btm
10th January 2008, 01:27 PM
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/now-you-can-insure-against-losing-your-licence/2008/01/10/1199554792935.html
Now you can insure against losing your licence
We insure our household contents, our cars and our precious belongings, now there's a policy to cover the consequences of losing a driver's licence.
The Loss of Licence Assistance policy was developed by the National Underwriting Agency for Australia.
It is designed to provide up to $1000 to cover transport related costs a month for three months to drivers with suspended licences.
Similar policies have proved popular in Britain.
However, Geoff Corrigan, chairman of the NSW Staysafe committee, is worried it might encourage careless driving.
"Though I can see some benefits, the insurance company has to take care that it doesn't encourage people to take risks," he said.
"In 2007, NSW had the lowest accidents and deaths on the road for 20 years.
"The message has started to get through to people and I hate to think that people would take out this policy and think they can drive with impunity.
"If people think that they can drive unsafely because they pay a premium to have their transport costs covered, I wonder if they will be afraid of the repercussions."
Despite the fact that the policy eases the financial burden of a licence suspension, Noel Johns a representative for National Underwriting Agency, believes that drivers are still getting punished for their offences.
"People will still need to ring up a taxi every morning or get other transport so they are still being inconvenienced by their loss of licence," he said.
Mr Johns said there was a market for such a policy in Australia.
"The policy is being introduced because of a proliferation of speed cameras that catch the normal everyday motorists who usually do not speed and who were caught just over the limit and find themselves accumulating points and receiving infringement notices," he said.
The policy applies to speeding offences that are worth three demerit points or less, so offences such as drink driving and driving while on a mobile phone would not be covered.
Now you can insure against losing your licence
We insure our household contents, our cars and our precious belongings, now there's a policy to cover the consequences of losing a driver's licence.
The Loss of Licence Assistance policy was developed by the National Underwriting Agency for Australia.
It is designed to provide up to $1000 to cover transport related costs a month for three months to drivers with suspended licences.
Similar policies have proved popular in Britain.
However, Geoff Corrigan, chairman of the NSW Staysafe committee, is worried it might encourage careless driving.
"Though I can see some benefits, the insurance company has to take care that it doesn't encourage people to take risks," he said.
"In 2007, NSW had the lowest accidents and deaths on the road for 20 years.
"The message has started to get through to people and I hate to think that people would take out this policy and think they can drive with impunity.
"If people think that they can drive unsafely because they pay a premium to have their transport costs covered, I wonder if they will be afraid of the repercussions."
Despite the fact that the policy eases the financial burden of a licence suspension, Noel Johns a representative for National Underwriting Agency, believes that drivers are still getting punished for their offences.
"People will still need to ring up a taxi every morning or get other transport so they are still being inconvenienced by their loss of licence," he said.
Mr Johns said there was a market for such a policy in Australia.
"The policy is being introduced because of a proliferation of speed cameras that catch the normal everyday motorists who usually do not speed and who were caught just over the limit and find themselves accumulating points and receiving infringement notices," he said.
The policy applies to speeding offences that are worth three demerit points or less, so offences such as drink driving and driving while on a mobile phone would not be covered.