What your green slip covers (and 5 situations where you aren’t covered)

Your green slip covers people who are injured or die in a road crash involving your vehicle. Broadly, your green slip covers people not property. Make sure you understand when and when you’re not covered by a green slip.

What your green slip covers and doesn’t cover

What does my green slip cover?

Briefly, your green slip covers people not property. Every green slip covers 3 broad areas:

1. Compensation for people who are killed in a road crash involving your vehicle
2. Pedestrians, passengers, cyclists, motorcyclists, other drivers and, up to a point, the driver at fault
3. Trailers under the green slip of the towing vehicle.

Here are 5 situations when you are not covered by a green slip.

1. Your green slip doesn’t cover the other driver’s vehicle

You can’t claim on your green slip for damage to the other driver’s vehicle or property.

Example:

• You crashed in your old Toyota HiLux into the back of an S-Class Mercedes. The driver wants you to pay for the damage.
• You aren’t covered by comprehensive or third party property insurance, so you want to claim on your green slip.
• Your green slip does not cover property at all.

If you have a low value vehicle, it may be worth buying third party property insurance to cover high value vehicles.

2. Your green slip doesn’t full cover the driver at fault

A green slip covers the driver, whether they are at fault or not, for the first 12 months. They can receive benefits for lost income and for treatment and care for up to 12 months. After that, it depends on the severity of their injuries.

Example:

• You crashed into the back of another vehicle on the highway while having a micro-sleep. The insurer says it was your fault.
• As well as whiplash, you were psychologically affected.
• You can get benefits for lost income and treatment and care for up to 12 months.
• Your injuries are not severe enough to receive further benefits under your green slip and, fortunately, not catastrophic as covered by the Lifetime Care and Support scheme. 

You may want to consider cover for at-fault drivers, currently available from NRMA Insurance on top of its green slip.

3. Your green slip doesn’t cover the trailer itself

Trailers don’t need a green slip because they’re covered by the green slip of the towing vehicle. If you have a road accident while towing a trailer, your green slip doesn’t cover your vehicle or trailer.

Example:

• You were towing a trailer full of furniture to your son’s new home and crashed at a roundabout. Some furniture fell off and the trailer buckled.
• Your green slip doesn’t cover property of any kind, including your vehicle, trailer and furniture.
• You were fortunately unhurt and can’t claim on your green slip.

Remember, only the towing vehicle needs a green slip.

4. Your green slip doesn’t cover workplace injuries unless in a road crash

If you’re injured at work, you’re usually covered by workers compensation insurance. Your green slip is not a kind of workers compensation.

Example:

• You went into the bathrooms after they had been cleaned and slipped on the wet floor. The accident badly injured your knees and wrists.

This is covered by workers compensation.

• You were driving for work to the local supplier and were rear-ended at the traffic lights. You suffered whiplash.

This injury is covered by the green slip of the vehicle you were driving.

You can contact the regulator SIRA for help with your green slip or for advice about workers compensation.

5. Your green slip doesn’t cover vehicle theft

If your vehicle is stolen, it’s not covered by your green slip. You need to hold comprehensive insurance or third party property insurance that includes theft.

Example:

• You left your car in a carpark at a shopping centre. After searching for a long time, you realise it’s gone.
• You can’t claim on your green slip for theft.
• Luckily, you are relieved to realise your comprehensive insurance is still current.

Remember, your green slip never covers property, whether it belongs to you, someone else or has been stolen.

I need a green slip now to register my vehicle.