uq(dis)connect

i've known for more than a year that this day would have to come. now the deadline is mere days (perhaps only hours) away, and i still haven't quite prepared myself as fully as i ought...

today i mourn the passing of a part of me - the email address that has accompanied me in my digital travels for the past almost 12 years.

you see, early on in my explorations of the world wide web, i discovered that the free student account given to all UQ students wasn't going to be enough for me. how convenient that UQ also operated an external ISP. after some signing of forms and handing over of money, i became the owner of a uq.net.au email account.

as the years rolled on, i graduated from uni, and my internet needs outgrew what UQ's ISP (later known as uqconnect) was able to provide. i changed ISPs, but kept paying UQ $15/year to keep my address because

• i had already been using the address for years and i kinda liked it - it was shortish, fairly easy to remember, and attracted lots of spam.
• ok the spam wasn't a selling point, but the idea of not having to get all my contacts to update their address books, and me not having to update my subscriptions and accounts on all the mailing lists and websites i've signed up for over the years - that was worth $15 a year for me.
• plus uqconnect told me they would offer this mail forwarding indefinitely, as long as i kept paying the annual fee.

my world was at peace.

until one day i received the fateful news that "UQconnect recently reviewed its products and services. As part of this review, it was decided that UQconnect would no longer offer a Mail Forwarding service."

i had 2 months before they were going to cut me off.

i kicked up a stink. actually it was more like a please please please appeal to get an extension.

they gave me another year. that extra year expires imminently, and i shall soon be permanently disconnected from uqconnect. don't go looking for me there, cos i don't live there anymore. let's hope gmail doesn't ever decide to stop providing a (free) email service. i don't really fancy another change of email address during my remaining time on earth.

taro cash

just saw this offer from tarocash - http://www.tarocash.com.au/Voucher/673/n/3/0/0/

fill in your details to be in the draw for $100, and provide your date of birth to receive a $50 voucher to spend in store as a birthday pressie from tarocash! my excitement at the offer was scaled back a few levels when i took a look at their current catalogue and realised that $50 will get you a tee or a belt, anything else will be over $50 ie. involves some out of pocket expense. oh well, i could probably do with a new belt by the time my next birthday rolls around...

becoming a solar home

it was march 2008 when i registered my interest for the queensland solar homes program, a ClimateSmart 2050 initiative designed to develop the photovoltaic industry in Queensland and make solar power systems more accessible and affordable to the home owner. essentially this meant i could get a 1kW photovoltaic system (solar panels, inverter etc) installed for the grand total of $185 after accounting for applicable federal government rebates and RECS (renewable energy certificates).

a year and a bit later, the system was finally installed in april 2009. here are my panels in all their solar-radiation-collecting glory:

(i've never been up on my roof; wifey got the installers to help take this photo)

that was part 1. the system would now be able to save me money with free electricity - whenever it's generating energy, my home's energy needs would be met first via the PV system (the "free" bit) before looking to be fed by the electricity grid.

it would be another few months of to-ing and fro-ing (all rather unnecessary, i'd say) before part 2 got up and running. once i eventually had my old meter replaced by a bi-directional one, i could start making money out of the system by selling any excess energy produced during sunlight hours (ie if the PV system is producing more energy than what my home is using) back to the grid, at a rate that is three times what one pays when using electricity. in reality it's still a saving because whatever i produce is given to me as a credit to offset my usage charges. here is my new meter in action, showing the two readings a fortnight after installation (energy used, energy generated):

the part 1 savings i'd estimate at roughly 30c/day, and so far my part 2 savings have been $24.20 in my latest bill - that's based on 18 days of having the new meter, so about $1.30/day. this means after another 3 months or so, i would have made back my $185 investment. not a bad return, i'd say - thank you australia, thank you queensland, and thank you sunshine :)

