Saturday, August 21, 2010

Multi-Car Insurance

If you have two or more cars in your household it could be possible to save money with multi-car insurance. While web doesn't currently offer a comparison of multi-car policies we still want to make our customers aware of all the car insurance options available. So, just what is multiple car insurance and how does it work?

How does multi-car insurance work?
Multi-car insurance allows you to insure more than one vehicle with a single policy. With some providers you may be able to insure as many as five vehicles as long as all of the vehicles are registered to the same address. This means that you could potentially insure cars on the same policy for you, your spouse, your children, or even a friend, as long as you live in the same household.

In theory a multi-car insurance policy can help you save money. This is because you are effectively bringing more business to the insurer and simplifying the bills - just as a broadband provider might reward you with savings if you tie in a phone or TV deal, multi-car insurance applies the same theory to vehicles. It's almost like buying insurance in bulk.It doesn't always work out cheaper than buying policies individually however, so it's worth investigating both options.
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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Score a bonus offer with your car insurer

That offer a discount for purchasing car insurance online. However there are other companies that have started offering more. RateCity shows you some of the perks currently available.

Times are a-changing, so much so that even purchasing car insurance is no longer a dull experience. Gone are the days of buying your car insurance and then not thinking about it till you have an accident or you need to renew it. As new players from a range of sectors other than just insurance companies join the car insurance market, some are offering perks to entice customers to take up their product and service. Not only does this differentiate them from competitors but it also means that you as a customer get more for your buck! Here are some examples.

Coles Car Insurance
At the end of July the retail giant Coles expanded their business to offer car insurance nationwide. As part of their offering, customers who purchase Coles Car Insurance can triple their 4 cents per litre fuel voucher once a month for a year. In addition, if customers who take out comprehensive car insurance are involved in a car accident, their groceries in the car will be insured. You can also earn Flybuys points when you purchase a policy.

Virgin Money
Another new player in the market is Virgin Money. They are offering new customers who buy comprehensive cover online a free extra month of insurance cover, so they get 13 months for the price of 12. They are also offering their current Virgin mobile phone users a bonus $50 worth of mobile phone credit when they sign up for Virgin Car insurance.

AAMI
These guys have taken a different approach by offering their customers discount shopping. Their 'always on sale' section on their website offers customers up to 70 percent off select items each month. For example currently they are advertising a Wi-Fi Internet radio unit with an RRP of $199 for $171.

Budget Direct
Budget Direct is not shy with promoting a competitive edge and have included as part of their policy that you pay less with them or they will send you $50.

Real Insurance
These guys are offering money back to customers that take out comprehensive car insurance with them for three years in a row, at which point they will give you back 10 percent of all premiums you paid during that time if you don't make a claim. They also will repeat this every three years.

As other car insurance companies join the market and more offers are being promoted, what does this mean for the future of car insurance? Will we start to see more perks become available to new customers? Let's hope so! And in the mean time if you are in the market for comprehensive car insurance, compare car insurance quotes online to find a lower premium and perks to save you more.
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It costs more to insure your car in Sydney than Melbourne

RateCity's study on Melbourne comprehensive car insurance premiums could encourage you to compare now before you renew your next policy.

When it comes to comprehensive car insurance, almost everyone could be charged a different price. The amount we pay can be determined by our age, the type of car we drive, our driving history and where we live. But the insurance company we decide to trust with our policy is another variable. So when it comes to finding the right provider, does it really pay to compare online?

RateCity recently put the spotlight on Melbourne, as part of its bi-annual review on comprehensive car insurance, which showed that Melbourne drivers could be paying $1000 more on average for their comprehensive car insurance.

The average cost for Melbourne drivers in the study was $960, which is $174 less than Sydney's average cost of comprehensive car insurance ($1134) for the same driver profile across four different suburbs.
The Melbourne study compared 26 car insurance companies across four different suburbs in Melbourne (Doncaster, Seddon, Meadow Heights and Caulfield) with the following results:

Meadow Heights paid the highest premium overall with an average cost of $1082.72. It also included the biggest gap between the lowest and highest cost of cover of almost $1500 or 71 percent difference.
Drivers in Doncaster paid the lowest for their comprehensive car insurance, at an average of $906.04. The difference between the cheapest and most expensive premiums was $800.10.
The cheapest premiums were all from online-based businesses including Bingle, Budget Direct, Youi and The Buzz.
The most expensive quotes were from some of the biggest players in the market including AON, Suncorp, CGU and St George Bank.
"It is hard to understand how the difference in price for the identical driver profile with the same address can have such varying degrees of car insurance quotes," RateCity CEO Damian Smith said.
"But what this means is that there is a lot of money to be saved by most drivers and the easiest way to get the best deals is by shopping around and comparing car insurance online."
Smith said features and services may vary between insurance providers so make sure you read the product disclosure statements carefully before signing up.

"There are obviously many other features besides price that drivers should think about, and we encourage drivers to look closely at all aspects of an insurer's offering," Smith said.

So whether you live in Melbourne or Sydney or any other part of Australia, there is a lot of money you can potentially save by comparing car insurance online.
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