Business vs Private Use — What It Does to a Green Slip

When you buy a green slip you declare how the vehicle is used, and business use is priced differently from private use. A vehicle used for business generally attracts a higher premium than the same vehicle used privately, because more time on the road, often in busier conditions, means greater exposure to injury claims.

That price difference sometimes tempts people to declare private use on a vehicle that is really used for work. It is a false economy and a genuine risk. The use you declare is a statement the cover is issued on, and misdeclaring it to secure a lower premium can complicate matters badly if a claim is later made and the true use comes to light.

The safe course is to classify the vehicle honestly, according to how it is actually used. If the use sits somewhere in between, or changes over time, it is better to describe it accurately and pay the correct premium than to understate it and carry the risk. The premium you save by understating use is small against the trouble an inaccurate declaration can cause.

Getting the classification right also keeps the rest of the process clean, since the declared use flows through to the record held against your registration. Accurate at the start is far easier than corrected after the fact.