HTC =/= help the customer

i decided to upgrade the operating system on my htc touch some time back, giving it a new lease of life by installing the official windows mobile 6.1 rom from http://www.htc.com/sea/SupportDownload.aspx?p_id=88&cat=2&dl_id=421. i dutifully followed the instructions, waited with anticipation as the progress bar came up, and held my breath as the seconds ticked by while the progress indicator sat on 0%.

then the screen showed "error [266]: update error". ok not to worry, let's check the documentation. no mention of error code 266. hmm... try running the update again, same error, and i seem to well and truly stuck in the boot loader screen, rendering my pda phone useless. it's midnight and i'm starting to feel pretty panicky at the thought of losing my touch. i tried googling and found some references to checking the usb connection, which i have already confirmed is working fine. i send off a query to htc support via their website asking for help.

the response i got the next day said:

The multi color screen is called the boot loader screen. The white bar on the bottom should say "Serial" if its not connected to the computer. On Active Sync on the PC go to File > Connection Settings and untick the box that has "Allow USB". Click OK and try to run the ROM upgrade again as per normal. If it is unsuccessful, your device has become bricked and you will need to send this off to the repair center. Our repair centers contact number is ....

so, besides telling me what i already knew / had tried (and indicated as much in my original query), this response also failed to mention one little detail which i found after doing some more googling - giving the suggested solution for error 266 (Update Error - Not able to detect the USB connection) being to remove the memory card before flashing again. what this has to do with the usb connection i don't know, but it certainly worked.

i replied to htc with the feedback that "it might even be helpful to include this information in the documentation that comes with the ROM downloads, given that the use of memory cards would be fairly commonplace." makes sense, don't you think?

one day, when i'm feeling game / foolhardy, i might contemplate installing an unofficial WM6.5 ROM if i can find a suitable one for my model.

Cine Asia - will it reel in Asians?

saw this in the local newspaper last week:
at first i thought it about AMC rehashing what it was meant to have done years ago when it first opened in sunnybank plaza, but then noticed that this is with the birch carroll & coyle cinema at garden city (as well as other selected cinemas around the country). it sounds like a good and smart tactical move - catering to the large asian population (and those non-asians with an interest in asian cinema) in the area, filling a niche in the market (previously you'd have to wait for film festivals and similar special events to see decent asian movies in your local cinema) - but part of me wonders if this move comes a few years too late. i can't remember why AMC reneged on their pledge to showcase asian films - from memory they lasted a few movies before the menu went to 100% standard hollywood blockbuster fare. perhaps the market wasn't really there - yes there will be people wanting to watch such movies, but between the flourishing piracy market in the orient and the propensity of people to travel (or have family / friends who do), the how-can-it-be-legal video hire shops smack bang in the middle of the asian centre that is sunnybank, and in more recent years the rise of torrents and youtube clones on the internet (though the latter is more widespread for tv series), people have worked out how to get their fix of asian screen goodness without having to fork out much (if any) money.

cine asia's mission is "to bring big screen, big budget Asian movies to Australian cinema goers on the same day and date as they are released in Hong Kong and China". time will tell whether this is a successful formula - the same day release bit should help their cause. i'd love to support it more myself, but trips to the cinemas aren't cheap these days. that's why i wished it was AMC who had run with the idea first - their prices are at least a tad kinder to the old hip pocket. i haven't been to the cinemas for a while now... maybe i can make an exception for a birthday treat? hmm...

i heard "tax bonus", is that right?

now that the politicians have finalised their bargaining and deal broking, and the australian government has given the green light to the tax bonus payment, i thought i'd get my act together and ensure that my bank account details were up to date so that i can get my share of the pie as soon as it's served.

and so i rang the automated service number (1300 686 636) and was left slightly unimpressed - the bulk of my 5 minutes 48 seconds on the phone was spent in repetition:

1. me repeating myself to the voice recognition system. it handled numbers ok (had no problem with my tax file number and bank details), but couldn't (despite 3 attempts at it) understand my date of birth nor my name. granted my name might not top the list of most common names, but it wasn't exactly a name out of 'the gods must be crazy' or anything like that...
   
