Car insurance mystery shop: over $1,000 of savings on offer for Aussies willing to make the switch

For many Australians the yearly choice between renewing their car insurance with an existing provider or making the switch to an alternative may not even warrant a second thought, but a recent mystery shop conducted by Mozo suggests it should.

A comparison of five different insurers revealed price differences of over $1,000 between rival insurers for similar comprehensive car insurance policies, with the largest on offer a whopping $1114 gap between online-only insurer Progressive ($734) and QBE ($1848) for a 25 year old male.

The mystery shop compared policies offered online by AAMI, ANZ, Progressive, QBE and Woolworths based on a typical* New South Wales driver across both genders and three different age groups, revealing stark price differences between insurers, as well as across age groups and genders within the same insurer.

While Aussies won’t be surprised to find that younger drivers pay far more than older drivers for their insurance as they are generally considered to be higher risk, they may be not have known about the price divide between men and women.

Of the 15 different policies compared by gender across three age groups, 13 worked out cheaper for women - with the largest difference $173 between QBE’s comprehensive insurance for 25 year old women and men.

While there were minor differences in the features available under each policy, customers will have to weigh up if they are worth the varying prices offered by different insurers.

Aside from the potential savings on offer from shopping around for their car insurance, the mystery shop highlighted the opportunity for Aussie drivers to take advantage of online or multi-policy discounts they could receive.

For example, if you’re an existing home insurance customer with ANZ you may be entitled to a 7.5% rebate on your annual premium if you also sign up for a car insurance policy too.  

Is your own car insurance coming up for renewal? Make sure you take advantage of the possible savings on offer by switching providers. Don’t wait, head on over now to the Mozo car insurance hub to compare the top deals from a range of providers. 

*The Mozo car insurance mystery shop was conducted in June 2017 and based on a driver from Sydney who parked their 2012 Toyota Corolla (valued at $13,200) in a garage at night, and had no recent history of claims or driving offences.