Hi,
I am fairly new to Australia. I am an international student in Melbourne. I wanted to buy a used car (around $8000) and was wondering what type of insurance would be the best for it?
Should I go for comprehensive or third party property would be sufficient? I'll be driving around 10000kms in a year. I plan to use the car for 3 years or more.
If they're at fault you'll have to seek payout from their insurance, most third party plans won't chase up other insurance on your behalf.
OP, this part is the most important.
If it is not your fault it is a huge hassle to chase up any payment on your own. Tbh it's not worth the few dollars you save, but if you decide to go third-party, do it knowing this little fact.
Thanks. Will keep in mind. For me and my car, comprehensive insurance is around double the price of 3rd party property. 3rd party property is around $350 and comprehensive is around $800.
Shop around. On my last car (2004 Corolla) the difference was $50 a year from the same insurer (AAMI I think, can't remember). Car was valued at 4k at that point, going up to 8k wouldn't have made that much difference.
If they're at fault you'll have to seek payout from their insurance, most third party plans won't chase up other insurance on your behalf.
Thanks! That seems like a very helpful point!
How much money do you have in the bank?
spend 4k on camry/corolla + $200 for TPP insurance - no need for comprehensive
Shop around for insurance before buying a car, as there are huge differences in premiums. My 11 year old Mitsubishi Lancer that was worth maybe $3k had comprehensive insurance for $650. That's the cheapest I could ever find, despite the car being so old and worth so little.
I then went out and purchased a $23k Hyundai i30 diesel, and comprehensive insurance costs just $360 with SGIC. That makes little sense considering the enormous value difference between the two cars.
Basically, pull up some insurance sites and plug in different cars into there. Some cars have very cheap insurance, so the difference between third party and comprehensive may only be a couple of hundred dollars.
Older cars are supposedly more expensive to repair due to the availabity of parts
For me and my car, comprehensive insurance is around double the price of 3rd party property. 3rd party property is around $350 and comprehensive is around $800.
$800 seems quite high considering that there is an $800 basic excess too.
If there is a best insurance company, there wouldn't be 50+ odd insurance products out there.
Its all about your requirements.
Try AAMI. It's the cheapest I found for my Holden viva 2007 model. If I'm not wrong, it was around A$500 for comprehensive cover. Add an extra driver for lower quite. Of course, age matters here. I saved around 35$ by this.
Thanks! I'll try it out!
Another point
Some insurance company allows you to change your excess. This will bring your premium down although in case of an accident, you may need to pay more.
Another thing is you can also adjust your car value, this will also bring your premium down.
And finally, do more research, get more quotes.
If you cannot afford to replace or repair your car if you are at fault then you should be paying the extra for comprehensive. If you have enough funds that you could go out and buy a replacement car quickly then TPP can save you some coins - provided you think you won’t crash into anything.
I had TPP on my $1500 car and then my $8k car, but now comprehensive on my $15k car.
Full comprehensive will cover your car and the other car regardless of fault
Third party is as the name suggests, it will only cover the other drivers car. So if you get in an accident and it's your fault, and you total your car, no more car. That's the risk you take for a lower premium. If they're at fault you'll have to seek payout from their insurance, most third party plans won't chase up other insurance on your behalf.