Do you spend 8 or more hours a week driving your kids around?

Australian parents are adding a full work day to their week driving their kids around, recent research from Allianz Australia has found. 

The survey found that 61% of parents and carers spent up to eight hours a week picking up and dropping off their children.

“Allianz knows that Australia’s parents and carers work tirelessly to take care of their kids, not just doing the morning and after-school pick-ups but getting them to all of their other activities - whether it’s footy practice on the weekends, or after school music lessons,” said Allianz Australia Chief Market Manager Nick Adams.

Allianz also reported that one in ten Australian parents and carers go above and beyond, driving their kids around for nine or more hours per week.

“It’s amazing how quickly the ‘parent taxi’ hours can add up and become a big challenge for mums and dads as they try to balance family life with work and other priorities - and, of course, traffic,” said Adams.  

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The research suggests carpooling could be a possible solution, though only 35% of Australian parents are actually sharing their car load. Another way to ease the strain could be to rely on grandparents. In fact, Mozo research has shown that it is not just parents putting in the hard yards - grandparents are putting in on average 58 childcare hours per month, which equals $328 million in child-care costs.

“A busy ‘parent taxi’ schedule is stressful enough, which is why Allianz’s thing is helping parents to focus on driving with the peace of mind that they’re insured in the event of an accident,” said Adams.

Mozo’s top tips to pick the right car insurance for your family

Work out how car insurance fits into your budget. With all the expenses that come with having kids, car insurance can seem like a daunting extra cost. Use Mozo’s budget calculator to figure out how much you can spend, and what type of cover best suits your family.

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• Consider adding roadside assistance. Did you know not all car insurance policies come with roadside assistance included? It might be a good idea to find a policy with it automatically included, or look into adding it as extra cover. The last thing you want is to be stuck on the side of the road with your kids in tow.
• Know what your policy covers. Get familiar with the fine print of your policy so you’ll know just what you can claim for if you need to. For example, if you have child seats, are they covered if they’re damaged or stolen?

• Don’t leave yourself high and dry after an accident. Life doesn’t just stop because you’ve had an accident. If your car is written off, you’ll still need to get the kids to school, so check if your policy offers new for old replacement. Another good thing to check is whether you’ll have access to a hire car after an accident and for how long you’ll have it.
• Compare car insurance providers. It’s important that you choose a car insurance policy tailored toward your needs. Mozo’s car insurance hub provides up-to-date comparisons of comprehensive car insurance deals so you can have the peace of mind your family is covered in case of an emergency, without breaking the bank.

To see the top comprehensive car insurance deals visit Mozo’s car insurance comparison tables, or for our top picks in exceptional quality and value see Mozo’s 2017 Experts Choice Awards.