2. the system repeating everything back and asking for confirmation. which i suppose you need in an automated voice recognition system, but it does get a bit grating after a while.
3. me having to get the system to repeat the receipt number, because after about the 10th digit i stopped writing, thinking 'surely this is the end of it', thus missing the remaining 5 digits... and of course you'd need a 15 digit number to record receipts because every man and his dog in australia is going to each call 50 million times...
   

the ironic thing was, after thinking about the whole process and how it could be better (eg. offering the option of keying numbers via the telephone keypad as a standard option rather than a backup after the voice recognition fails), i realised that i had confused myself about my details and they didn't need updating after all.

oh well.

new beginnings

within the last few weeks, i have:

• begun a new (chinese/lunar) new year, which in itself isn't very significant, but it kinda fits the theme of this post!
• graduated from the development program that i've been undertaking at work for the last 20 months
• along with the above, received my certificate IV in government (statutory compliance), which, just like my university degree, is a piece of paper that proves i've been able to pass some assessments
• started a new job in a team where i'm the first newbie for ages, and where i don't know anyone and everybody else has known/worked with each other for years
• moved to a new church (come check it out!), and

• made a tentative return to blogging... maybe?
  

an eulogy for my grandmother

my grandmother was buried today, next to her husband, and trailing him by almost 11 years. the following eulogy was written by some of her children and is taken from her memorial service program:

EULOGY - Late Mrs Chiu Hua Wong

Chiu Hua Wong was born in 1918 in Ming Chin district near Foochow in China. When she was eight years old, she migrated to Sarawak with her father and elder brother. The family was so poor that at the age of 9 she had to go to work as a maid for a well-off relative's family in another village which was a day's journey away. Daily she had to get up at 4 am to cook, wash, look after smaller children and also take care of pigs, chicken and ducks.

When she was 12, her mother came from China to join them. She was still working and could not go home to see her mum. After being bullied by a cousin in that family, she longed for her mother and cried for days. Then she asked permission from Auntie to go home to see her mother and promised to return to serve the family. She knew that that large family depended on her service and would not let her leave. Finally they granted her permission to visit her mother in her home village. When the motor boat moved away from the jetty, she called out telling her Auntie that she would not be back!

At 18, she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour after attending the evangelistic meetings conducted by Dr. John Sung. She reflected often that she was so filled with joy that she even dared to give a short testimony at the meeting. It was an incredible thing to do for a girl who had never been to school. She wanted badly to read the Bible so she bought a small New Testament. Every time she opened the Bible, she prayed that God would teach her to read. She surprised herself that she could make out most characters and understand what was said. She firmly believed that it was Jesus himself who taught her to read. This was God's miracle to her and she would read the Bible everyday.

At 21 in 1939, she married Ping Duang Wong, a man 10 years older and a foot taller. She knew that he was a Christian and of good character. She gave birth to 7 children, 4 boys and 3 girls. "All her children arise and call her blessed" (Proverbs 30:28) because she had led them all in the way of the Lord. She had 13 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

In 1947, she became a pastor's wife when Mr. Ping Duang Wong accepted a pastor's post in the village Sg. Tulai without any formal theological training. She was a very supportive and faithful pastor's wife. At Sunday lunch, our table was always overflowing with elderly people or relatives staying for lunch.

In 1976, she migrated to Australia and became an Australian citizen in 1986.

After being widowed, she lived in Wishart Christian Village and recently in Jeta Gardens where she was known as "the lady with the sweet smile." God had given her a gift of endearing herself to everyone she met. We give thanks to God for her life which has been a wonderful witness and encouragement for us all.

Her favourite verses are found in Proverbs 30:7-9:

Two things I ask of you, O Lord; Do not refuse me before I die; Keep falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches. But give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you And say, 'Who is the Lord?" Or I may become poor and steal, And so dishonor the name of my God.

