As a individualized injury lawyer I am intimately aware of the law in Australia associated with automobile happening Personal Injury Claims and third celebration green slip insurance which covers these type of injuries.
Each say in Australia has similar legislation covering the registration of vehicles. More recently it is noted that insurance premiums have risen dramatically in Australia. This is not primarily due to the fact that more people have been hurt nor that there have been more accidents but simply that insurance companies have all sustained significant financial losses as a result of down turn in share markets world wide since the global financial crisis occurred 18 months ago.
Many people are not aware that the insurance companies that wage cover for individualized injury arising from green slip insurance for motor cars (or general insurance for that matter) invest their premiums in the stock market.
In fact most of an insurance companies profit is derived not from the premium that is paid by the insured, but more so as a result of the policy premiums invested into the financial equity markets. As a consequence, the insurance companies acquire significant income if the equity markets increase in value and of course make less or even lose money when the markets start as happened so dramatically in the last 18 months.
It was only when the global financial crisis occurred and stock prices fell up to 40% that big losses occurred in profitability for these insurance companies.
As a result of these losses premiums have steadily risen in Australia. It is grossly unfair that third celebration insurance has now risen by up to 30% over the last six months not so much because of an increase in claims, as clearly the statistics show that this has not occurred, but because of equity losses by the major insurance companies.
It was not so long ago in the primeval 2000s that the insurance companies in Australia cried poor and argued that they were paying out too much for hurt parties. What then occurred was Australia wide legislation that was introduced to radically reduced the benefits payable to hurt celebrations in not only automobile happening claims but also in Personal Injury generally including work accidents and public liability accidents.
At the same time many say governments in Australia introduced legislation restricting advertising of individualized injury and compensation legal services in the hope that by restricting the flow of information to the injured, less claims would be made.
Since these immoderate changes occurred insurance company profitability dramatically rose much to the malign of seriously hurt people. It seems grossly unfair now that premiums have once again started to climb particularly when benefits paid to the hurt have declined so markedly.
Why should people seriously hurt in:
a. Motor Automobile or Cycle accidents or;
b. Public Liability
Gerard Malouf is an Injury Compensation Lawyer in Sydney Australia with over 26 years experience handling compensation cases.
