Payment Options for Taxi owners

Taxi owners in NSW have the choice to pay their CTP premium either as an upfront annual premium or in instalment amounts. Instalment payments are adjusted to reflect the actual number of kilometres travelled during the period of insurance whereas the upfront annual premium is based on the estimated average number of kilometres travelled by a taxi in a year. This premium will not be adjusted for the actual number of kilometres travelled.

Note that if you choose to pay in instalments but ultimately end up travelling more than 107,000km during the year, the total premium you pay will be no more than what you would have been charged had you opted to pay your full annual premium up front.

The average number of kilometres travelled by a taxi has been estimated as 107,000km by the State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA). If you are likely to travel this many kilometres or more during the year, the premium you will end up paying will be no different and you may find it more convenient to simply pay for your full year’s premium up front.

If you are likely to travel less than 107,000km, you may be able to pay a lower premium by choosing to pay in instalments. If you choose to pay your premium in instalments, the total premium you pay across the year will be assessed based on the number of kilometres your vehicle travels.

Note that if you choose to pay in instalments but ultimately end up travelling more than 107,000km during the year, the total premium you pay, will be no more than what you would have been charged, had you opted to pay your full annual premium up front.

If you would like to continue to pay your CTP premium upfront as you have always done, there are no changes to the process. You may either renew your existing policy with Allianz or through your taxi broker or purchase a new policy. You will only be required to make one payment each year. Your premium will be based on an estimate of the average number of kilometres travelled by a taxi in a year.

If you are a taxi owner and wish to pay for your CTP premium in instalments, you must do the following no more than 28 days prior to the commencement of your registration period:

• Have your vehicle inspected at an Authorised Inspection Station (AIS)
• Ensure that the AIS has access to enter your vehicle’s odometer reading on the SIRA portal at the time they perform the inspection

Once the above two actions have been completed, only then can your insurer, taxi broker or service provider arrange for you to purchase an instalment-based CTP policy. Your first instalment will be equal to one-third of the upfront annual premium (i.e. the premium if you were to pay annually).

Failure to complete your inspection and have your vehicle’s odometer reading entered into the SIRA portal will mean that you will not be eligible to pay by instalments and you will instead be charged the full upfront annual premium that will be based on the estimate of the average number of kilometres travelled by a taxi in a year (107,000km).

T-plated taxis

If your vehicle is a T-plated taxi, you will be required to have your vehicle inspected and your odometer recorded again in the SIRA portal four months after the start of your policy period. If you are insured with us, we will send you an invoice for your second instalment which will, again, be for one third of the upfront annual premium. Receipt of this invoice will serve as a reminder for you to get your odometer read. Your odometer must be recorded no more than 28 days prior to the due date of this second instalment. You will be given approximately three weeks to pay this instalment.

Once you have had your odometer reading recorded in the SIRA portal, Allianz will determine how many kilometres were travelled by your vehicle in the previous four months and, from this, calculate whether any additional premium is owing or whether a refund is owed to you. Approximately two weeks after the due date of your second instalment payment, Allianz will send you an adjustment notice. If additional premium is owing, you will have 2 weeks to pay.

Eight months from your policy inception date you will be required to repeat this process and have your vehicle inspected and your odometer reading recorded in the portal. Again, this must occur no more than 28 days prior to the due date of the third instalment. You will receive an invoice for your third instalment payment that will again be one-third of the upfront annual premium and you will have three weeks to make payment.

Again, two weeks after your instalment payment and odometer reading is due, Allianz will send you an adjustment notice depending on how many kilometres your vehicle travelled. You will have 2 weeks to pay any additional premium that is due.

Your final vehicle inspection and odometer reading will be required to be made no more than 28 days prior to the expiry of your annual registration period. A final adjustment will be made to your premium based on this odometer reading. You will then have the option of commencing a new period of insurance on an instalment basis or you can switch to an upfront annual premium.

If you remain paying by instalments then your final odometer reading that was recorded at the end of your prior period of insurance will serve as the opening odometer reading for your new period of insurance. Your renewal notice will display the premium owing for the first instalment of your coming period of insurance. You may simply pay this amount and the process will repeat. Alternatively, you may choose to purchase a new policy for which the full premium is payable upfront.

TC-plated taxis

For TC-plated taxis, the process is the same except that after the first instalment at inception there is only one further instalment due six months after the commencement of the policy. As with T-plated taxis, you will be required to have your odometer reading recorded in the SIRA portal at the start of your policy period, six months after the start of your policy period and again at the end of your policy period. If this is not done, you will receive no adjustment for the number of kilometres you travel.

At the end of your policy period, you will have the same options available to you as T-plated taxis. You may choose to pay for your renewal premium that will represent the first instalment owing for your new period of insurance or you may instead opt to pay your full annual premium upfront. This premium will not be adjusted for the actual number of kilometres travelled.

The premium paid by a taxi owner that chooses to opt in to instalment payments depends on the actual number of kilometres travelled by their taxi during the period of insurance. The total premium paid comprises a small fixed upfront component that includes the annual Fund levy plus a cents per kilometre charge which is set by the Regulator. This charge is different for T-plated and TC-plated taxis. For more information about how premiums are calculated, please click here.

Taxi owner payment options FAQs