If you drive a car in Australia, you must be insured. There are innumerable insurance providers: you can even buy car insurance at supermarkets. Most car insurance providers now have websites, which makes it easy to research and compare policies from a variety of providers.
There are a number of types of car insurance and the cover that they provide varies; it is important to decide which level of cover meets your individual needs. The legal minimum insurance is Compulsory Third Party (CTP). This covers everybody and everything involved in an accident except for you, your car and your possessions. For additional cover, in the event that your car is stolen or damaged by fire, Third Party Fire and Theft is available. This is a limited form of insurance that only covers for fire damage to, and theft of, vehicles. It does not cover collision damage to vehicles. Third Party Property provides cover for vehicles damaged by the policyholder's vehicle. It does not provide cover for the policyholder's own vehicle. This product is generally only taken out by consumers with a low value vehicle, protecting themselves against damage to other motorists. The forth and most expensive type of car insurance is Comprehensive insurance. This essentially covers most things that could happen to your car, including damage to vehicles, theft of vehicles, collision, malicious damage and weather damage. Depending on the policy, it can cover damage caused to other vehicles, subject to certain general exclusions.
It is important to remember that if you are involved in an accident that is not your fault, you will be able to claim from the other person's insurance. This means that even if your own insurance does not, for example, cover injury to you in an accident, the insurance policy of the person at fault may do so. If you are unfortunate enough as to be involved in an accident with an uninsured driver, you may be entitled to make a claim via the Motor Vehicle Insurance Commission or its counterpart in your state or territory to recover your losses.
