The internet sure has made a lot of things in our lives easier. Like being able to look up product reviews before you make a big purchase, finding videos on how to change a tyre, watching tutorials on how to set up your own business, and even getting insurance online. Honestly, car insurance apps alone are a wonder unto themselves… Like this insurer’s app, which has managed to do away with visiting an inspection centre by enabling you to snap and upload pictures of your insured car to the app.
Seriously, that’s an amazing time saver. However, with all the benefits of digitising car insurance, including the ability to compare car insurance policies and prices online, lots of people are still confused by a few misconceptions about how car insurance works. For example, there are a number of people who actually believe that red cars cost more to insure, but that’s not the case. Car insurance premiums are determined by a lot of factors, such as the make and model, age, body type, engine size, the cost to repair and the likelihood of it being stolen (among a few others)… But not the colour.
To help bring a little more clarity to the situation, we’ve highlighted a few things that you should check when you get insurance for your car.
Check the insured value of your car
There are 3 car values that are used in South Africa, including trade, market, and retail value. Trade value is simply the price that a dealer would pay you for your car, while market value is the amount of money you’d get if you sold it privately. Last up is retail value, which is the cost of buying your car at a dealership. This is the highest value and definitely the 1 you should choose to insure your car for so that if your car is written off or stolen and not recovered, you’ll be in a position to replace it with a similar 1.
Once you understand how these values could affect you, it makes sense why you’d want to check which value you can insure your car for with the insurance company that you’re interested in joining.
Check the excess amount that you’ll pay
When you get a quote for car insurance, you’ll be presented with a monthly amount that you’ll pay and an excess amount that you’ll only pay if you claim. Some insurers allow you to choose your excess amount when you’re doing your quote with them because this amount can affect how much your premium comes to. Basically, a higher excess will lower your premium. A lower excess will cause your premium to be a bit higher.
It’s a bit like a see-saw in this way and while it’s tempting to stack the 1 side with a higher excess so that your premium is much lower, we urge you to make sure that the excess amount is affordable. It’s entirely possible to nudge the excess a bit higher so that your cover is more affordable without going overboard.
Check to see if you’re covered for others to drive your car
There are some policies that don’t provide any cover if someone other than you was driving at the time of the incident that you’ve put a claim in for. This is something you absolutely should check. You don’t want your partner or friend to use your car and get involved in an accident only to find out when you try claim that you aren’t covered at all or that there are exorbitantly high additional excesses on top of your normal excess.
Check if hail damage is included
There was a crazy series of hail storms a few years ago which resulted in unbelievably expensive damage to cars and homes (especially in Gauteng). The result was that most insurance companies removed hail cover as a standard feature of their insurance policies. Nowadays, you’ll need to check if hail damage is covered with your car insurance policies and add it on for a small additional fee.
This small extra fee is worth it when you compare this minor cost to the much larger bill that you’d have to pay to have any hail damage repaired.
Check if car hire is included
If you have just the 1 car and this car is involved in an accident and out of action while it’s in for repairs, then car hire is actually really useful. The thing is, you can’t add it on after the fact. If you haven’t already included it, then you’ll have to make your own transport arrangements, which may include paying for car hire out of your own pocket.
It’s better to check from the get-go that you have car hire and if you don’t, add it on for a small additional fee. Again, it’s worth it and you’ll be so relieved if you’re ever in a position to need it.
Buying car insurance can be confusing, however we hope that this has helped you out. If you’re interested in getting a car insurance policy that’s easy to understand and even easier to update (like adding car hire) using the insurer’s app, then click here. You’ll also find that with this insurance company your premium will decrease every single month in accordance with the depreciating retail value of your car. This way, your policy is always up-to-date and always fair.
