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Drivers missing out on thousands in unclaimed toll rebates

<p>Motorists in New South Wales could be sitting on hundred of dollars in unclaimed toll rebates and not even know it. </p> <p>After a scheme was introduced by NSW premier Dom Perrottet to help ease cost of living pressures,  drivers can get cash back for their road usage.</p> <p>The scheme entitles eligible drivers who spent more than $375 on tolls in the 2022-2023 financial year to a 40 per cent rebate of up to $750.</p> <p>Motorists have until June 30, 2024 to claim the rebate.</p> <p>This financial year, motorists who spend more than $402 on tolls can claim up to $802 back.</p> <p>In order to claim your rebate, you need to be a resident of New South Wales with an active NSW E-Toll or Transurban Linkt account and have already paid for the tolls.</p> <p>Drivers also must have accrued tolls on a vehicle that is privately registered in NSW and have travelled on an eligible NSW road.</p> <p>The toll roads included in the rebate are:</p> <ul> <li>M5 South-West (unless you already claim for the M5 South-West Cashback Scheme)</li> <li>Westlink M7</li> <li>Hills M2</li> <li>NorthConnex</li> <li>WestConnex</li> <li>Sydney Harbour Bridge</li> <li>Sydney Harbour Tunnel</li> <li>Lane Cove Tunnel</li> <li>Eastern Distributor</li> <li>Cross City Tunnel</li> <li>Military Rd E-Ramp (Falcon St off-ramp of the Warringah Fwy).</li> </ul> <p>To access the toll tracker service, you need to link your toll account with your MyService NSW profile before you check your eligibility via the <a href="https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/claim-the-toll-relief-rebate#eligibility" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-type="article-inline">Service NSW website</a>, select “claim online” and follow the prompts.</p> <p>Once approved, Service NSW says you will receive your rebate within three to eight business days.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p>

Money & Banking

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Who really benefits from private health insurance rebates? Not people who need cover the most

