What is insurance?
Insurance
Insurance is a way to protect yourself against financial loss. People pay insurance companies a regular fee under the agreement that the insurer will compensate them if they incur a financial loss.
Types of insurance
There are many different types of insurance, including life insurance, property insurance, travel insurance, disability insurance, burial insurance, kidnap and random insurance, and even terrorism insurance! We’ll ignore those, though, and focus on the ones you’re most likely to need - car insurance, and health insurance.
Car insurance
Car insurance protects you against financial loss involving your car. It's sometimes called ‘motor insurance,’ ‘vehicle insurance,’ or ‘auto insurance’.

Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/JtP_Dqtz6D8
Compulsory third party insurance
In Australia, each state has a different compulsory third party (CTP) insurance scheme. The costs of CTP insurance are included in your vehicle registration fee.
CTP insurance covers financial loss that might occur if you are at fault for harming another person in a car accident. These costs might include medical treatment for injuries sustained by the other person, as well as compensation for their loss of wages if they miss out on work.
Other types of car insurance
In addition to CTP, you have the option of buying the following types of car insurance from a private insurer:
- Third party property - Covers damage caused by your car to another person’s property or vehicle. Does not cover damage caused to your own car.
- Third party property, fire and theft - Covers damage caused by your car to another person’s property or vehicle. Also covers loss incurred if your car is stolen or catches fire.
- Comprehensive - Covers damage to your own property and vehicle (including fire and theft) as well as damage to another person’s property or vehicle, regardless of whether you are at fault.
The following table from MoneySmart provides a simple comparison:

Source: https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/insurance/car-insurance
This video provides a brief summary of the different types of car insurance:
Playing time: 2.44
Choosing a car insurance policy
The cost of car insurance differs according to a range of factors including what sort of car you're looking to insure, where you park it, and how often you drive it. As such, prices are not usually listed upfront, and you need to provide some information in order to receive a personalised quote. Note that it's usually more expensive if you're a male or under the age of 25, because young men are statistically more likely to get into car crashes!
When choosing a policy, you need to consider which of the above types you would like to buy - comprehensive, third party property, or third party property, fire and theft. You also need to consider premiums and excess.
Premiums
Insurance premiums are the ongoing costs of insurance. These are regular payments which must be made regardless of whether you make an insurance claim.
Excess
Excess is the amount you need to pay if you make a claim. For example, if your policy has an excess of $600 and you claim $1,400 worth of damage after an accident, you need to pay $600, and the insurer will pay the remaining $800.
What to do if you’re in a car accident
If you're in a car accident and you have insurance, gather as much information as you can about what happened. Take photos of the damage using your phone, and file a police report if it's a particularly serious accident. When you've gathered as much information as possible, call your insurer and ask to make a claim.
Car insurance activity
Now that you've learned about car insurance, research different policies online and pick one to suit you. Answer the following questions on the Car insurance forum:
- What car insurance policy have you chosen?
- What type of insurance is it - comprehensive, third party property, or third party property, fire and theft?
- Why have you chosen that type of insurance?
- What are the premiums for your chosen policy?
- What is the excess for your chosen policy?
You may want to use websites like CanStar which compare different car insurance policies. CanStar gives policies a rating out of five, but you can't see what their fees are, because fees depend on the details of your situation e.g. your age and where you live. There are other comparison websites which ask questions first and they can provide more specific information, but be warned that they might give you a phone call afterwards to sell you insurance policies!
Health insurance
Medicare
Health insurers cover the cost of medical treatment. In Australia, we have Medicare, which is a universal health insurance scheme provided by the government. It's funded partly by the Medicare levy, which is a 2% income tax.

