Choosing the right car insurance policy

Remember yesterday when you were writing in your diary how you planned on having a car accident tomorrow afternoon? Said no one. Ever. These awful incidents, no matter how minor or major, shock the system out of anyone and everyone who has the unlikelihood of experiencing such an occurrence. And if it happens once, you certainly never want it to happen again.

Car insurance is so expensive. I don’t think I can afford it.

Question is, can you afford not to have car insurance? No one likes to imagine it or think about it, but since having an accident is unpredictable, it’s better to be prepared for one - at least financially if not physically and emotionally. Remember the old term: better safe than sorry?

The sorry part refers to not having enough car insurance to cover you in case you’re at fault in an accident, someone collides with you and they don’t have the appropriate cover, or inclement weather like flooding or hail that has caused some pretty indecent damage that you’d like to fix. Asap. If you don’t have the right car insurance, you could be forking out tens of thousands of dollars from your own pocket. Yep, that’d be a sorry state of affairs.

There are so many insurance companies. Which one is right for me?

We can certainly imagine that you’d be feeling overwhelmed at the moment. The abundance of insurance companies available in Australia alone, are far and wide. From reputable and popular insurers, to unknowns. Even supermarkets are getting in on the act! But who do you trust?

While we can’t give you our personal opinion, we can direct you Mozo’s car insurance comparison tool, where you can compare prices and features that may suit your personal situation.

But don’t just rely on price comparisons! Have a read what people have said and how they’ve rated a range of car insurance companies based on their personal experiences. Here you’ll read unbiased reviews from regular people like you and I who may share similar needs when it comes to cars and insurance.

I’ve heard about driver discounts. How do I get that?

It’s no secret that there are discounts to be had when it comes to car insurance. First off, you need to know where to look - and if you don't know where to look, then it’s knowing who to ask. Good thing you’ve come to the right place!

Mozo loves a saving as much as the next person. So hold onto to your wallets and let us show you a couple of tricks in saving some money:

1. Online purchase: After making your online comparisons with us using Mozo’s car insurance comparison tool: just by purchasing your insurance online via the individual company's website, you’ll automatically save up to 20% on your premium. Some may not be so generous but they will probably offer you something like $50 cash back or off your first month’s payment.

2. Loyalty discount: Once you’ve decided on one insurer, just by staying with the same company for a course of time, they’ll probably give you a loyalty discount to say ‘thank you’, even if you’ve made a claim that year. But check with your insurer about this one, as each company has different loyalty discounts going.

3. No claim bonus: Almost every insurance company offers a no claim bonus. It’s a scoring system to reward good and safe drivers. So for every year you don’t make a claim against your policy, you’ll be rewarded handsomely by your insurer reducing your premium quite dramatically. It’s quite a massive saving as the insurance companies want to encourage drivers to remain diligent and conscientious on the road. Typical discounts can be found in Mozo’s no claims car insurance table.

What does car insurance cover, what’s not included.

Well it all depends on which car insurance you purchase. First step is choosing between:

• third party property or
• comprehensive

You may think ‘great! there’s only two to choose from, I’ll just go for the cheapest one.’ But before you do that, you need to weigh up how much you need to be covered for because there’s a massive difference between the two options.

Items typically covered

Comprehensive	Third Party
Liability cover up to $20million	Liability cover up to $20million (damage you cause to another person’s car or property)
Bad weather like: hail, earthquake, tsunami, flood, storm	Damage to your car usually up to $5000.
Accidental damage Fire Collision Theft and attempted theft Vandalism and malicious damage Some modifications Emergency repairs up to $1000 Car hire (not always available, check with your insurer) Replacement car with conditions Towing from accident to repairer or your home

As you can see, for a few hundred dollars more per year, you get so many more benefits if you choose to purchase comprehensive.  If third party property makes more sense to you because your own car isn’t worth more than $5000, the good news is you can opt for a whole bunch of extra features like the ones included in comprehensive as part of your policy, that is, if budget allows.

What’s not included in my car insurance?

Whether you opt for comprehensive or third party property, the typical items that are hardly ever included as part of your policy, but almost always offered as additional extras and an extra cost will include:

• Windscreen protection with optional glass and sunroof
• No claim bonus protection
• Car hire up to $95 per day for possibly 14 days
• Excess free car insurance
• Wear and tear - get clarification on what that is as each insurer is different
• Depreciation in your car’s value
• People authorised to drive you car
• Electrical, mechanical and structural faults
• Accidents as a result of your vehicle being unroadworthy
• Anyone driving your car under the influence of drugs and or alcohol.