Suncorp warns home and car insurance premiums will rise

Insurance giant Suncorp has announced it expects home and car insurance premiums to rise by up to 5% next year, due mainly to a rise in the cost of making repairs.

The prediction came shortly after Suncorp’s net profit report revealed a weaker than expected result of $1.08 billion for the year.

Chief Executive Michael Cameron said that in 2016/17 premiums rose by 3-5% and are expected to climb by that much again in 2018, thanks to the rising expense of specific car parts.

"The costs of repairing motor vehicles and costs of repairing homes are increasing. These days it's quite a big job so there is a cost inflation there and across the industry we are seeing price increases reflect those costs."

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However, the news wasn’t all bad as Cameron went on to state that despite the cost rise, customers would receive “more value than they’ve ever got before”, in the form of discounts, free items and a range of other benefits.

While it’s important to make sure you’re getting an adequate level of cover from your home and car insurance, that’s no reason to pay too much for it.  There are a few ways you can reduce your premiums, including:

• Think twice before making a claim regardless of its size, as a history of making claims  can affect your future insurance quotes. A small claim might not be worth the extra premium you could pay in the future.
• Need multiple policies? By taking out more than one policy with an insurer, you can often snag a multi-policy discount.
• Increasing the security on your home and car can help lower your premium. This might mean upgrading security systems and locks or parking in a secure garage.

If you’d like to find out if you could be getting more out of your home and car insurance, check out these home and car insurance offers.