God has indeed answered her prayer.


[edit 13.10.2008 - my cousin has posted up some old photos in memory of my grandparents]

don't wait 'til you say goodbye

the title of this post comes from another blog i happened to read today, and some words resonated with me.

[S]aying goodbye fundamentally changes our perspective. Why is it that we stop and give thanks when we are about to lose something?
....
All this reminded me of the Mike and Mechanics 80s anthem, ‘The living years’. For those who can't remember (or weren't there), it was a song about a guy looking back after his father's death, and realizing that he wished he'd said more to his dad while he was still alive. Why is it that we are so self-centred—that we only stop to give thanks when something is being taken away from us?

he was writing about saying goodbye as a result of leaving a ministry that he had been involved in for some years. but as he alluded to in the latter quote, it's the same sort of thing when someone in your life stops living.

my (paternal) grandmother passed away this morning. i can't say i knew her very well... though having lived only a stone's throw away for the first 10-odd years of my life in Australia, and not that much further away thereafter, i can't help but feel i should have made more of an effort to change that situation, despite the generational and language gaps that exist.

i tend to be one of those strong(?), silent types who doesn't typically say very much. this is a reminder that i need to work on verbalising more, especially in thanksgiving. i can start by giving thanks for the life my 'ah ma' lived, most of which i know about through stories my father tells of his younger years. i am thankful for the legacy that she and my 'ah gong' gave to their children in living their lives under the headship of Christ. E and i pray we may be able to continue such a legacy, should God bless us with such opportunity/ies.

[edit 10.10.2008 - a friend (who will soon have the opportunity) has just written something that echoes the legacy thought.]

a bluer shade of white

after my previous foray into the world of performance (looking) headlights, i've discovered the existence of halogen bulbs which are filled with xenon gas. this, of course, allows the marketers to legitimately use the word xenon in association with these products.

nevertheless, these should not be confused with the actual HID lamps which, while also filled with xenon gas, do not have a filament (a feature of halogen bulbs), use a different technology to produce light, and have different power requirements. however, the filling of a halogen bulb with xenon gas does result in a bluer light. there are also some halogen bulbs which are coated with a blue film to achieve a similar look. to quote an ebay guide on the topic:

Xenon gas-filled bulbs and other halogen 'xenon' bulbs are simply a standard halogen bulb that is either coated with a blue film on the outside and/or filled with a gas to imitate the look of a true xenon HID bulb. These bulbs produces much less light than xenon HID bulbs and often less than that of a standard halogen bulb. Xenon gas-filled bulbs also suffer from a short 6-month life-span.

i don't know that they necessarily produce less light than a standard halogen, though i suppose any coating would attenuate the light output. and i hope the short life span doesn't prove that accurate, but should i need to purchase any more bulbs, i'll know to look on ebay where where i can get a pair for about 1/3 what i paid for my current ones!

for more information on HID xenons, see also for example
http://www.alpha-bid.com/XenonBuyingGuide.html
http://www.wheelsmart.com.au/HID.aspx

a whiter shade of headlight

i'd seen the cars on the road - the ones with headlights throwing out bright white light, sometimes with a tinge of blue. i'd been curious for some time now about how to get that for my car. the standard weaker looking yellowy tinge just doesn't quite cut it.


recently, one of my headlight bulbs died. thus began my search for a whiter light.

a lot of the marketing for brighter, whiter (or bluer) headlights throw around the word "xenon" with reckless abandon. after a bit of reading, my initial thoughts of getting proper HID (high intensity discharge) xenon lights were quickly dashed when i learned that installing this gear is nowhere near as straighforward (nor economical!) as simply switching bulbs... in the end i opted for this set of Calibra "Xenon Blue" bulbs, which are really halogen lamps, of course - there's nothing xenon about them. the pair cost $27.99 from my local supercheap auto, which was a much better price than a similar single bulb selling at a competitor about 100m away.

the colour temperature of 4000K is supposedly more white than the yellowy tinge of most standard bulbs (and at the bottom range of what xenon lamp emit), which is essentially the difference i was looking for. they do look visibly whiter to the naked eye (though not quite blue!), and that will suffice me until the next replacement, at which time i might try to find out whether there is a better breed of white halogen, for i'm sure that not every car i see with strong white lights are using HIDs...

becoming a ClimateSmart home

from http://www.climatesmart.qld.gov.au/your_home/climatesmart_home:

The Queensland Government has announced a new service to help Queenslanders tackle climate change and reduce their greenhouse emissions around the home.

