Car Insurance Comparison – Home, Life, Business & Travel Insurance Quotes

Continued from Essential Car Insurance Tips – Part 1

The risk from non-disclosure isn’t solely limited to the original insurance application or phone call. It covers the life of the policy, meaning you should always be honest with the insurance company for as long as you wish to maintain car insurance.

To ensure that your coverage remains valid, remember to notify the insurance company if any of the following points occur or change during the policy period:

• You are convicted of a criminal offence or are charged with a serious crime such as fraud.

• The car storage location changes. A common instance is another car being purchased which takes over the prime storage position in the garage, relegating the insured vehicle to another less secure location.

• The main driver of the car changes. An example would be the husband getting a new job which and is provided with a company car, passing the old car on to his wife or children to use.

• Another person will become a frequent user of the vehicle. Maybe a relative has come to stay for a few months or one of your children gets their licence.

• You receive any traffic infringements, including the smallest of speeding fines.

• Any modifications are made to the vehicle, whether they are performance related or cosmetic. Even a paintjob could make a car more attractive to thieves.

• The car will be stored at a different location, whether you change permanent address or decide to store the car at your friends house for a while.

• Your insurance record changes, such as changes to ongoing activities with other companies for insurance products such as home or employment insurance. This could include having a claim rejected, insurance cancelled or being declined for an insurance application that your car insurer may feel is relevant.

• The car changes from being used predominantly for business to being mainly for personal use, or vice versa. This is common when someone receives or loses a company car, or changes jobs.

• You change jobs. There may be instances where your new job requires you to cart tools or office equipment around, making your car appeal more to thieves and become a greater insurance risk. Also disclose what will be kept in the car, in the event your items are stolen from the vehicle and you need to make a claim

• You change tyres on your car. Although this is a rare occurrence, sometimes the insurance company doesn’t provide cover on certain types of tyres. It’s always better to be safe and check that they are happy with what you have put on.

• Your annual mileage estimate is turning out to be horribly wrong. When getting a new car, it is extremely hard to estimate how many km’s the car will travel each year. But if you estimate 5,000km and halfway through the year you’re already above 10,000km, then make a call to the insurance company and update your estimate.
  

Apart from the disclosure aspect to keep the policy in force, there are a number of general factors to keep in mind as well. Whilst the policy is in place, remember the following points:

• Do not keep a spare set of keys in the car. If the thieves smash a window and break into your car, it will be very easy to steal. You will be deemed responsible to cover the car loss yourself by the insurance company.

• If you leave the vehicle briefly, such as rushing back inside your house to grab something you have forgotten; remember to lock your car and take the keys with you. This can be construed as negligent and the insurance company may have a right not to pay your claim if the car is stolen.

• Keep the car in a roadworthy condition. One commonly overlooked roadworthiness aspect is tyre tread levels. If the tyres go bald, this is a road hazard and your car is more likely to be involved in an accident. Don’t neglect other areas of the car and keep them in a roadworthy condition as well.

• Avoid alcohol and drugs. It goes without saying that driving under the influence is the wrong thing to do, but many people wrongly assume they are ok to drive the morning after a heavy drinking session. Alcohol can take up to a day to be eliminated from the system and drugs even longer. Always make sure you’re in peak physical condition before driving a motor vehicle.

• Don’t let other people drive your car. Although most policies allow an un-nominated driver to take the wheel on the odd occasion, you may run into problems if it turns out your ‘friend’ has had multiple drink-driving offences or has been banned from driving, even if you didn’t know about it.

• Never commit a criminal offence with or whilst using the car. Insurance companies do not have to pay for a claim where the car was being used illegally or for unlawful purposes. This could include driving recklessly at high speed or doing a burnout, or even transporting some hooch in the boot of your car.

• Ensure your registration and licence are up to date and valid at all times. An unpaid registration renewal or speeding fine could result in your licence or registration being suspended, until the outstanding amounts are paid; rendering your insurance temporarily invalid.

