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Motor Vehicle Insurance

Find out more about how to make a claim, understand an investigation or what options you have when a motor vehicle insurance claim is refused.
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Josie’s Story: Confusion over excess

Josie’s car was parked on the street overnight. The next morning she woke up to find it had been ploughed into by another car and the police were in attendance. They told her that the driver had been arrested and they did not know if he had insurance. Josie contacted her insurer and made a claim. They asked her to pay an excess. Josie said that she wasn’t at fault but her insurer says she still needs to pay. Financial Rights was able to give Josie advice about how excess works, how she can raise a dispute with her insurer if she has the other driver’s contact details.

woman on phone after motor vehicle accident

When to get help

Read through the fact sheets below and use the sample letters selected. If you are looking to buy insurance for your vehicle, we have a fact sheet of information. But there is plenty of information about insurance excess and claims. Give us a call if you don’t know where to start or can’t find a solution for your problem.
If you have been involved in a car accident, check out our Motor Vehicle Accident Problem Solver.

  • You don’t want the insurer to write-off your car
  • You don’t agree with the amount the insurer has offered to pay you for a total loss claim
  • The other driver was at fault, but their insurer is ignoring you
  • The other driver was at fault but does not have insurance, should you claim on your own insurance policy?
  • You don’t think the insurer’s rejection of your claim was fair
  • Your insurer is asking you to pay an excess, but you weren’t at fault
  • You have not heard from the insurer for several weeks and you want to know how your claim is progressing.

Fact Sheets

These fact sheets will give you more detailed legal information about your motor vehicle insurance problem.

Sample Letters

These sample letters will help you to contact your insurer when you need to raise a problem.

Contact Us

If you have an insurance question or legal problem call the Insurance Law Service on 1300 663 464

  • Monday to Friday 10am – 1pm (Sydney time)

If you need to speak to a financial counsellor because you are in financial hardship you can call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007

  • Monday to Friday 9.30am – 4.30pm (Sydney time)
  • Please note, the National Debt Helpline is answered by both Financial Rights (our service) and Uniting (NSW/ACT) which is based in Dubbo and provides telephone financial counselling, but does not have solicitors available. Our services are run separately, neither service has access to any information or advice given to or by the other service.

If your motor vehicle was damaged in an extreme weather event you should also visit our Extreme Weather webpage.

If you are struggling to make a claim because of family violence or abuse issues please also visit our Financial Abuse webpage.

External Resources

Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA)

  • Ph: 1800 931 678
  • Email: info@afca.org.au
  • Web: www.afca.org.au
  • Address: GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001

Australian Securities and Investments Commission is the regulator for financial services providers.

Insurance Council of Australia owns the General Insurance Code of Practice.

Community Legal Centres Australia is the peak body for community legal centres.

 

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The assistance and advice provided was accurate and enabled a satisfactory resolution of my complaint. I may not have received the same result without the help of Louise.