The new ClimateSmart Home Service, which will start from 1 January 2009, will improve energy efficiency in households across Queensland.

The service will operate in a similar manner to the successful Home WaterWise Service.

For a $50 service fee, a qualified tradesperson will visit your home to conduct an energy audit, provide energy advice, install energy saving tools such as a household energy monitor and a water efficient showerhead, and also supply 15 compact fluorescent light globes.

i missed out on the home waterwise service cos apparently a previous owner had already applied for it, so since reading about this recently i decided it's not too early to register online for this climatesmart home service :)

kooroomba: the plan

who? me, my wife, some friends
+ anyone else who wants to come along

what? a winter outing / social / day trip

when? saturday 5 july 2008

where? kooroomba, boonah, scenic rim region
(about 1hour+ drive from downtown brisbane)

why? tour the lavender farm,
taste the wine (if that's your thing),
eat the food (lunch),
give your camera a workout,
hang out with friends (or maybe meet some new ones),
get some vitamin D (hopefully),
get out of the house :)

how? RSVP to me by sun 22 june,
indicating your responses/preferences (if any) to the below:

food options
the restaurant has an a la carte menu (which can be found here). if i can get a confirmed group of 20 or more to go, i will make a group booking and either take advantage of the group menu (dearer option) or the great aussie roast (cheaper option)... will most likely go for the cheaper option unless a majority of people prefer the fancier stuff.

transport
provide your own private transport (ie drive / get a lift from someone). please arrange a ride or a designated driver for your car if you plan on drinking. the directions are on the website. let me know if

• you want to travel together (ie convoy)
• you can take people in your car
• you need a ride (i'll put you in touch with people who have space, assuming there are any)

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related posts: "hometown affair"

beijing olympic garden pictures

saw some pretty cool pictures from beijing's olympic garden via a forwarded email i got at work. rather than repost them i thought i'd try to search for the source online. found this site as a likely candidate:
Beijing Olympic Garden - My Secret Garden 我的秘密花园

interestingly i also found a set of 3 albums on pandachute.com, the photos in which look exactly the same as the site above (though there weren't as many photos). wonder whether they were from the same person or if one (or both??) people ripped the pics from someone else...

anyways, worth a look for the wow effect :) here are a few of my favs to whet your appetite:

My Fair Lady - advance VIP tickets

The Brisbane leg of My Fair Lady - the Musical will perform at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC from 31 August – 27 September with the following session times:

• Tuesday – 6.30pm
• Wednesday – Saturday - 7.30pm
• Saturday and Wednesday Matinees – 1.30pm

General ticket sales begin on 16 June, but from now until 15 June, I can book A reserve VIP tickets at $82.90 each (plus any applicable booking fees and charges; not valid Friday or Saturday night sessions).

Let me know if you'd like one/some.

the great contact lens rebate saga

i last presented a simple recipe for getting a great deal on your contact lenses. what should have been a fairly straighforward plan took 5 weeks to complete. here's the full story:

