If you drive a car and it is worth something to you then you should be insured. If you are not insured and crash into someone then you could liable for their damages. If you have no money and that car is a Porsche then you could find yourself paying of a debt for the next 10 years. Those wanting to get Car insurance Australia have three basic choices of cover; Comprehensive, Third Party Fire & Theft, and Third Party Property.
Comprehensive insurance is the highest level of cover. Damage done in an accident caused by your car will be paid for by the insurance company as long as you haven’t broken any policy (such as being drunk). Most underwriters in Australia cover $20 million liability cover. Comprehensive insurance can come with features such as replacement of personal items in crash or essential repairs if you need to get going fast.
There are comprehensive insurance policies ranging from no frills to top end where even your pets are covered. You should weigh up what features you need as they make your car insurance more expensive and many of the features included in a standard policy you just won’t need. If you have a car valued at more than $10,000 and want to be covered then you will almost always be forced to get comprehensive insurance, as companies won’t let you take our Third Party Fire & Theft or Third Party Property.
Third Party Property insurance will cover damage that your car does to property that is not owned by you, so your car isn’t covered. This is good cover if you have a car that isn’t worth much but if you have a crash you want to make sure you can pay for any damage you did to anyone else’s property. Insurance companies will usually include towing and storage as features in a third party property policy and some of the better ones include key replacement and personal effect cover, but its slim pickings after that.
The fire and theft part is just to cover stolen goods or if your car is damaged by fire. If you live in a risky area where you have to park on the street, then it might be a good idea to get fire and theft included in your policy. It will cost you a bit extra but it may be worth it as there would be nothing worse than having something important stolen and not be covered. If your car is stolen, then any damage it causes is covered in most cases.
Now that you know a little about car insurance and what type of cover best suits your needs you can go out and get some quotes. Shopping around could save you hundreds and there are over 80 companies offering car insurance Australia to choose from.