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/yuting-zhang-1144393">Yuting Zhang</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/judith-liu-1467052">Judith Liu</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-oklahoma-1896">University of Oklahoma</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nathan-kettlewell-903866">Nathan Kettlewell</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a></em></p> <p>The Australian government spends <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/delivering-australias-lowest-private-health-insurance-premium-change-in-21-years">A$6.7 billion a year</a> on private health insurance rebates. These <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Medicare-and-private-health-insurance/Private-health-insurance-rebate/">rebates</a> are the government’s contribution towards the costs of individuals’ premiums.</p> <p>But our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4751">analysis</a> shows higher rebates for people aged 65 and older are not doing much to encourage them to sign up for private hospital cover, the very group who may benefit the most from it.</p> <p>This and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2017.1299094">other research</a> point to these rebates largely going to people on higher incomes, ones who’d be more likely to buy private health insurance anyway.</p> <h2>Remind me, what are these rebates?</h2> <p>In <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/2f762f95845417aeca25706c00834efa/0aaf3311ebcd3646ca2570ec000c46e4!OpenDocument#:%7E:text=The%20Federal%20Government%2030%25%20Rebate,the%20means%2Dtested%20PHIIS%20rebate.">1999</a>, the Australian government introduced the private health insurance rebate. Initially, the rebate meant the government paid 30% of the cost of private health insurance for everyone, regardless of income or age. Then in 2005, the Howard government increased the rebate rate to 35% for those aged 65-69 and to 40% for those aged 70 and older, regardless of how much they earned.</p> <p>Over time, the rebate rates have decreased slightly and now depend on both income and age. However, the higher discount for older people has always remained.</p> <p>We wanted to understand whether the higher rebates for older people actually encourage them to buy private health insurance.</p> <p>So we looked at data from more than 300,000 people who filed tax returns over more than a decade (2001-2012). We then compared the trends in insurance coverage of people younger than 65 and older than 65, before and after the 2005 rebate policy change.</p> <h2>What we found</h2> <p>We found higher rebates led to a modest and short-term increase in private health insurance take-up. We estimated that lowering premium prices by 10% through higher rebates would only result in 1-2% more people aged 65 and older buying private health insurance in the next two years.</p> <p>This means higher rebates for older people are a very expensive way to get them to insure.</p> <p>People aged 65-74 with income in the bottom 25% of earners were the most likely to buy insurance in response to higher rebates that reduced premium prices. That’s an income under $21,848 in today’s money (income increased to 2023 dollar amount, in line with the <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/rates/consumer-price-index">consumer price index</a>).</p> <h2>What do we propose?</h2> <p>Our findings suggest a more targeted subsidy program would be a more effective way to increase private health insurance. To achieve this, we recommend lowering income thresholds for rebates to target people of all ages on genuinely low incomes.</p> <p>Currently, people earning as much as $144,000 (singles) or $288,000 (families) can receive rebates.</p> <p>Other evidence to back our proposal comes from <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/publications/working-papers/search/result?paper=4682822">research</a> released earlier this year. This suggests higher income earners are likely to buy private insurance regardless of rebates.</p> <p>A recent <a href="https://consultations.health.gov.au/medical-benefits-division/consultation-on-phi-studies">consultation report</a> commissioned by the federal health department reviewed a range of health insurance incentives.</p> <p>The <a href="https://consultations.health.gov.au/medical-benefits-division/consultation-on-phi-studies/supporting_documents/Finity%20Consulting%20MLS%20and%20PHI%20Rebate%20Final%20Report.pdf">report</a> recommends removing rebates for those with income higher than $108,000 for singles and $216,000 for families (we recommend removing them at $93,000 for singles and $186,000 for families). The report also recommends increasing rebates for those older than 65 (we believe income, rather than age, is a better marker of someone’s means).</p> <h2>Are rebates good value for money?</h2> <p>We also need to look at whether rebates provide value for money more broadly, and across all ages.</p> <p><a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/926-Saving-Health-2.pdf">Existing evidence</a> shows a 10% decrease in premiums due to rebates only leads to a 3.5-5% increase in private health insurance take-up among all Australians. We show this is only <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4751">1-2%</a> for people over 65.</p> <p>So rebates are likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2013.11.007">cost taxpayers more</a> than they generate in savings, and are largely windfalls to those who would privately insure anyway, often those who are financially better off.</p> <h2>What happens if we scrapped the rebates?</h2> <p>It is uncertain how many people would drop private cover if the rebate was removed.</p> <p>But based on research from when the rebate was introduced, the rebate might account for a maximum <a href="https://escholarship.org/content/qt6j47s8kq/qt6j47s8kq_noSplash_be059196ed2d70b94486039f64452494.pdf">10-15 percentage points</a> of the overall take-up rate. Other research suggests it might be much less than this, closer to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016762961300163X?casa_token=C-SdG98Jc2UAAAAA:KJLHBZ2BJhq9wRQQKUbEWPiqoeza1DEi3mZ9Y6O2GereVX1L1x0cJumVgrqBeMGa1ygDjFrPG7T5">2 percentage points</a>.</p> <p>In other words, the rebate only appears to influence a small percentage of people to buy private health insurance. So scrapping it would likely have a similarly small effect.</p> <p>Then there’s the impact of scrapping the rebate, people dropping their cover and putting more pressure on the public system. Earlier this year, we found private health insurance had <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-private-health-insurance-cut-public-hospital-waiting-lists-we-found-it-barely-makes-a-dent-211680">minimal impact</a> on reducing waiting times for surgery in Victorian public hospitals. So scrapping the rebate might have minimal impact on waiting lists.</p> <p>Taken together, the billions of dollars a year the government spends to subsidise private health insurance via rebates might be better directed to public hospitals and other high-value care, including primary care and preventive care.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212611/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/yuting-zhang-1144393">Yuting Zhang</a>, Professor of Health Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/judith-liu-1467052">Judith Liu</a>, Assistant Professor of Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-oklahoma-1896">University of Oklahoma</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nathan-kettlewell-903866">Nathan Kettlewell</a>, Chancellor's Research Fellow, Economics Discipline Group, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-really-benefits-from-private-health-insurance-rebates-not-people-who-need-cover-the-most-212611">original article</a>.</em></p>

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Getting life cover can mean a 15% rebate for you

<p>We all have loved ones who rely on us. Life insurance offers security, but so many of us are doing it tough at the moment that another outgoing seems scary.</p> <p><a href="https://lp.compareclub.com.au/life-oversixty/?utm_medium=partner&utm_source=over60&utm_campaign=life&utm_content=nativearticle&category=life" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>OverSixty is partnering with Compare Club</strong></a> to find ways you can still protect your family, without breaking your retirement budget.</p> <p>For example: Did you know you’re able to split your life insurance so some of it’s paid in your super fund? </p> <p>It’s true! Accessing your life cover like this gives you a way to:</p> <ul> <li>Keep your out-of-pocket expenses low.</li> <li>Access discounted premiums: your 15% rebate makes dollars and good sense.</li> <li>Afford better cover with more benefits for you - and your family.</li> </ul> <p><strong><a href="https://lp.compareclub.com.au/life-oversixty/?utm_medium=partner&utm_source=over60&utm_campaign=life&utm_content=nativearticle&category=life" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Compare Club’s life cover experts</a></strong> have this knowledge at their fingertips. They’re experts who have been helping Aussies save money on insurance policies since 2010.</p> <p>You don’t need to puzzle it all out on your own either. Compare Club’s brokers match policies to people’s real-life circumstances - and handle your paperwork.</p> <p>Compare Club looks at policies from Australia's leading life insurers#, so <span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">talk to an expert today about your future, and your family.</span><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"> </span></p> <h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-family: -apple-system, 'system-ui', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; line-height: 1.2; color: #212529; font-size: 1.5rem; background-color: #ffffff;">Call 1300 863 204 now, or <a href="https://lp.compareclub.com.au/life-oversixty/?utm_medium=partner&utm_source=over60&utm_campaign=life&utm_content=nativearticle&category=life" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a> to save today!</h4> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Arial, sans-serif, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Noto Color Emoji;"><em>The information contained in this guide is of general nature only and has been prepared without taking into consideration your objectives, needs and financial situation. As such, it is important that you consider the appropriateness of any advice and the relevant product disclosure statement (PDS) before proceeding. Check with a financial professional before making any decisions.<br /></em></span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, Segoe UI, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Arial, sans-serif, Apple Color Emoji, Segoe UI Emoji, Segoe UI Symbol, Noto Color Emoji;"><em>#Compare Club compares selected products from a panel of trusted insurers. We do not compare all products in the market.</em></span></p>

