Consumer Guides > Car insurance - smart ways to save!Car insurance - smart ways to save! Content kindly supplied by consumer.org.nz.
Shopping around and making sure you're not over-insured are two ways you can keep your car insurance bill down. Making sure you get all the discounts you're eligible for is another...
The biggest two are the no-claims discount and an optional higher excess discount.
No-claims discounts
Depending on how many years you've gone without making a claim, a no-claims discount could reduce your premium by 50 percent or even as much as 65 percent. (Discounts don't apply to the government levies attached to premiums.)
Higher excess discounts
Taking a higher optional excess - that part of the repair bill which you pay yourself - can result in discounts of a similar proportion.
Age-related discounts
Discounts for older drivers, usually over 55 or 60, can reach 20 percent, and some companies offer policies exclusively to people over a certain age. You can also do this the other way: agree that you won't let anyone under 25 drive your car, and that too can give you a lower premium - as much as 20 percent less.
Insurance companies are allowed by law to discriminate on the basis of age and gender because they have the statistical evidence to back up their claims that certain groups - younger male drivers, in particular - are a higher risk for them.
Other discounts
Take out home and contents insurance along with the car cover, and you can get a package discount of 10 percent or 20 percent from many companies.
Not all companies offer all discounts. But it is worth asking if you get a discount for keeping your car in a locked garage, and for always using a professionally installed alarm or engine immobiliser.
Finally, making one annual premium payment could save you around 10 percent. Only a handful of insurers allow monthly payments at no extra cost.
Companies all have a minimum premium, and discounts can't be used to drop a premium below this level.
Find the best car insurance at consumer.org.nz!
Our independent analysis of car insurance shows there are big savings to be made. You won't have to sacrifice service either - we've found a few companies with good service records and low premiums.
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