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You must have CTP to register a vehicle, and in some states it is included in the registration cost so you do not buy it separately. It covers medical treatment, rehabilitation and compensation for people injured by your vehicle. It does not cover vehicle or property damage.

Queensland's Motor Accident Insurance Commission is explicit about what CTP does not do: no cover for vehicle or property damage, no cover for your own injuries where you were entirely at fault, and no cover where no one was at fault, such as a single-vehicle crash. Queensland's scheme is fault-based, which the Commission contrasts with no-fault schemes such as Victoria's.

Western Australia's motor injury insurance covers the cost of personal injury and death caused to others anywhere in Australia by any driver of the vehicle, including pain and suffering, economic loss and care and support, and extends to catastrophic injuries incurred where no driver was negligent. It does not cover damage to vehicles or other property.

With comprehensive cover you choose how the car is valued for a write-off or theft. Agreed value is a fixed amount settled between you and the insurer. Market value is what the car would have sold for at the time of the accident, decided by the insurer using industry information, not what you believe you could have got for it.

Agreed value costs more in premium and gives certainty, but it is not static: insurers may reduce the agreed value each year as the car ages, so it needs checking at every renewal. Moneysmart's worked example follows an owner who renewed for five years without reading the figure and found the agreed value had fallen well below replacement cost.

Insurers price on the type and value of the car, who drives it, how often and how far, where you live and where the car is kept, plus the level of cover and the excess you choose. Raising the excess generally lowers the premium, so the question is how much you could comfortably pay at claim time.

Add-on motor insurance is generally offered by dealerships as an extra during a car purchase, at the moment you are least able to compare. Moneysmart's warning is direct: these products can often be hard to claim on, or expensive compared with simply fixing the problem yourself.

Consumer credit insurance sold alongside a car loan sits in the same category. If a personal recommendation is being made about an insurance product and the seller will receive a commission, they need your consent to receive it. Take the paperwork away and decide later rather than at the counter.

A CTP claim is made by the injured person against the insurer of the vehicle that may be at fault, not by the at-fault driver. In Western Australia you must report any crash causing injury or death to the Insurance Commission and to the police. Property damage runs entirely through the separate policies.

If a claim is denied, if you dispute liability for an accident or an excess, or if the assessed value of a loss looks wrong, AFCA can consider it. Complaints about incorrectly applied premiums, non-disclosure or misleading information, delays in a decision, and instructions not followed are all within scope. Go through the insurer's internal complaints process first.