I have been in the car insurance game for a while and every time a car insurance advertisement comes on TV I cringe and their blatant attempt to fool consumers. They make claims such as offering good drivers a better price and make out they are the only car insurance company or underwriter doing so. They twist words so their ad passes the regulators but I know that in Australia car insurance companies have one of the highest complaint rates about their advertising – and this does not surprise me one little bit.
Below are some things to watch out for and some pointer which might help you not get sucked in by an advertisement that is obviously trying to fool you.
1 – All companies give discounts to good drivers: I have profiles over 80 car insurance companies and can tell you that ALL companies give good driver s a discount. It is called No Claims Discount (NCD) or No Claims Bonus (NCB). Basically for every year you don’t make a car insurance claim your rating will improve until it can go no higher. Every car insurance underwriter treats ratings differently and how they calculate a rating will be different from one insurer to another but mostly a discount for a rating 1 (the highest rating) will be 60-70%.
2 – No company is the cheapest for everyone: Some ads I see on TV make you seem that the company is always the cheapest for car insurance. This is not the case. Car insurance is priced based on a pool of people, mush like a betting tote. They use statistics to price each policy. For instance, if a large % of young drivers make claims then the following month/year premiums for young drivers will go up. Each underwriter or company will have a different pool of customer and claims and therefore will price differently. From the 10000 quotes I have on my database, every company is the cheapest and also the most expensive for a least one demography. You should also get multiple car insurance quotes to make a proper comparison.
3 – Feature is very very similar: Features of an insurance policy are very similar and usually differ only slightly. Don’t believe that one company’ car insurance policies are better than another because usually this is not true. They might be different but not necessarily better. You should go through the PDS (product disclosure statement) before you purchase your car insurance. If it doesn’t include something you need then move on and find another company.
Next time you are getting quotes and deciding what vehicle insurance policy to buy, just remember that each car insurance company has its own tactics to get your business and will go to any length to suck you in. You are best off doing your own research in order to get the best policies, company and price.
