Victorian drivers never shop for compulsory third party insurance, and many have never heard the term "CTP" at all — because in Victoria it's simply the TAC charge, a line on every registration renewal, paid to a single government insurer. That simplicity hides one of the most distinctive accident-compensation schemes in the country, and one very common misunderstanding about what it covers.
The TAC charge covers injuries to people. It contributes nothing to fixing your car, the other driver's car or anyone's fence — that cover is optional, separate, and up to you.
The TAC: one insurer, no-fault
The Transport Accident Commission is Victoria's sole transport-accident insurer, created in the 1980s and funded by the charge collected with every vehicle registration. Unlike the competitive CTP markets in NSW and Queensland, there is no insurer to choose and no price to compare — the charge is set for your vehicle class and where the vehicle is garaged, with metropolitan Melbourne paying more than regional Victoria.
What Victorians get for it is a substantially no-fault scheme: if you're injured in a transport accident in Victoria — as a driver, passenger, pedestrian, cyclist hit by a car, or motorcyclist — the TAC can pay treatment, rehabilitation and income support regardless of who caused the crash, including single-vehicle accidents where the only person at fault is you. People with serious injuries caused by someone else's negligence can additionally pursue common-law damages. Claims go directly to the TAC, and there are notification time limits, so report early.
That no-fault breadth is genuinely valuable — a NSW driver who falls asleep and hits a tree faces a much narrower path to income support than a Victorian who does the same thing. It's also why the charge isn't trivially cheap: you're buying cover for your own injuries, not just liability for other people's.
What the TAC charge leaves to you
Property. All of it. The three familiar layers of optional cover fill the gap:
- Third party property damage — the other car, the fence, the shopfront. The minimum sensible cover for anyone, because liability for damaging an expensive vehicle can run far beyond the value of your own.
- Third party fire and theft — adds your own car for theft and fire only.
- Comprehensive — both sides of the crash plus theft, storm, hail and vandalism, per the policy terms.
Moneysmart's car insurance guide covers the trade-offs neutrally. Two Victorian specifics worth weighing: Melbourne has recorded some of the highest vehicle-theft numbers in the country in recent years, which flows through to both theft risk and comprehensive pricing in affected suburbs; and hail cover matters more than many southerners assume — a single spring hailstorm can write off an uninsured car in minutes.
What shapes a Victorian premium
The usual levers apply — driver age and history, suburb, overnight parking, excess, agreed versus market value — with postcode doing unusually heavy lifting in Melbourne because theft and claim rates differ sharply between neighbouring suburbs. Motor premiums nationally rose at double-digit annual rates at the 2023–24 peak before easing, so re-quote at renewal rather than rolling over: the gap between a renewal offer and a new-customer quote for identical cover is often the easiest few hundred dollars a Victorian household can recover.
Buying or selling a car in Victoria
Registration — and the TAC cover funded through it — stays with a Victorian vehicle when it's sold, and transfers are now initiated by the seller through their myVicRoads account. For insurance purposes:
- Buyers: the car you drive home is covered for injury compensation through its rego, but not for a single dollar of damage. Have at least third party property cover active before the test drive turns into a purchase — most insurers can start cover immediately by phone or online.
- Sellers: once the transfer is lodged, cancel or move your comprehensive policy. Paid-up cover on a car you no longer own is refundable in part with most insurers.
- A car sold unregistered carries no TAC cover at all — it can't legally be driven until registered (or moved on an unregistered vehicle permit, which includes TAC cover for the permit period).
What this means if you're selling on MotorLoop
Victorian buyers read "rego till March" as "I can drive it home" — so put the expiry date in your listing, and note a current roadworthy certificate if you have one, since a RWC is required for transfer in Victoria. Listing is free, and if you're replacing the car you can browse used cars on the same account.
Related
- Buying or selling a car in Victoria: the complete checklist
- Car theft in Victoria: inside Australia's vehicle crime capital
- Car insurance around the world: how other countries cover their drivers
- Car insurance in Australia: FAQs
- Used-car finance explained: pre-approval, secured loans and the balloon trap
FAQs
Do I need CTP insurance in Victoria?
You already have it: the TAC charge on your registration renewal is Victoria's compulsory injury cover. There's nothing to arrange separately and no insurer to choose — but it covers injuries to people only, so cover for vehicle and property damage is a separate, optional policy.
What makes the TAC scheme "no-fault"?
The TAC can pay treatment, rehabilitation and income support to people injured in Victorian transport accidents regardless of who caused the crash — including single-vehicle accidents. Serious injuries caused by another party's negligence can also support a common-law damages claim on top.
Is my car insured when I buy it with registration?
Only for injury compensation. The TAC cover that travels with the rego pays nothing for damage to the car or anything it hits. Arrange third party property or comprehensive cover before driving a newly bought car home.