out of their own pocket or claim on their
insurance (if they have any).
If they don’t co-operate you can send them
a formal letter of demand. LawAccess NSW
says the letter should state how much you are
claiming and when you would like the money.
Go to lawaccess.nsw.gov.au for more details.
If the letter of demand isn’t successful,
you may be able to take the other party to
court, but this can be time-consuming and
costly. If it’s all getting too hard to get the
other driver to pay and you have compre-
hensive car insurance, you may choose
to make a claim on your own policy. Your
insurer will contact the driver and try to
recover the cost from them.
Even though you’re not at fault,youmay
have to pay the excess if you makea claim
on your policy. Insurer GIO, for example,
says: “If your car is insured and involved
in an incident, we agree that the driverof
your car is not at fault, and you cangiveus
the name and address of the at faultdriver
and the registration number of theat fault
car, you will not have to pay an excess.
Should you be unable to provide detailsof
the at-fault car at the time of lodgingyour
claim, you will be required to paytheappli-
cable excess. If at a later time youareable
to provide the required details, thenthe
excess can be refunded.”
It’s a good idea to check with yourinsur-AnnetteSampsonhaswrittenextensivelyon
personalfinance.Shewaspersonalfinance
editorwithTheSydneyMorningHerald, a
formereditoroftheHerald’sMoneysection
anda columnistforTheAge. Shehas
writtenseveralbooks.plan legislated last year, despite having
to win two elections before it can be
fully implemented. As the table shows,
the Coalition has promised to eventually
eliminate the 32.5% and 37% marginal tax
rates so that everyone earning between
$45,001 and $200,000 will have a marginal
tax rate of just 30%. (The new offset will
disappear as the tax rates are changed so that
the tax cut is maintained in the new rates.) It
claims 94% of taxpayers will be ona marginal
rate of 30% or less by 2025.
Labor wants to keep the immediatetax
cuts but repeal the future changes,which
it says are too expensive to be lockedinso
far in advance. It also argues thatthefuture
cuts, particularly the extension ofthe30%
bracket to higher earners, are skewedto
higher-income earners and it wouldprefer
to offer a better deal to lower-paidworkers.Thoseearninglessthan$37,000receiveno
benefitsfromthecutsafterthosecoming
inthisyear.
Inhisbudgetreplyspeech,Laborleader
BillShortensaid6.4millionpeoplewould
paythesameamountoftaxunderLabor
asundertheCoalition,whileanother
3.6millionpeoplewouldpayless.
TheCoalitionclaimsaround13.3million
peoplewillpaylesstaxby 2025 whenits
fullplanis implemented.DID YOU KNOW?
Think tax rates are high now?
In 1985-86, anyone earning more than
$35,000 was on a marginal rate of 60%.BEST-CASE SCENARIO
It depends on what you earn, but pretty much everyone
will get a tax cut, whichever party wins government.WORST-CASE SCENARIO
A weak economy could put pressure on future budgets,
with the possibility that tax cuts further out could
be cancelled or deferred.THE WILD CARD
A minority government, or lack of senate control
by the future government, could throw a
spanner into the plans of either party.er about whether you will have to pay the
excess. Also ask if your no-claim discount
will be affected. Then weigh this up against
the cost of repairs before making a claim.
You may find you’re better off paying for
the repairs yourself.
If you have third party property damage
insurance (not to be confused with com-
pulsory third party) and the other driver
doesn’t have insurance, check if your pol-
icy has an uninsured motorist extension.
Essentially this is cover for accidental dam-
age to your car if you’re not at fault and the
other vehicle is uninsured. The maximum
cover is usually about $5000. You can then
also make a claim on your own policy.