What a Green Slip Actually Covers

The single most important thing to understand about a green slip is what it does and does not cover. It covers injury to people. If the vehicle is involved in a crash in which someone is hurt, the green slip provides for that person's injury, and that protection extends to road users generally, a driver, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and riders caught up in the incident.

What it never covers is damage to property. It will not pay to repair or replace any vehicle, not the other party's and not your own, and it does nothing for damaged buildings, fences or possessions. A green slip is purely personal injury cover; the physical damage side of a crash sits entirely outside it.

That is where the other insurance products come in, and they are separate purchases. Damage to someone else's car or property is covered by third party property insurance, and damage to your own vehicle by comprehensive insurance. Neither is compulsory the way CTP is, and neither is included in your green slip; you arrange them on top if you want that protection.

So a fully covered driver typically holds two different things: the compulsory green slip that looks after people injured in a crash, and an optional comprehensive or third party property policy that looks after the vehicles and property. Reading the green slip as though it protects your car is the common, and costly, misunderstanding this distinction is meant to prevent.