I have to buy a new comprehensive car Insurance but not sure whether to chose paying less excess and higher premium or Vice-versa. Car is Nissan Xtrail 7 seater and worth $33k.
I just need right opinion how to decide. Please no troll and I respect you all.
In advance, Happy New Year 2021
Thanks
Yes iy starts from $400 to $1300. They offered me $600 excess but if i go for lowest one premium jumps to extra $10 pm.
If it’s only 10 per month extra, then if you did have the claim, the saving in the lower excess would mitigate the $10 extra in premium
Only you can decide on this sunny.
You need to make a decision.
I haven't made an at-fault claim during my 23 years of driving so I selected a $2000 excess on my policy. It brought my premium down by about $1000 (compared to the premium for the standard $400 excess). Of course, my driving history doesn't predict the future and if shit hits the fan, I'm willing to pay that higher excess.
If you're already not confident with your driving or like to do stupid things, then there is no question that the lowest excess is more appropriate for you. Whatever it is, you should have a fair idea good of a what kind of driver you are (although, most people would class themselves as "awesome"!) and then decide on a balance. Work out what the variation in the premium is with each increase in excess and then decide if it's worth the saving.
+1
Being risk adverse, I've never claimed anything during my 20 years of driving, so I choose cheaper premium and higher excess…
Generally it's a decision after comparing the savings on premium over time VS excess savings.
E.g. if $300 higher excess means $10/month savings i.e. $120 a year, that means if you have a need to claim in 2.5 years, those savings will break-even with higher excess. However, if your driving track record had always been pretty good and on average longer to make a claim, then those savings in premium will excess the higher excess you'll need to pay.
OP. This is not trolling but if you knew the exact answer to your question, you would also apply that answer to whether you buy insurance at all.
Nobody knows the future, so it comes down to how risk adverse you are and how careful on the road you are.
(psssst… it's "risk averse")
The best option is not to get insurance and then post about it on Ozb when suddenly you wished you had insurance.
Oh, but he/she asked so nicely not to troll.
OP, make sure you properly hard wire your dashcam. It will help you with your claim if anything happen.
There is usually a "'sweet spot" where increasing the excess doesn't significantly reduce the premium. (Which you need to judge for yourself)
I was just looking at the same thing this morning for a new (OzB approved) car.
The excess is just a way for you and the insurance company to allocate risk between yourselves. To work out how much risk you want to take on, you just need to adjust each increment in the online quote to see what the impact on the premium will be.
In my situation, changing from a $500 excess to a $550 excess reduced my premium by $30. So I'd be $30 in front if I didn't claim, or $20 worse off ($50 - $30) if I did make a claim.
For my quote, the sweet spots were with the excess at $550 or $1000. But YMMV.
sweet spots were with the excess at $550 or $1000. But YMMV.
Personally set all of my policies at $1000, a sting but won't hurt. Enough to double check my sense to make sure drive appropriately.
Lower premium. Just don’t cause an accident.
OP should take the savings and buy a dash cam. Either to save yourself or replay foolishness for all of eternity.
If you are a good driver then chose to pay more excess.
High excess and pay a lower premium.
That what I did.
You pay the excess even when bit at faulty if you can't provide all the required details of the other driver. Eg your car is hit while parked.
Or by an unregistered car with a driver who gives false information and lies to you then disappears. The police do nothing in these cases.
Excess is to deter you from claiming.
Possibly go for the highest excess and reduced premiums.
OR: at only 30k, just take Third Party, Fire and Theft.
A lot cheaper, and the insurer actually even provides 5k if vehicle written off. (but if not your fault, then you receive the value of your vehicle)…
Insurance is a gambol… you err, or the other person errs… 50 50
Excess is not to deter you from claiming. It is to reduce the cost of the premium by filtering out minor damage. Basically you ‘self insure’ up to the value of the excess. Businesses may self insure up to $50k or more because it reduces the premium and they can sort out any damage under that amount from business funds.
I’m sure there are products out there that will insure you for every tiny scratch, but it’ll cost you an arm and a leg.
Two things to consider: How often you make a claim, how much cash you have in the bank. If you have a higher excess you need to be able to pay that at short notice.
We always have ‘rainy day’ funds readily available in the bank and have been driving (and insured) since last century with only a couple of claims. The reduced premium has more than made up for the extra I had to pay out for claims. YMMV.
Actually, a third thing to consider is can you repair minor damage yourself or live with it? Any repair under or close to your excess value is best repaired outside insurance so you don’t increase your risk rating. Eg $1k excess, $1500 repair might be better paid for in cash to not increase future premiums as you lose no claim bonus.
This is a great answer. Basically if you have savings and you will always have your excess then get the cheapest premium with high excess. Why not as you'll always have that excess available?
Except if you (or another driver of the vehicle) is a terrible driver and you are more likely to make a claim.
Sorry Euphemistic but none of this is relevent nor does it make any sense
Firstly you ask "How often do you make a claim"?
Hopefully very rarely if ever otherwise OP would not be even be considered for insurance and if they did, both premium and excees would be way too high!
Hence OP's post would be asking where to get the lowest cost insurnace for a claims history ridden driver.
So this one has no relevence.
Secondly, OP is looking at a $33K car so must have plenty of cash.
So I dont think the need to have rainy day funds will be an issue (Hopefully).
Thirdly I really dont think doing self repairs on a $33K car is an option either… Maybe on a $3K car but not in this case.
Furthermore if OP is up for paying excess then they are in an AT FAULT claim and so there is the cost of repairing the other ($150K Merceds Benz) vehicle. Hence the option of SELF repair will most likely NEVER apply!
Unless OP is looking at only Third party but that is not the case.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO BOTH OF YOU
The advice may not apply to this particular case, but is general in nature for the next person that comes along having read the title of the thread - which is pretty general.
I haven’t said you should go low or high, but given the OP some points to consider to make a decision.
As for your last point, some people actually do damage their vehicle without causing any damage to another party. Yes, tricky, but side swipe a solid object and you’ll make a claim only for yourself. You may also need to pay excess if another party hit and runs. Simply replacing a broken mirror off might be worth claiming if your excess is $300, but def not if your excess is $1500. It’s also not a difficult DIY $33k vehicle or $3k vehicle.
In contrast your post below doesn’t give any help at all.
it’s entirely up to YOU dear OP
There is no correct answer
Its entirely up to YOU dear OP
The lower the excess you want to pay, the higher the annual premium.
Do your sums and work out the best value!
Make sure you compare several insurers.
Its MUCH more important to find the best value insurer rather than the choose between lower premium or lower excess!
how often do you claim?
we typically go up one or two increments on excess from their starting point
most have a slider that quickly calculates premium change
.