Changes To Negligence Laws Have Made Us Less Litigious, Boasts Carr
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday August 13, 2003
The State Government's biggest rewrite of negligence laws in 70 years had stabilised the insurance market and pushed claims down, the Premier, Bob Carr, said yesterday.
Citing statistics from independent and government agencies, Mr Carr said the public liability changes meant people were now less inclined to sue when something goes wrong. ``We're becoming a less litigious society and people are expecting more personal responsibility."
The deputy chief executive of the Insurance Council of Australia, Dallas Booth, said that although the changes had made insurance more available, the price had not dropped.
The NSW Law Society's immediate past president, Kim Cull, said this was evidence of insurance companies making a profit, rather than passing cuts in premiums on to customers.
The Attorney-General's department estimated the number of public liability cases heard by the District Court had dropped 25 per cent in the past 12 months.
The Treasury Managed Fund, which underwrites public sector agencies, recorded a 10 per cent drop in claims, and a State Chamber of Commerce survey found a 43 per cent drop in businesses reporting difficulties in buying insurance.
But in the community sector the NSW Council of Social Service has reported that some groups in hard-to-get insurance areas had been asked to pay increases of up to 1000 per cent.
A recent Australian Competition and Consumer Commission survey of professional indemnity and public liability insurance estimated savings in claims costs would be a nominal 5 per cent this year.
The commission said some insurers were not factoring costs savings from legal changes into premiums, possibly because of uncertainty about the long-term impact of the changes on claims costs.
The National Insurance Brokers Association found public liability premiums had risen by up to 75 per cent this financial year, and more rises were expected.
© 2003 Sydney Morning Herald
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