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Comprehensive Car Insurance can help cover the cost of repairs to your vehicle in the event of accidental damage, malicious damage, theft, fire, hail, and third-party damage – regardless of whose fault it is.1
Generally, Comprehensive Car Insurance can help cover the cost of repairing or replacing your car in the event of collision, accidental damage or weather damage.
This type of add-on typically allows you to repair or replace your windows or windscreen when damaged once a year without paying an excess or for a reduced excess.
If you get into trouble, this could help with things like towing, lost keys, or dead batteries. Before you get stranded on the side of the road, make sure you understand what your policy does and doesn’t cover in this area. This can be found in the terms and conditions of your cover.
If you are without your car during a claim, your policy might cover a hire car so you can still get around while you wait up to the timeframes allowed.
This could include the ability to choose from an agreed value or market value if your vehicle is totalled or stolen and not recovered
Compulsory Third Party insurance is, well, compulsory. Any further insurance coverage you take out in addition is entirely up to you. Before you compare Car Insurance, you should know the types of Car Insurance available.
There are four types of Car Insurance in Australia:
How much insurance you have is up to you. It’s important to remember that if you find yourself involved in an incident, taking out a Comprehensive Car Insurance policy could save you a lot of money in the event of an incident occurring1.
Source:
1. moneysmart.gov.au - Comprehensive insurance
Yes. Although it pays to read your Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) so that you’ll know which events are covered, most Comprehensive policies will cover the costs if your car gets stolen or someone vandalises it.
This can be especially important since car theft is more common in Australia than you might think—from the 1st of July 2020 to the 30th of June 2021, there were 47,803 registered vehicles stolen in Australia1.
Source:
1. carsafe - Theft Watch
This can vary from policy to policy. Again, the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) will outline the specific events that are insured by the policy.
With this in mind, a Comprehensive Car insurance policy may cover you for damage1 caused by:
Your policy might not be limited to just these events, either. It could also cover you for damage caused by trees or falling branches, or collisions with stationary objects, such as utility poles. If you have concerns about whether or not a specific incident is covered—and it is not mentioned by the PDS—it’s best to contact the insurer and ask them directly.
Source:
1. Budget Direct - What car insurance covers
When shopping for a Comprehensive Car Insurance quote, be on the lookout for exclusions. In many cases, exclusions to Comprehensive Car Insurance policies are common sense things like:
Other exclusions may apply to your vehicle and its condition. Exclusions in this category include:
There are other exclusions that might apply to your policy – in fact the exclusions section of your policy will likely be pages long. But grab a cuppa and read it all, because you’re ultimately responsible for understanding the Product Disclosure Statement, which outlines the specifics of your policy.
Sources:
1. DrinkWise - Safe drink driving? There’s no such thing.
2. VicRoads - Penalties
Generally speaking, Comprehensive insurance costs more than other types of car insurance. This is because it covers your vehicle for a wider range of incidents than third party cover.
Of course, a range of factors also make up the cost of your policy. Insurers use complicated algorithms that are impossible to debunk completely, but we can share some of the common factors that could come into play. These include1:
While some of these factors might be out of your control, there are things you can do that could lower your premium. Other than getting older, keeping accident-free is the best way to help keep your monthly costs lower.
Source:
1. moneysmart.gov.au - Choose car insurance
This depends on your insurance provider and the terms of your cover. With that being said, it is quite common 1, 2 for car insurance—including comprehensive car insurance—to let you list two or more people on a policy.
In these cases, the person who drives the car the most often will usually be regarded as its regular driver. Their driving record might also be used to calculate the insurance premium.
Insurers can also differ as to whether they cover unlisted drivers. Some insurers may cover the damages if someone who isn’t covered by your policy drives your car and ends up in an accident. But this is typically restricted to certain conditions3 (e.g. if the driver is under 25) and you will usually need to pay an unlisted driver excess.
Sources:
1. Budget Direct - Insuring your car
2. pd.com.au - Car FAQ
3. Virgin Money - Car Insurance Premium, Excess and Discount Guide, p7
While many insurers offer coverage for learner drivers on Comprehensive Car insurance, this ultimately depends on the specific policy’s terms and conditions.
You might also choose to get coverage in one of the following ways1:
Source:
1. Budget Direct - Insuring your car
This depends on the terms and conditions of your Comprehensive insurance policy. What gets covered and how much gets covered will usually be detailed in the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), too.
Some policies 1, 2 will define your personal effects as items which are designed to be worn and carried and so will be included in your policy, items like: jewellery, mobile phones, clothing —so long as they’re inside your car when they get damaged or stolen. Things like cheques, money and credit cards aren’t usually covered, so be sure to keep them safe!
Sources:
1. Virgin Money - Virgin Car Inusrance Price Promise, p3
2. Budget Direct - Car Insurance PDS, p2
First of all, whether the insurer pays for a hire car at all will depend on whether you have taken out a policy (or the necessary extras) to cover this.
Even then, there will usually be some kinds of restrictions in place. It’s unfortunate, but very few insurers are going to let you drive a Ferrari around while you wait for your car to be repaired or replaced!
Instead, one of the following 1, 2 may happen:
However, the way this process unfolds will depend on your insurer, so be sure to read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for your policy so you can understand when you’ll be eligible for a hire car and how the insurer will provide one.
Sources:
1. Virgin Money - Virgin Car Inusrance Price Promise, p34
2. Budget Direct - Car Insurance PDS, p8