• 15/4: rang direct contact lenses, ordered 8 boxes of oasys (6 lenses/box, or 1 year's supply), getting them to match the best competitor's price (from now contacts) @$31/box + $8.25 shipping, total order $256.25
• 16/4: invoice issued by direct contact lenses, listing 1 entry of item number 852 x quantity 8. this got me a bit confused when i actually received the invoice because item number 852 is used to denote a pair of disposable contact lenses. each box is for one eye - i ordered 8 boxes, or 4 pairs.
• 28/4?: logged onto medibank's website and entered my online claim for optical benefit for "852 (contact lens pair 12 month supply)", seeing as this most accurately describes what i purchased. at the same time i updated my bank account details to have the benefit paid into my new account.
• 30/4: got email notification that my claim status had changed, logged in and saw that i had received $50 payable benefit. based on previous claims, i was expecting to receive $200 benefit for one year's supply of contacts (@$50/3 month period).
• rang medibank and was told that the payment was $50 because the benefit payable is $50 per 852 – to get $200 benefit the invoice would have needed to show 4 entries of 852. moreover this could not be changed as the claim had been processed. if the invoice is incorrect, i would need to get the provider to reissue correct details and fax to medibank's extras help desk. no notification will issue about the status of the claim, but i could call back in a few weeks as they’re about 2-3 weeks behind in processing manual claims. great.
• rang direct contact lenses to request reissue of invoice, with 1 copy sent to me by post, and another copy to medibank by fax. the person who answered the phone (not the same girl who took my original order) seemed to know what i was talking about with the 4 entries business, which makes me wonder why the invoice wasn't written out that way in the first place...
• sometime in early may: received mail from medibank dated 30/4 confirming update of EFT details, and a cheque payment of $50 issued in favour of the provider!
• rang medibank to why money wasn't paid to me - apparently my online claim indicated the account had not been paid. i would need to show the paid invoice to get the claim changed (cancel provider cheque, reissue to me).
• 9/5: visited my nearest medibank branch to show them my invoice and request reissue of cheque.
• also queried the $50/line of item number 852 issue, and was told (with what i'm sure was a sigh and a roll of the eyes from the customer service representative) that the information i was previously given is incorrect. after waiting some 15 minutes while she double and triple checked with a colleague and manager (was my case so out of the ordinary?) she cancelled the $50 cheque to my provider, amended my claim to include additional benefits payable, told me that payment will issue for $200, and i walked away thinking this would be the end of the whole thing.
• 12/5: letter was issued notifying that my revised claim has been processed for EFT payment. i waited a few days after getting the letter and wondered why it hadn't shown up in my bank account. then i rechecked the confirmation letter from 30/4 and found that the account number had an extra digit at the end!
• 19/5?: rang to update EFT details, confirmed that a replacement cheque had already been issued because the previous EFT payment was rejected.
• 21/5: received my replacement cheque for $200, banked it a few days later.

so, after all this, i'm out of pocket $56.25 for a year's worth of contact lenses and a pack of contact lens solution. not a bad deal, but rather more drawn out and troublesome than it should have been.

ps. have just noticed an ad by clearlycontacts which claims they will beat all competitors prices by 110%. might be worth checking out after you use up the free welcome pack deal from direct contact lenses...

- - - - -
related posts: how to get a great deal on your contacts

how to get a great deal on your contacts

here's a simple recipe:

1. get/know your contact lens script
2. search online for the cheapest price you can get
3. call contact lens direct and get them to match your best price
4. receive a free welcome pack (solutions) with your first order
5. claim any benefits you may be entitled to from your private health fund

the actual execution proved a little less straightforward than i anticipated, but that's a story for another post. for a demonstration of how much you could save, consider this:

• i checked out 15 websites selling contact lenses - some were sites i already knew of, others were found by googling
• the price of box of acuvue oasys (6-pack) ranged from $31 to $45. i won't even bother considering how much your local shop/optometrist will charge you for them (nothing against any optometrists i personally know :)
• shipping can be as much as $13, often depending on quantity (number of boxes / other items / total weight), though most places will give you free shipping if your order exceeds a certain $value
• the total cost of a year's supply of oasys lenses (8 boxes + shipping) can range from about $256 to $360
• notes from my "research" can be viewed at http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pMHqcdkb3d5plALTDtW2cXA&hl=en

