Friends living in Australia must feel a lot about the strange weather. Not long ago, a big hail in Sydney on February 18 left Sydney in extremely bad weather. The hail was not small and destructive; the sudden hail caused serious damage to many people, and many people`s cars in especially were mottled by the hail. Fortunately, however, most of the affected people have insurance, but the insurance companies are going to cry. Suncorp, the insurance company, said it had received 11000 claims in connection with the hail. IAG, the Australian insurance group, also received 20, 000 claims for more than A $300 million. But insurance is to guarantee everyone`s property, for example, which is one of the reasons why you have to buy insurance. Today, we will talk to you about car insurance in Australia.
Common types of automobile insurance
- The full risk (Comprehensive cover): covers the losses (personnel and vehicles) of oneself and the other party in the accident. Even if the other party is not insured, his insurance company will be responsible for repairing the vehicles of both sides and providing complete protection for the vehicles. Even during the car repair period, (some) insurance companies will also provide car rental fees, towing fees and so on. It is a kind of insurance that can be more secure. Full risk usually includes insurance against collision, accidental damage, bad weather, fire theft and damage, third-party property, etc. In addition, there is often a wider range of options for full insurance.
- Third-party insurance (Third party cover): is much cheaper than full insurance. If you are the main party responsible for the accident, the insurance company will only pay for the loss of the other party`s vehicle or property, and the cost of repairing your own car will be borne by yourself. Some companies offer additional options on this basis, such as paying an extra fee and can have a certain amount of limited theft or fire compensation.
- Compulsory third-party insurance (Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance): is also known as "green slip". Every owner registered in Australia requires a mandatory purchase of CTP, to register his vehicle with the local road bureau. The main reason is to bear the medical expenses and personal injury liability for the death and injury of third party personnel in the car accident (less than the owner is responsible), including themselves, passengers, other owners and pedestrians on the road. Property losses and car losses are not covered by insurance. Different states also have different CTP programs and registration methods.
- In addition to standard car insurance, insurance companies often have additional insurance options such as new car replacement services, road assistance, etc., for owners to choose from.
What is the difference between agreed value and market value?
Most insurance companies give you the choice of the value of the car that the insurance company pays when your car is scrapped.
- Market value (Market Value) refers to the market value of the car at the time of claim, in which the reference factors include the age of the car, brand model and so on.
- The agreed value (Agreed Value) is the value of the car at the time of payment agreed between you and the insurance company at the time of the purchase of car insurance; the value cannot be changed before the renewal of the insurance agreement;
- Generally speaking, if the cost of repairing a car is more than 60% of the value of your car, the insurance company will pay for the whole car.
What is Excess Fee or Claim Fee??
Excess Fee or Claim Fee can be called self-payment or insurance fee, which refers to the fee you have to pay when you pay for insurance. For example, your Excess is $500, your insurance claim is $1500, you will first pay $500 to the insurance company, and the remaining $1000 will be borne by the insurance company. In the event of a more serious accident, such as vehicle reimbursement, Excess usually does not have to pay and will be deducted from the final claim.
Generally, Excess consists of three parts:
- Basic cost Basic excess: this is the minimum amount you must pay at the time of claim, which will be stated on the insurance certificate.
- Voluntary expenses Voluntary excess: this is the additional cost you agree to pay on the basic costs at the time of your claim. The higher the Voluntary excess, the lower the total insurance cost. For example, if the basic cost is $400, the voluntary fee is $200, and the total excess is $600, your total insurance fee for a year may be $2600. If you raise the voluntary fee to $400, your total premium may be reduced to $2500. Because your increased voluntary costs effectively reduce the financial risks borne by insurance companies, premiums are usually reduced. Here you need to choose between the owner and the owner, whether to give up more expensive, cheaper premium, or the other way around.
- Age fee (inexperienced owner) Age excess:) excess is usually higher if the owner is inexperienced (generally depending on the driving age), or younger than 25 years old. You might pay an extra $450 excess..
Therefore, in the event of an accident, the difference between the payment fee and the excess paid by yourself is usually considered. If the cost of repairing a car is about the same as that of excess, people usually choose not to go the way of insurance claims. Because after applying for a claim, the insurance company thinks you are more likely to have a claim risk and will raise the premium price when the insurance is renewed.
How is the annual premium calculated?
Each insurance company has its own method of calculating insurance premiums, but the following factors are usually taken into account, but not limited to:
- Type of insurance, additional service and premium.
- The car is stored during the day and at night
- Owner`s age, driving record and insurance record
- Type of insured vehicle(manufacturer, model, year).
- Intended use of vehicles (e.g., private or commercial)
- Whether the vehicle is modified or not
- Is there a safety device for the vehicle
- The agreed or market value of a vehicle
How to reduce premiums? Car owners have a lot of options to reduce premiums, that is, in the premium factors to choose a direction conducive to vehicle safety. Let the insurance company think your safety factor is very high, the risk is low. For example, safe parking of vehicles, maintenance of good driving records, purchase of vehicles equipped with safety and security devices, selection of vehicle market value, etc.
If you are sure of driving technology and have little chance of accident caused by your own negligence, you can consider raising the insurance fee to reduce the premium. However, different car owners may be very different, so we must make choices according to their own conditions, do not follow blindly or overconfident.
In addition, you may be able to apply for additional discounts when buying car insurance, such as you have other insurance in this insurance company, you have used this car insurance for many years, or you have rarely or never applied for compensation by the insurance company, which may reduce the premium.
Australian common annual car insurance company
The common insurance companies in Australia are as follows (including, but not limited to):
- Insurance Australia Group Limited, brand: RACV,NRMA, CGU,RACQ et al.
- Suncorp Group Limited, brand: AAMI,GIO,Just Car Insurance,Vero Insurance,Bingle et al.
- QBE Insurance Group Limited, brand: QBE,Elders Insurance et al.
- Allianz Australia Limited, brand: Alianz,CIC Allianz,TIO et al.
Extra tips
- Car insurance can basically be completed online, in a car insurance brand website to fill in the information, you can get the quotation (Quote), can compare several insurance quotations to see which is the most affordable.
- Insurance companies can now postpone payment, and insurance can take effect at their appointed time or immediately after submitting the information. Then pay the full within the next month. Within this month, even if you haven`t paid for it, the insurance company will pay for it in the event of an accident.
- It is best to start from the first day of use of the car, it is best not to have a fluke to drive for two weeks before handling. The novice who has just bought a car is prone to accidents in the first few months.
- Car insurance can be frozen or cancelled in the middle, if you return home for two or three months, the temporary cancellation of car insurance can also save a sum of money.
brief summary
So, what kind of insurance is better to buy at the end of the day? Generally speaking, new cars, high value cars and novice driving suggest full insurance. Third-party insurance can be bought at your discretion if the value of the car is low. But in addition, the key also depends on the quality of service of insurance companies. For example, can you choose your own garage? How long does the claim process take (as short as a week, as long as months)? Whether to provide alternative cars and other questions.
Because after the accident, the owner must be worried and anxious, if there is another troublesome insurance company, it can be said to be even worse. Therefore, when we buy insurance, we should consider it comprehensively and choose one that is most suitable for ourselves according to the specific needs. Generally speaking, large companies with high popularity, although the premium is relatively expensive, the claim process is convenient and easy to worry about, and the service attitude is good. Small companies or low-premium insurers may claim restrictions and time consuming longer. Insurance has its own advantages and disadvantages, the most suitable for their own is the best.