Money & Banking

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10 payouts, grants and rebates you didn’t know about

<p>It’s not always easy to make ends meet, especially when you’re on a limited budget. Here are 10 government entitlements that can help relieve the pressure. As Effie Zahos, editor of Money Magazine, told <a href="http://www.news.com.au/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>News.com.au</strong></span></a>, “No one is actually going to call you and say ‘hey, did you know you are entitled to this’, it’s a case of if you don’t ask, you won’t receive.”</p> <p><strong>Government schemes and rebates available:</strong></p> <p><strong>Superannuation</strong></p> <p>If you’re a low income earner the government is willing to kick in to your super balance. If you earn less than $51,021 the government will throw in 50 cents (up to a maximum of $500) for every $1 of after tax money you contribute to super.</p> <p><strong>No interest loan scheme</strong></p> <p>This is designed to help people on low incomes afford essentials like whitegoods, furniture and health expenses. You’re entitled to receive loans between $300 and $1,200. At some point you will have to pay it back, but there are no fees or interest.</p> <p><strong>AddsUP</strong></p> <p>This is designed to help low income earners develop good savings habits. AddsUP will match your savings dollar-for-dollar up to the value of $500 over six to 12 months, and the money can be used for any purpose as long as you’ve paid off an NILS loan or StepUP loan.</p> <p><strong>Carer’s Allowance</strong></p> <p>If you spend part of your week caring for someone in need you could be eligible for carer’s payments of up to $873.90 per fortnight. You could also be eligible for a $123.50 fortnightly carer allowance and a $600 a year carer supplement.</p> <p><strong>Credit Cards</strong></p> <p>Credit cards can be risky in and of themselves, but often come with added bonuses like complementary travel insurance and purchase protection insurance. Some cards ever offer extended warranties for whitegoods or electricals purchased through the card.</p> <p><strong>For NSW residents:</strong></p> <p><strong>Council Rebates</strong></p> <p>Eligible NSW pensioners can receive a discount of up to 50 per cent on council rates (to a total of $250) in a scheme that’s jointly funded by NSW government and councils.</p> <p><strong>Water Rebates</strong></p> <p>Sydney Water offers eligible pensions 100 per cent rebates on quarterly water service charges up to $22.51, 80 per cent rebates on service charges for wastewater and 50 per cent rebates on quarterly service charges for stormwater.</p> <p><strong>Companion Card</strong></p> <p>If you’re responsible for someone who can’t get around a companion card can give you a free ticket to accompany them to shows, movies, or sports matches.</p> <p><strong>Energy Rebate</strong></p> <p>If you qualify, you can receive the Low Income Household Rebate of $235.</p> <p><strong>Small Business</strong></p> <p>If you own a small business the jobs action plan can score you a neat $5,000. </p> <p>Do you qualify for any of these? Do you think the government offers enough support?</p> <p>Let us know in the comments. </p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2016/05/places-to-use-your-seniors-card/">15 places you didn’t know you could use your Seniors Card</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2016/04/why-you-should-still-set-an-alarm-when-you-retire/">Why you should still set an alarm when you retire</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2016/04/5-new-hobbies-to-try-now/">5 new hobbies to try now</a></strong></em></span></p>

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Queensland seniors will still receive power rebate

<p>In what could have been a power shock for thousands of Queensland seniors, Treasurer Curtis Pitt has ruled out taking power rebates away from more than 100,000 seniors to put downward pressure on power bills.</p> <p>Mr Pitt has poured cold water on the idea after earlier saying he would consider a Queensland Productivity Commission recommendation to take the annual $320.97 rebate away from people over 65 who held a Queensland Seniors Card, which wasn't means-tested.</p> <p>"We will always listen to stakeholders and the Palaszczuk government will always do its best to look after the interests of our pensioners and low-income earners," Mr Pitt said.</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="/travel/travel-tips/2015/12/6-details-fine-print-plane-tickets/">6 hidden details in the fine print of plane tickets</a></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="/travel/travel-tips/2015/12/funny-way-to-avoid-losing-luggage/">One man’s genius way to avoid losing your luggage</a></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="/travel/travel-tips/2015/12/random-act-of-airport-kindness/">Stranger buys stranded traveller a flight to see her dying mother</a></em></strong></span></p>

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