change your CTP insurer.

Key points

  • CTP covers liability for injury to people caused by the negligent driving of a Queensland-registered vehicle. It does not cover damage to any vehicle or property.
  • The premium is paid with your registration to the Department of Transport and Main Roads, which passes it to the licensed insurer you have nominated. The policy itself is set by the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 and is the same whichever insurer you choose.
  • You can nominate a different CTP insurer at any time while the vehicle is registered, but the change only takes effect from your next registration renewal.

What CTP is

The "third party" in the name is the person your vehicle injures: not you, and not your insurer, but someone else. The Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld) makes it an offence to drive an uninsured motor vehicle on a road or in a public place, or for an owner to let someone else do so. The terms of the policy are not written by the insurer. They are set out in the Schedule to the Act, which insures the owner, driver, passenger or other person whose wrongful act or omission in respect of the vehicle injures someone else.

Queensland's scheme is fault-based. An injured person must show that a driver other than themselves was wholly or partly at fault. The Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC) regulates the scheme and monitors insurers' compliance with the Act.

Who CTP covers

The policy responds when someone is injured by the negligent driving of the insured vehicle, anywhere in Australia. That includes:

  • people in other vehicles, whether drivers or passengers;
  • passengers in the at-fault vehicle itself;
  • pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists; and
  • the family of a person killed in the crash, who may claim reasonable funeral costs and, if they relied on the person for financial support, a dependency claim.

What it pays for is medical treatment, rehabilitation and compensation for those injuries. Compensation is reduced if the injured person was partly at fault.

What CTP does not cover

MAIC lists three things CTP does not cover:

  • damage to vehicles or other property, including the other driver's car;
  • injuries to a driver who was totally at fault; and
  • injuries where no one was at fault, such as a single-vehicle crash with no one else involved.

If you were wholly to blame for the crash, CTP will not pay for your own injuries, although other cover may. Our guide on options for an at-fault driver explains what may still be available.

CTP and the other types of car insurance

Moneysmart, the federal government's consumer finance site, describes four main types of car insurance. Only the first is compulsory.

  • Compulsory third party (CTP). Covers injuries to people caused by your vehicle. In Queensland it is included in your registration. It does not cover damage to cars or property.
  • Third party property damage. Covers damage your vehicle causes to other people's cars or property. It does not cover damage to your own car.
  • Third party property damage, fire and theft. The same as third party property, plus cover if your own car is stolen or damaged by fire.
  • Comprehensive. Covers damage to your car and to other people's cars or property, even if you caused the accident, and theft, fire and weather events, subject to the policy's exclusions.

So comprehensive car insurance is not the same as CTP, and it does not replace it. A driver with comprehensive cover still has CTP through their registration, and the two respond to different losses. Damage to another car is claimed under third party property or comprehensive cover, or from the at-fault driver directly, never under CTP.

Who is my CTP insurer, and can I change it?

Your current CTP insurer is shown on your certificate of registration. MAIC's Find a vehicle's CTP insurer tool also shows the insurer for a Queensland-registered vehicle on a given date. It can look up your own vehicle or, if you have its registration number, the vehicle you believe caused an accident.

MAIC currently lists three licensed CTP insurers in Queensland: Suncorp (AAI Limited), Allianz Australia Insurance Limited and QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited. RACQ stopped selling new CTP policies from 1 October 2023 but still manages existing claims and claims on policies sold before that date.

Because the policy is set by the Act, the cover is the same whichever insurer you choose. What differs is the price and any extra incentives an insurer offers. Insurers set their own premiums for each vehicle class every quarter, within minimum and maximum limits set by MAIC. Within a vehicle class, the premium does not depend on the driver's age, driving record or where the vehicle is kept. MAIC's Compare pricing tool shows the current premium for each insurer.

To change insurer, the registered operator nominates the new insurer through the Department of Transport and Main Roads: online, by phone on 13 23 80, or in writing using the CTP nomination section of the renewal notice or a nomination form. You can nominate at any time during the registration period, but the change takes effect only from the next renewal. Once you have paid a renewal, the insurer at the time of payment stays your insurer for that registration period.

If the at-fault vehicle was uninsured or unidentified

If the vehicle that caused the crash was unregistered and uninsured, or cannot be identified, as in a hit-and-run, the claim is made against the Nominal Defendant, which stands in the place of a CTP insurer. Stricter conditions apply, including a shorter notice period for unidentified vehicles and an obligation to make a genuine attempt to identify the vehicle. These are covered in our guide to hit-and-run and uninsured vehicles.

Making a claim

A CTP claim is made against the CTP insurer of the vehicle at fault, not against the driver personally, starting with a Notice of Accident Claim Form. Strict time limits apply to giving that notice. The stages that follow, from the insurer's response on liability to the compulsory conference, are set out in how a CTP claim works, step by step.

Frequently asked questions

What does CTP stand for? Compulsory third party. It is compulsory because you cannot register or lawfully drive a vehicle on a Queensland road without it, and "third party" refers to the other people your vehicle may injure.

Does CTP cover damage to other cars? No. CTP covers injuries to people only. Damage to other vehicles and property is covered by third party property or comprehensive insurance, if you have it.

Is comprehensive car insurance the same as CTP? No. Comprehensive is optional insurance for damage to your car and other people's property. CTP is compulsory injury insurance paid with your registration. Most drivers with comprehensive cover have both.

How do I change my CTP insurer in Queensland? Nominate the new insurer through the Department of Transport and Main Roads online, by phone or in writing. The change takes effect from your next registration renewal.

Sources

  • Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld), ss 5 (application of Act), 20 (offence of driving an uninsured vehicle), 21 (selection and change of insurer), 31 and 33 (insurer and Nominal Defendant), Schedule (policy of insurance) — legislation.qld.gov.au
  • Motor Accident Insurance Commission, What is CTP insurance? — maic.qld.gov.au
  • Motor Accident Insurance Commission, Pricing, Changing CTP insurer and Qld CTP insurers — maic.qld.gov.au
  • Motor Accident Insurance Commission, Can I claim? — maic.qld.gov.au
  • Moneysmart, Choosing car insurance — moneysmart.gov.au