Insurance plan doubt
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FINANCING of a no-fault compensation scheme for those involved in road accidents has been criticised by the Freight Transport Association.
The FTA says that the scheme should be based on a version of the industrial injury scheme which was recommended by the Pearson Report.
Under that system an injured person would be able to claim compensation under the existing legal system as well as under the no-fault plan.
But the FTA has told the Department of Transport that it would be unwise to restrict the scheme to accidents involving motor vehicles on roads and land to which the public has access. FTA says that it is concerned that rights would be taken away from claimants if the scheme is restricted.
"The Royal Commission assertion that the cost should be borne by those who create the risk is fallacious, for no such class of person exists," says the FTA. It adds that to suggest that any one section of the community should meet its costs denies the whole principle of a no-fault scheme, that liability has no bearing on the issue.