Compare Car Insurance Policies
Save time and effort by comparing a range of car insurance quotes with iSelect
Save time and effort by comparing a range of car insurance quotes with iSelect
Compulsory third party (CTP) insurance is required to drive in Australia. It covers injury or death claims, but not car and property damage.
Beyond CTP, there are three common types of car insurance, including comprehensive, third party fire and theft, and third party property.
Consider optional extras like roadside assistance or car hire cover to bulk up your policy. Note that these can increase your premium, so choose wisely!
When making a claim, you may need to pay out of pocket costs called excess, which could include both basic and additional excess, depending on your circumstance.
Putting aside the quirks of different car insurance providers and policies, comparing car insurance in Australia comes down to four categories with varying levels of cover.
Car insurance type | Damage to your car, including accidents, fires, floods and storms | Damage to someone else’s car or property | Damage or loss from theft or attempted theft of your car | Injuries to or death of others |
Compulsory third party (CTP) | No | No | No | Yes |
Third party property (TPP) | No | Yes | No | No (but covered by your CTP) |
Third party fire and theft (TPF&T) | Loss or damage from fire only | Yes | Yes | No (but covered by your CTP) |
Comprehensive | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (but covered by your CTP) |
Regardless of what other cover you choose (or don’t choose), you’ll need to have CTP car insurance if you want to drive in Australia. It’s a legal requirement. With it, you’ll be covered for compensation claims if you injure or kill someone while driving, like loss of income, costs of medical treatments, or funeral expenses. Depending on where you live, you may not be able to claim compensation if you’re at fault. As if you needed another reason to drive safely though.
Handily, if you’ve registered your car in your state or territory, chances are you’ve already got CTP — unless you live in NSW. You’ll need to do a bit of extra legwork to get your CTP (otherwise known as green slip car insurance). This is because there’s a different CTP authority in each state and territory and NSW’s State Insurance Regulatory Authority is the only one who doesn’t slip your CTP insurance into your rego. You can visit the site of your state or territory’s authority by clicking on your location on the map below.
Crashing into someone’s car is the adult equivalent of chucking a footy through your neighbour’s window. Luckily, if you have TPP car insurance, you won’t have to call your parents to come sort it out.
With TPP, you’re covered for damage you do to other people’s cars or property while driving. Whether you crash into a brand-new Jag or the family station wagon, TPP could help you cover the costs.
If you want to dive into specifics though, you might need to check out the product disclosure statement (PDS) for your chosen TPP car insurance policy.
Building on TPP, a TPF&T car insurance policy adds limited cover for your car this time. Typically, it’s only if your car is damaged or lost due to theft or fire though, not for when you have an accident. Depending on your policy, there may be limits or exclusions to this kind of cover. So, it could be worth double-checking the PDS just in case to see exactly what’s up.
While it’s unlikely to cover you for everything under the sun, comprehensive car insurance is where you’re going to find the broadest level of protection. From handling the costs of damages to third party property to getting your car fixed up again after an accident, it could come in handy in a lot of situations.
As with other types of car insurance, the PDS will outline the specifics of the policy for you. This can include cover for getting your hands on a hire car or allowing you to pick your own mechanic for repairs.
While there are a few different types of car insurance in Australia, luckily, they all have some things in common.
Premiums are the amount you pay regularly for your car insurance. They’re decided based on a range of factors like your age, the car you drive, where you live, and your driving (and claiming) history. With a higher level of cover you can typically expect your premium to go up. You could look at lowering your premium though by changing your level of cover or upping your excess.
An excess is how much you pay out of pocket before your car insurance kicks in on a claim. If you have a $500 excess on a comprehensive policy, for instance, you’d need to pay $500 towards getting your car repaired after a crash, then your car insurance provider would pay the rest.
Sometimes you might have to pay two kinds of excess: basic and additional. Basic is the usual excess you’d pay, while additional excess might apply under certain conditions, like if your car was being driven by someone under 21 or who wasn’t listed on your policy when they had an accident. Further, sometimes you might not need to pay any excess at all, but this is usually if it was a no-fault accident.
If your car is ever written-off, your insurance provider needs to know what it was worth in order to pay out the policy (assuming you have that kind of cover). This could either be the agreed value or market value of your car.
Market value is what your car is worth at the time of the claim. To figure it out, your insurer will consider factors like its make, model, age, kilometres driven, and its condition. Agreed value, on the other hand, is a fixed price agreed upon between you and your insurance provider at the time you took out the policy.
Embracing your individuality is a great way to find your own unique personal sense of style; however, following the crowd might be a better idea when it comes to extras on your car insurance.
Popular extras include:
Different insurance providers will offer a range of extras that could get you more value out of your policy. At the same time, though, they may drive up your premium. Therefore, you might like to think carefully about which are must-haves for you rather than nice-to-haves.
If you’re ready to take a car insurance policy for a spin, iSelect is here to help. All you need to do is use our online comparison tool and make comparing a range of policies from different policies easy.
Save time and effort by comparing a range of car insurance quotes with iSelect
Save time and effort by comparing a range of car insurance quotes with iSelect
iSelect does not compare all car insurers or policies in the market. The availability of policies may change from time to time. Not all policies available from iSelect’s providers are compared by iSelect and due to commercial arrangements, area or availability, not all policies compared by iSelect will be available to all customers. Some policies are available only from iSelect’s call centre or website. A number of our participating general insurance brands are arranged by Auto & General Services Pty Ltd ACN 003 617 909 on behalf of Auto & General Insurance Company Limited 111 586 353, both of which are related entities of iSelect Limited. Our relationship with those companies does not impact the integrity of our comparison service. Click here to view iSelect’s range of providers.
iSelect General Pty Limited ABN 90 131 798 126, AFS Licence Number: 334115. Any advice provided by iSelect is of a general nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You need to consider the appropriateness of any information or general advice iSelect gives you, having regard to your personal situation, before acting on iSelect’s advice or purchasing any policy. You should consider iSelect’s Financial Services Guide which provides information about our services and your rights as a client of iSelect. iSelect receives commission for each policy sold that is a percentage of the premium or a flat fee. Ask us for more details before we provide you with any services.