NB. contact lens direct don't actually offer a good price on oasys at all - they charge $51 per box ($20 more than the cheapest i found)! but they do offer to match competitors prices. and the only reason i considered using them rather than just going to the competitor is their "welcome pack" offer, which is good for a one off freebie of a solution pack, saving you another good $20-odd. i still stand by my previous recommendation of Net Optical for low prices and consistently excellent service.
- - - - -
related posts: Net Optical - for savings on contact lenses

"hometown affair"

rebecca sparrow, author of "the way we live" column for the sunday mail, recently (may 18 edition of the "event" liftout) wrote of her revelation after returning from backpacking around britain and europe, and finding life in her hometown of brisbane just a little boring by comparison (dubbing the place brisboring).

"Eventually common sense kicked in. Other cities were more interesting, more exciting, more vibrant because I actually got off my … backside and did stuff.

When you're backpacking, TV isn't an option. Nobody sits around wishing they could snuggle up and watch season five of The Sopranos on DVD in the communal lounge.

No, when you're a traveller you actually leave your dorm. You scour the newspaper for local events. You pay attention to the colourful flyers and posters that decorate the city and you -- gasp! -- actually go!

Imagine that. Imagine looking at the newspaper's listings of what's on today and actually attending some of the stuff instead of just thinking about it…. Put the DVDs away today and head outside. You may just fall in love with you own hometown."

ok so if you're cynical you might think how convenient that she's writing for a publication that just so happens to report/promote/advertise events. or you really do believe (fuelled by actual experience) that brisbane (or substitute your own hometown) truly is a pretty boring place, with nothing to offer your unsatiated interests, no matter how much you try to dress it up or talk it up. nevertheless, i reckon there's a whole lot of stuff happening around the traps that you might just find to be a better way of spending your leisure time than curled up in front of the box, or griping about the fact that there's nothing to do.

i for one do tend to trawl through the papers for things that might seem interesting, whether i'm at home or travelling overseas. and every now and then i follow through with one of these options. some turn out to be duds - the marketing might have been great and i got suckered, or it turns out it just wasn't my cup of tea - and some turn out to be fun/interesting/memorable. that's life. live it.

to this end, i'm thinking about kicking off the BATIYOH initiative (mystery prize if you figure out what that means!) by organising a winter day trip to koorooomba, a vineyard / lavender farm / restaurant in boonah, about an hour out of town in the scenic rim. i'll be taking my wife regardless of whether or not i get any other takers, but the more the merrier eh? will post up details soon - let me know if you're interested :)

going beyond CTP (part 2)

now that we've learnt the basics of what CTP is/does, you may notice that CTP only covers other people (the third party). government legislation for CTP does not provide compensation for the injured driver "at fault" in an accident. this is where the CTP insurers can provide an add-on product or incentive benefit to fill this gap. there are various names for this additional insurance, but they are all free / included with your CTP insurance, and they all aim to provide some form of benefit to the at fault driver for injuries s/he may sustain in an accident.

in addition to the premium, there are differences in the various covers provided to the at fault driver by each insurer. for example, the maximum claim per policy currently ranges from $250,000 up to $2,000,000 between the queensland CTP insurers. there are also differences in what's covered, and time limits for claiming etc. listed below (in no particular order) are each of the six licenced CTP insurers in queensland, along with brief details of significant differences in their offerings, plus links (where applicable) to find further information. my notes are offered as a guide only, and you should rely upon the actual policy documents to make any final decisions.

• NRMA - At-fault Driver Policy
  - up to $250,000
  - for drivers aged 25 or older
  - for injuries arising within 6 months of the accident
  - does not cover death
  Policy document: http://www.nrmaqld.com.au/documents/policy-booklets/policy.pdf
  NB. NRMA has a lowest price CTP guarantee. good marketing line, but not too hard to achieve - they just need to set their premiums at the minimum range set by the MAIC...
  
