Top 10 Car Insurance Traps
1. Cover - Without it you have not only paid for nothing, but you’ve denied yourself the opportunity to be insured for the collision you have just experienced. Don’t ever pay good money for bad insurance cover.
2. Price - Yes, Cash is King, but consider also flexibility options such as paying by the month, nominated-driver-only cover and increasing your excess to reduce the premium.
3. Communication - Your insurer needs to be contactable by phone (preferably 24/7), online so you can compare the policy cover and have a physical office reasonably close to you, just in case.
4. One-stop assessment - Assessing centres for car insurance claims are now quite common, but alternatives such as one quote only from preferred / nominated panel shops are often just as speedy.
5. Repairs guarantee - As the market competition heats up, ask if the insurer offers a lifetime guarantees for workmanship on collision damage. Check the fine print though, and don’t forget to ask for new parts if it’s a new car.
6. Agreed or market value choice - There are some interesting hybrids around the insurance market which merge these terms, so be sure that your "agreed value" is not actually market value, up to that agreed amount.
7. Lifetime Rating 1 - the days of Ratings 1 to 6 seem to be ever diminishing, to the ultimate point where all policies will be underwritten as "Rating 1", but again, as there are several variations on the lifetime rating theme, it’s important to check the details.
8. Hire Car - complimentary use of a hire car has been around a long time for cars stolen but unrecovered, (where the claim has been admitted). The offering of hire cars has been widened quite significantly however, so don’t forget to ask if one is available.
9. Low Risks - insurers are free to adopt certain "Underwriting Guidelines" to basically target any segment they wish, so if you are considered "low risk" - use it to your advantage and shop around!
10. High Risks - some drivers and / or cars will be "hard to place risks" so far as insurance underwriters are concerned, but as with "low risks",
2. Price - Yes, Cash is King, but consider also flexibility options such as paying by the month, nominated-driver-only cover and increasing your excess to reduce the premium.
3. Communication - Your insurer needs to be contactable by phone (preferably 24/7), online so you can compare the policy cover and have a physical office reasonably close to you, just in case.
4. One-stop assessment - Assessing centres for car insurance claims are now quite common, but alternatives such as one quote only from preferred / nominated panel shops are often just as speedy.
5. Repairs guarantee - As the market competition heats up, ask if the insurer offers a lifetime guarantees for workmanship on collision damage. Check the fine print though, and don’t forget to ask for new parts if it’s a new car.
6. Agreed or market value choice - There are some interesting hybrids around the insurance market which merge these terms, so be sure that your "agreed value" is not actually market value, up to that agreed amount.
7. Lifetime Rating 1 - the days of Ratings 1 to 6 seem to be ever diminishing, to the ultimate point where all policies will be underwritten as "Rating 1", but again, as there are several variations on the lifetime rating theme, it’s important to check the details.
8. Hire Car - complimentary use of a hire car has been around a long time for cars stolen but unrecovered, (where the claim has been admitted). The offering of hire cars has been widened quite significantly however, so don’t forget to ask if one is available.
9. Low Risks - insurers are free to adopt certain "Underwriting Guidelines" to basically target any segment they wish, so if you are considered "low risk" - use it to your advantage and shop around!
10. High Risks - some drivers and / or cars will be "hard to place risks" so far as insurance underwriters are concerned, but as with "low risks",
posted by David Coleman at
4:40 PM
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