Just a random discussion today with a coworker, what would happen if you just kept getting policies with different companies every 21 days and cancelled the old one?
I mean theoretically you could get a year's worth of free coverage with 17ish companies.
Would be way too much effort for the long term, but this is OzBargain and I'm sure someone has done it.
That's not the case. The majority of insurers will provide a full refund during cooling off period with the exception of if you made a claim. Federal law allows them to retain a very small amount to cover government taxes but the vast majority just refund it all in full.
Having worked in general insurance before, it is possible but potentially you could end up with a very large amount of insurance enquiries on your Veda insurance record/file. I know of one popular insurer that checks your Veda file each time you get a quote. What is in the Veda file will then influence the price they quote.
There's a Veda Insurance record/file? I thought it was just for credit check for finance. Also I didn't know they check your credit report when you apply for a quote?
Yes, correct. Veda maintain an Insurance record. You can actually purchase your report here.
Some insurers are lax when it comes to lodging claims to this database (ie previous claims may not show because they were never lodged by the Claims Rep).
This is wrong.
They used to do a cover note over the phone that was good for 2 weeks.
Cover notes dont exist any more
This is wrong.
Edit: Apparently this is right. When did this change?
It is for the very reason of this thread, that people used cover notes as a short-term free insurance option that the industry did away with them. Also, many people would forget to pay, or not have the funds to pay when the note expired. Now that you pay up-front either as an annual premium or installments, you have provided your bank/card details and the company is generally assured of being paid.
Edit: as for when it changed, I'm not sure - I looked into getting a cover note for a motorcycle I purchased at auction a few years ago and was told they were no longer provided, probably 2014
Not going to lie I did this for 3 months with no problems… :|
Nothing to stop you from doing this. Dosnt mean their may not be consequences though
Doing this once or twice a year wouldnt be a terrible thing, but i wouldnt try it 17 times in one year.
… "have you had any insurance refused or cancelled"…
I thought this is just about the insurance company cancelled your policy, not you requested to cancel the policy.
Can the insurance company refuse your claim as you have not paid the policy yet so they can back out of the deal? You need to read the PDS
No, this is the whole point of a cover note.
You'll be expected to take on the policy before they pay you out though!
Who does cover notes these days?
I suspect no insurance company offers a cover notes. Best they will do is you buy the insurance and can cancel within a certain period for a refund
Yeah, a bit of research tends to indicate they're not a thing anymore, not sure when that happened!
@picklewizard: There's other ways around it. CGU allow you to defer a monthly policy payment for 1-2 months and you can also choose your payment date.
Nothing, I just think that you will get to a point where one company is owned by another company, and they will refuse to insure you…
I actually did this for a little bit (like a couple of months tops) - not all companies offer this, and most won't let you do it a second time.
It's super handy for a brief period of cover though - eg if you're borrowing someone's car, or have just bought a new car and can't be f'd shopping around immediately.
Update to this: seems like budget direct got the message… free insurance for 7 days for your new car
They still charge you prorata when you decide to cancel