  
• QBE - Driver Serious Injury Protection
  - $1 million for quadriplegia, lower limits for specified injuries
  NB. no other details / policy documents available online (that I could find at the time)
  
  
• AAMI - Serious Injury Cover
  - up to $250,000 cover
  - limited schedule of items
  - for drivers aged 25 or older
  - does not mention driver being "at fault"?
  - for accidents occurring on a public street
  NB. no policy document (or even reference to this additional cover) found online, but a hardcopy information sheet was sent with my rego renewal letter (since i'm currently with AAMI). i'm surprised i couldn't find any more info on the website, but if you want a copy of the info sheet email me and i'll scan it for you. or you could try asking AAMI, in which case why not find out why there's no info about this on their website!
  [edit: here's a jpg scan of the policy document]
  
  
• Suncorp - Driver Protection Cover
  - up to $2 million if the motor vehicle is comprehensively insured with Suncorp
  - up to $1 million if the motor vehicle is not comprehensively insured with Suncorp, and the driver is 25 years and over
  - lump sum of $5,000 following preliminary assessment of the claim for drivers eligible, or likely to be eligible for DPC benefits
  Policy document: http://www.suncorp.com.au/suncorp/personal/ctp/_media/pdf/driver_protection.pdf
  
  
• RACQ - At Fault Driver Injury Insurance Policy
  - up to $250,000 cover
  - rehabilitation expenses up to $5,000
  - if under 25 only applies if you are a current private members of RACQ or live with a parent who is a current private member of RACQ
  - for an injury sustained in an accident that is solely your fault
  - for injury or circumstance that manifests within 12 months of the accident
  - only applies if you are alive more than 3 months after the accident
  - $5,000 may apply for death between 3-12 months after the accident
  Policy document: http://www.racq.com.au/images/Insurance/RACQ_DPCV1_AtFaultDriver_0704.pdf
  
  
• Allianz - At-Fault Driver Protection
  - up to $1 million cover
  - for drivers aged 25 or older
  - for an injury sustained in an accident that is solely your fault
  - for disabilities suffered witin one year of the accident, as a result of that injury
  Policy document: http://www.allianz.com.au/internet/Allianz.nsf/docs/2443552BD52E135E4A256E5900261327/$file/At%20Fault%20Driver%20Protection%20PDS%203-2007.pdf

the last 4 insurers on the list are all currently charging the same price for CTP for my class of vehicle. for me, it seems clear after checking out the options that i can, for the same price, get a lot more benefit (which i hope i'll never actually need to use!) by switching to another insurer for my next registration period... which i've just done with a 3 minute phone call to queensland transport. too easy.

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related posts:
going beyond CTP (part 1)
saving on CTP

going beyond CTP (part 1)

just got my car rego renewal letter in the mail a few days ago, so it's time for a CTP lesson, which i might have learnt last year had i bothered to look into things a bit more, but obviously i didn't...

CTP, or compulsory third party insurance, covers your liability for personal injury to other parties in the event of a motor vehicle accident. the compulsory bit is self-explanatory, as having CTP insurance is a condition of registering your vehicle (and you'd be a fool to drive an unregistered vehicle on the road). the third party refers to the injured person, the first and second parties being the owner/driver of the vehicle that is "at fault", and the the CTP insurer of the vehicle at fault.

the queensland government, through the motor accident insurance commission, sets a maximum and minimum range for CTP premiums and the various CTP insurers file a premium within this range every 3 months. hence the premiums of each insurer may (and usually change) every 3 months. there are a number of levies and fees included in the CTP premium. my current renewal period sees a variance of $10.20 between the lowest and the highest premiums charged.

however, price may not be the only factor you should consider when choosing your CTP insurer, as we shall see in the next post...

for more information about CTP, see:

• CTP FAQS
• CTP premium calculator
• Information on premium rates, including the levies and fees included in a premium
• or you could just read everything that comes with your registration renewal notice :)

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related posts: saving on CTP