Compulsory 3rd Party insurance.

[KiwiTT]

According to the NZ Herald (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=9&ObjectID=10329156), the government is considering compulsory 3rd party insurance.

It hopes to reduce the number of "powerful cars" in boy-racer hands because the premiums would be too high.

Currently 40% of all drivers are uninsured :rolleyes4

Sound like a good plan to me.

[Kenneth]

Yep, sounds good to me also.

[Gly]

yah! would be good with all those people with **** cars that just dont care aswell.

[kornstar]

sweet sounds good, then maybe in a few years bring on full insurance being compulsary.if every one had to have 3rd party would this get cheaper or more expensive?

[97_Legnum]

But there's a lot more to take into consideration... For one, Insurance Companies should nolonger be able to pick and choose what types of cars vehicles they will, and will not insure.
The premiums shouldn't cost more that the car is worth i.e who the hell is going to bother paying $600.00 per year for a car that costed only $200.00 to buy. :rolleyes4
Ordinary drivers who don't have accidents, shouldn't have to pay higher premiums.
Even better, the cost of insurance should be part of the registration fees we pay.

[Pete M]

Well, in the UK, insurance companies pick and choose who they insure, but there will always be companies that want to pick up the business that others don't want, so most avenues are generally covered.
As for the premiums costing more than the car, this is quite common for younger drivers, with third party insurance it's 'the other guy's car' that you're paying for, not your own. The ordinary drivers, who don't have accidents generally get a 'no claims bonus' which greatly reduces the premium.
What compulsory third party insurance does is let insurance companies decide who has higher risks, and penalise them with higher premiums or refuse to cover them. So little Jimmy, who is 15 and has just got his licence, won't be able to insure his Turbo Skyline, but a 1500 N/A Familia is probably OK. After a few years, especially with no claims, he will be insurable in the Skyline. Sounds like a damn good idea, and one that I've personally been advocating for some time. With the compulsory insurance, the government could adjust the level of ACC levy, but I wouldn't hold your breath. I don't think compulsory full insurance is ever likely, for some people the car itself isn't worth insuring, but their risk to others is.

[aaron68nz]

Here in Australia compulsory 3rd party only covers for you injuring somebody in an accident as there is no ACC here for the injured person to claim from and instead you have to sue the liable person. Cost me A$325 which is on top of the A$1,500 for normal comprehensive insurance the car. In NZ I was only paying NZ$800 for the same car! It's also illegal for an insurance company to refuse you 3rd party insurance.
Just yesterday on the radio I heard moves afoot to ban new drivers, ie P platers, from owning powerful cars such as V8s