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Car insurance FAQs

What is third party car insurance and how does it work?

Car Insurance FAQs

What is third party car insurance FAQs

Third party car insurance is insurance that can cover you for damage to other people’s cars and property.

We offer two kinds of third party car insurance: Third Party Property Damage Car Insurance and Third Party Property Fire & Theft Car Insurance.

These policies are separate from Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance, also known as Motor Accident Insurance (MAI) in the ACT. CTP functions slightly differently from one state or territory to the next. We offer CTP policies in NSW and SA, and MAI policies in the ACT. CTP is included in your registration in other states.

If you injure someone in an accident, your CTP or MAI Insurance could cover the cost of the injured person’s medical treatment, and potentially any lost income if they’re unable to work.

What is Third Party Fire & Theft Car Insurance?

Third Party Fire & Theft Car Insurance can help cover costs if your car is stolen or catches fire (up to $10,000), as well as damage you cause to other people's cars and property in an accident. It can also cover damage to your vehicle caused by an uninsured driver (up to $5000)1.   

What is Third Party Property Damage Car Insurance?

Third Party Property Damage Car Insurance could cover damage you cause to other people’s cars and property in an accident (up to $20 million). It could also help cover costs if an uninsured driver damages your car (up to $5000) 1,2.

For more information, please read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).

Third party car insurance could come into effect if you damage someone else’s property in a car accident2.

Depending on your policy, it can cover someone else’s car and their property, as well as certain costs relating to your own vehicle.

Expenses related to other people’s medical issues could be covered by CTP Insurance (or your local equivalent), a different form of Car Insurance.

In its fifth year, the NRMA Insurance Wild Weather Tracker reveals that a claim Third Party Property Damage Car Insurance could cover2:

  • damage you might cause to other people’s cars and property in an accident
  • costs if an uninsured driver damages your car.

Third Party Fire & Theft Car Insurance could cover:

  • damage you might cause to other people’s cars and property in an accident
  • costs if your car is stolen
  • costs if your car catches fire
  • costs if your car is damaged by an uninsured driver.

Comprehensive Car Insurance includes a much wider range of cover than third party policies. Most inclusions in our Third Party Property Damage Car Insurance and Third Party Property Fire & Theft Car Insurance policies are also covered in our Comprehensive Car Insurance2.

Comprehensive Car Insurance could also include cover for other events such as:

  • cover for your vehicle in an accident
  • severe weather events like storms and floods3
  • towing if your car can’t be driven after an event we cover
  • emergency repairs you need to make after an event we cover (up to $800 for Comprehensive and Comprehensive Basics, and up to $1,000 for Comprehensive Plus).

We would try to replace your car if it’s written off in its first two years4.

Excess-free claims for glass-only damage is an optional extra, or automatically included with Comprehensive Car Insurance Plus.

For a complete overview of our Comprehensive Car Insurance, please read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).

Third party car insurance
Rather than covering injuries, third party car insurance covers damage to other people’s cars and property. Third party car insurance is not compulsory for vehicle registration in any state or territory. We offer Third Party Property Damage Car Insurance and Third Party Fire & Theft Car Insurance2.

CTP Insurance
You need Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance in New South Wales and South Australia to register your vehicle. If you’re in the Australian Capital Territory, you’ll know it as MAI Insurance.

If you injure someone in an accident, your CTP (or MAI) Insurance covers the cost of the injured person’s medical treatment, and any lost income if they’re unable to work.

You’re covered for injuries to your passengers, as well as pedestrians, and the drivers and passengers of other vehicles.

Your CTP Insurance won’t cover your own injuries, but if the other driver is considered partly or completely ‘at fault’, you can make a claim on their CTP Insurance.

Yes, both Third Party Property Damage Car Insurance and Third Party Property Fire and Theft Car Insurance could cover damage you cause to other people’s cars in an accident2.

Third Party Property Damage Car Insurance does not cover your own vehicle. Third Party Fire & Theft Car Insurance does offer cover for your vehicle, but only for fire, theft and attempted theft (up to $10,000).

Both of our third party policies are also distinct from CTP Insurance, so they don’t cover costs relating to injuries.

There are also many incidents covered by Comprehensive Car Insurance that these policies do not cover2, including:

  • severe weather events like storms and floods3
  • emergency repairs you need to make after an event we cover (up to $800 for Comprehensive and Comprehensive Basics, and up to $1,000 for Comprehensive Plus).

For more information on how our policies differ, please read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).

No, Third Party Property Damage Car Insurance is not mandatory. This is an important distinction between it and CTP insurance.

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Things you should know

  1. Your car’s covered if we agree it was the other driver's fault and you give us their name, address and rego number.

  2. Cover is subject to standard underwriting guidelines and policy terms. Excesses may apply. Refer to your Certificate of Insurance.

  3. We may not cover you for some severe weather events during an embargo period (which is usually when we know a severe weather event is about to occur). We’ll tell you if there’s an embargo when you purchase your policy.

  4. To get a new replacement car with Comprehensive or Comprehensive Plus following an incident we insure, your car must weigh under 3.5 tonnes, and it must have been a new or demonstrator vehicle when you bought it, and less than 24 months old for Comprehensive, and less than 36 months for Comprehensive Plus. New vehicle replacement is not included with Comprehensive Basics. New vehicle must be reasonably available in Australia.