One last tip from the buyer’s side of things – Always remember to double check your policy after receiving it in the mail. Even a small typing error or the wrong category being selected could mean your insurance cover is invalid.

Happy motoring and drive safely.

When it comes to car insurance, we all want to save a buck or two and get the best price possible. Unfortunately there are a large number of people willing to overstep the boundary lines and declare false information to the insurance companies, in an attempt to save a few dollars on their premium.

Although it seems as harmless as sneaking food into the cinemas, there is a great risk that in the event of an accident or theft, the insurance company may decline your insurance claim. There is no point in playing Russian roulette with car insurance.

Heavily maligned for rejecting insurance claims, people don’t realise that even a seemingly trivial non-disclosure means a greater risk for the insurance company. They have the right to charge a suitable premium to cover their risks and when they are not fully informed it could result in a loss to their business.

Just as you would like to be informed if a beach you’re swimming at has an extensive history of shark attacks, the insurance company would like to know about all potential risks before they hit the waves.

To prevent a situation occurring where the insurance company may have to decline your insurance claim, it is always better to be honest and disclose all of the necessary information about your situation. Here are a few tips to keep you out of trouble:

• Disclose all criminal convictions, although they might not seem relevant or are embarrassing to reveal.

• Advise them of the correct location at home where the car will be stored; be it locked garage, carport, driveway, front lawn or the roadside kerb. Don’t just say the car is being kept in a locked garage just because you have one. Make sure it will actually be stored there and not on the lawn because the garage is full of boxes or being used as a playroom.

• Put the main driver down as the person who will actually be the main driver of the car, not another person to cover when the main driver is young or inexperienced. When a new car is purchased and insured in an adult’s name with a 17 year old magically put on the policy, its pretty obvious to the insurance companies what is happening. Trying to save a few bucks or trying to get insurance when you don’t qualify is just not worth it.

• Disclose the names of all people who will be driving the car. Do not attempt to avoid putting someone who will knowingly be driving the car on the policy, when you know they have a chequered driving history.

• Reveal every single traffic offence, no matter how minor it is; and disclose all speeding fines, loss of points, licence suspensions and other major incidents. Most people can’t remember their full driving history, so it is always wise to obtain a copy from your local motor licensing department to make sure all traffic offences are disclosed.

• Advise the insurance company of all modifications to the motor vehicle. This should include everything that is not factory standard. Different mods could make the car more attractive to thieves and present a greater theft risk, or they could change the performance or safety of the vehicle and increase the likelihood of an accident. Non-disclosure of modifications is a serious issue for insurance companies and needs to be addressed.

• Check to make sure that the insurance company has the correct car details on file. Some car manufacturers can make between 10-20 versions of the same model car, with small differences such as A/C, electric windows, sports bumpers or extras packages. Advising of the basic no frills purchase rather then your kitted out machine to save some money could be disastrous if the car is written off.

• Declare all of your past insurance history including rejected claims, cancelled insurances and whether you have been declined for insurance.

• Reveal what the vehicle will really be used for and whether it is for business or personal use. This is a category that many people feel they can lie about to get away with a cheaper premium or claiming some of the cost as a tax deduction. But the true use is important, as is knowing what may be carried inside the vehicle if it is used for business purposes.

• Advise the insurance company of your nature of work, regardless of whether the car is predominantly used for business or personal use. Certain jobs may have an effect on the premium even if the car is only being used to drive to and from work.

• Provide the correct address of the main place where the car will be kept. Often people put the address of their friend, relative or one of their investment properties located in a more affluent area, in order to get a cheaper premium. Although the suburb may have less car thefts, if it does occur, you could have a tough time explaining why it was being stored in the suburb it was stolen from.

Many claims have been rightfully rejected due to motorists providing false or misleading information, so always make sure you’re honest and the problems should pass you by. If you try and save a bit of money by not disclosing items such as mods, points or speeding fines, it may cost you a lot more in the long run if you’re caught out. It’s just not worth the risk.

Continued at Essential Car Insurance Tips – Part 2