Insurance for you and your chair

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Q: What insurance do I need for my wheelchair or scooter?

A: There are four things you need to be insured for:

Third party personal injury
Public liability
Damage and loss
Travel

In NSW most wheelchairs and scooters are automatically covered for third party personal injury they cause on a “road or road related area” if the user is at fault. In the Motor Accidents Act 1988 and the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Act 1997, road or road related area includes:

1. an area that divides a road;
2. a footpath or nature strip adjacent to a road;
   
3. an area that is open to the public and is designed for use by cyclists or animals; and
   
4. an area that is not a road and that is open to or used by the public for driving, riding or parking motor vehicles.

The protection is under the Nominal Defendant Scheme which is administered by Motor Accident Authority (MAA). The Nominal Defendant would pay compensation to the injured person and would not seek to recover that payment from the at fault driver of the chair if it was exempt from registration. That is if the wheelchair cannot travel at more than 10 km/h. Previously it was also limited to chairs that weigh less than 110 kg.

Similar schemes operate in other states.

But what about something that happens in other places?

Then you need to think about liability cover for injury and property damage. That is generally part of a home contents insurance policy. However not all insurers offer this extended cover.

Ask your insurer the following questions. If you don't like what you hear, shop around.

• Will the policy provide cover for damage my chair may cause others, including personal and property damage?
• Does the cover extend outside my home?
• What is the value of this cover? (Typically it should be $10 million).
• Am I covered on public roads as well as private property?
• Are there any exemptions?
  

That type of cover is sometimes only available if you insure your chair as an item taken outside your home, in the same way you might insure jewellery or a camera.

The home contents insurance also covers the value of the chair if it is lost, damaged or stolen.

When you travel any damage that happens to the chair in transit while your chair is 'luggage' will be the responsibility of the airline. However you should add it to the list of specified items as like you do for other possessions over a certain value as required by the travel insurance company.

What if I don't have home contents insurance?

One company we have found is Protecsure (www.protecsure.com.au/protecsure/pages/products/wheelchair-insurance-page.php; 1300 268 374). They will cover the chair as a single item. However the cover does not include public liability.

The cost depends on the value of your chair.

For a $5,000 chair, it is $247. For a $15,000 chair, it is  $742. There is a $250 excess per claim. (Prices as at 1 July 2009)