Injured as a passenger

A1Whose insurer a passenger claims against

The schemes split two ways. Some pay benefits whoever was at fault; others start from the question of which driver caused the crash, and the claim goes to that vehicle’s insurer. For a passenger the second kind matters, because the driver at fault may be your own driver. This is what each scheme’s own pages say.

NSW

“Anyone injured in a motor crash in NSW can claim”, and the list starts with drivers and passengers. You notify the insurer of the at-fault vehicle; if you don’t know who that is, SIRA’s CTP Assist service on 1300 656 919 can help.

VIC

The TAC is a no-fault scheme: if you were injured in a transport accident in Victoria you can claim even if the accident was your fault, so a passenger does not need to show who caused it.

QLD

People injured in an accident caused fully or partly by another driver can claim against the CTP insurer of the vehicle that may have caused it. MAIC’s page does not single out passengers, so the insurer or MAIC can tell you how that applies to your crash.

SA

A claim will generally be accepted if a South Australian vehicle caused the accident, someone other than the injured person was at least partly responsible, and the accident happened less than three years ago. Lodge as soon as you can: after six months you will need to explain the delay to the insurer, and after three years a claim will generally not be accepted unless very limited legal exceptions apply.

WA

The Insurance Commission says you can claim if you were a passenger and the driver of the vehicle was at fault, and the vehicle that caused the crash needs to be registered in Western Australia.

TAS

The MAIB pays for a range of treatment and support services for eligible people injured regardless of fault. A separate lump sum, called common law compensation, depends on someone else being at fault.

ACT

Anyone injured in a motor accident in the ACT can apply for defined benefits, whoever was at fault. In a single-vehicle crash you apply to the MAI insurer of that vehicle, and the ACT names passengers among the people this covers.

NT

The MAC Scheme is no-fault and covers all road users, passengers included.

B2When a passenger’s claim can be reduced

In the fault-based schemes, a passenger can share some of the blame for their own injuries. Western Australia’s Insurance Commission gives examples of being partly at fault, and two of them apply to passengers:

• not wearing a seatbelt
• travelling in a vehicle you know had a driver who was under the influence.

In that case you may still be able to claim, but the amount of financial support or compensation may be reduced. Queensland’s page says the same of anyone partly responsible for the accident: the compensation may be reduced.

C3When a passenger may be left out

A few situations can exclude a passenger from some or all benefits. They are narrow, but they are on the pages.

An uninsured or unregistered car

In Tasmania, the MAIB lists among its exclusions injuries to the owner of, or in some cases the passenger in, a vehicle that had no MAIB premium paid, and injuries to a driver or passenger who knew or ought to have known that no premium had been paid.

In the Northern Territory, the driver, rider or owner of an unregistered vehicle is not covered, but passengers and others involved in the accident may be.

Crime, racing and deliberate harm

The Northern Territory excludes drivers, riders and passengers involved in criminal activity, and people involved in motor sports, high-speed tests or trials. Tasmania excludes injuries in a motor vehicle race and where the vehicle was being used for an offence of dishonesty or violence that the injured person was a party to.

Victoria’s TAC cannot pay benefits to a person injured while taking part in, preparing for or watching an organised motor vehicle race, test or speed trial. In the ACT, exclusions from some defined benefits apply to people who break the law or whose injuries are self-inflicted.

D4Children who were passengers

Children are often the passengers in a family car, and the schemes ask an adult to act for them.

• Western Australia: every injured person needs to tell the Insurance Commission about their injury to claim support, including children who were passengers, and a parent or guardian notifies for a child.
• Queensland: a child’s claim is made by an adult acting for them, usually a parent or guardian, called a litigation guardian.
• South Australia: people under 16 at the time of the accident are covered even if they caused it (a claim made more than three years after the accident is generally not accepted unless very limited legal exceptions apply).
• ACT: a separate application is needed for each injured person, and a parent or guardian can sign for someone under 18.

E5A passenger on an interstate trip

Borders matter more than you might expect. Victoria’s TAC pays compensation to a non-Victorian resident hurt in an accident in Victoria, and to anyone hurt interstate while an occupant of a Victorian-registered vehicle. Its own example: a Queensland resident riding in a Victorian-registered vehicle that crashes in Queensland is entitled to TAC compensation.

Tasmania’s MAIB may accept a claim from a Tasmanian resident hurt elsewhere in Australia if a Tasmanian-registered vehicle was involved. The ACT scheme, by contrast, does not apply to accidents outside the ACT: an injured person’s benefits depend on the scheme where the crash happened.

F6Questions worth taking to the scheme

The scheme’s helpline, the insurer handling the claim, or a lawyer can answer these for your own crash:

• Which vehicle’s insurer should receive my claim, mine or the other one?
• Does anything about the trip (a seatbelt, the driver’s condition, the car’s registration) change what I can claim?
• If my driver was a friend or family member, does claiming affect them personally?
• Who signs for a child who was in the car?

On that third question, Western Australia’s policy page says the compulsory third party cover on a registered vehicle protects the owner against liability for injury caused to others by any driver of that vehicle. The same page sets conditions for the policy to be valid: the registration must be paid, crashes causing injury or death must be reported to the Insurance Commission and WA Police, and no driver of the vehicle may drive under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs, without the appropriate licence, with the vehicle in an unsafe or damaged condition, or for a purpose not stated in the licence application. Other states word it differently, and a lawyer can explain how it works where you are.