Source: https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/medicare
Private health insurance
Medicare covers the basics, but you have the option of buying additional health insurance from a private provider.
Choosing a private health insurance policy
The first thing to consider when choosing a private health insurance policy is what you would like it to cover. There are two types of cover - hospital, and extras.
Hospital - This covers in-hospital treatment such as surgery. Medicare cover treatment at public hospitals, but many private insurers also cover treatment at private hospitals. If you do not have private health insurance, you may be required to join a lengthy waiting list for certain types of treatment. On the other hand, if you have private health insurance, you may be able to receive treatment immediately at a private hospital.
Extras - This covers ambulance call-outs. It also covers treatment from medical specialists, including:
- Dentists
- Optometrists
- Physiotherapists
When choosing insurance, consider whether you are likely to need out-of-hospital extras above, or whether you'd just like to get hospital cover.
Waiting periods
One thing to consider when choosing a health insurance policy is the waiting period. The waiting period is the amount of time you need to wait between signing the insurance policy and making a claim. This prevents abuse of the service. For example, if someone falls seriously ill and needs expensive specialist treatment, they can't sign up for a new policy and have their treatment covered immediately.
Ambulance cover
Medicare does not cover ambulance fees, so a single call-out can cost over $1,000 if you don't have ambulance cover!

Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/vGu08RYjO-s
Ambulance fees differ by state, with the state government in Queensland and Tasmania covering the full cost. Private health insurers in other states offer ambulance cover as an extra, but some state ambulance services also offer highly cost-effective subscription plans.
- ACT - Call-outs from the ACT Ambulance Service cost over $982, but they are free for pensioners.
- NSW - State government pays for 49% of the fee from NSW Ambulance, though that leaves you to pay more than $287 per call-out. Some services are free for pensioners.
- NT - Call-outs from St. John Ambulance cost from $360 to over $790, but they are free for pensioners.
- QLD - State government pays for the full cost of an ambulance call-out from the Queensland Ambulance Service.
- SA - A single call-out can cost over $1000, but SA Ambulance Service provide full annual cover for $87, and free cover for pensioners.
- Tas - State government pays for the full cost of a call-out from Ambulance Tasmania.
- Vic - A single call-out can cost over $1000, but Ambulance Victoria provide full annual cover for $48.35, and free cover for pensioners.
- WA - St. John Ambulance charge between $482 and $986 per call-out, but pensioners receive them for free.
Your options
This video provides a short summary of your health care choices:
Playing time: 3.08
Health insurance activity
Now that you've learned about private health insurance, make a post on the Health insurance forum answering the following questions:
- Do you plan on getting private health insurance? Why or why not?
- Regardless of your answer to question 1, complete the Australian government's PrivateHealth comparison tool to select a suitable policy. Explain why you've chosen that policy, with reference to:
- Hospital cover - What level of hospital cover might you want and why?
- Extras - What extras might you want and why?
- Ambulance cover - Would you want this or not, and why? If you do want ambulance cover, would it be better to get it from a private insurer, or the state ambulance service?
- Waiting period - What's the waiting period for your chosen policy?
Business insurance
If you decide to run your own business, there are a few other types of insurance you may wish to consider.
- Income protection - This insures you against loss of income in the event of personal accident or illness.
- Tool cover - If you use expensive professional equipment, this can insure you against its damage, loss, or theft.
- Workers compensation - If you employ people, you are legally required to buy workers compensation insurance. This covers you for losses incurred as a result of a workers compensation claim, which an employee may make if they suffer from a workplace-related injury or illness.
- Public liability - This insures you against compensation claims made for damage or injury caused to a person or property as a result of your work, as well as associated legal fees.
- Professional indemnity - This covers claims made against you for breach of professional duty. It covers a wider range of claims than public liability insurance, including claims made against you for giving poor advice to clients. For example, somebody may make a claim against their lawyer for giving them legal advice that resulted in financial loss. Professional indemnity insurance can cover claims made against you for:
- personal injury
- property damage
- financial loss
- breach of copyright
- breach of confidentiality
- loss of data
- defamation

Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/sTw2KYpoujk
Business insurance activity
Once you have read the section on business insurance above, complete the Business insurance template and upload it to your Portfolio.