01.Introduction
Our review explains why you should always challenge your car insurance premiums at renewal time and how switching insurers can save you a bundle.
Here, we compare 44 comprehensive car insurance policies with value-based recommendations.
We've performed in-depth research into car insurance products including:
• scouring the terms and conditions for benefit limits, traps and exclusions
• surveying insurers for further details where possible
• premium price analysis
Car insurance is becoming increasingly complex. There are a multitude of cover options, and plenty of discounts on offer if you know where to look. However, with so many insurers in the market, most people simply don't have the time to research the entire market and perform a proper comparison.
That's why in this report we present you with a range of value-based recommendations for five scenarios, organised into separate comparison tables for each state and territory, so you can compare car insurance policies side-by-side as well as tips and strategies for finding the best car insurance for your situation.
Review the scenarios, then go to the table for your state or territory to get started:
CHOICE's experts independently test a wide range of products and services to bring you unbiased reviews, product comparison tools and buying advice that is trusted by 140,000+ members.
Get access to all
CHOICE benefits.
$1.91
/week
*Billed quarterly
Purchase this
single report.
$20
Car insurance providers compared
• 1300Insurance
• AAMI
• APIA
• GIO
• Suncorp
• Resilium
• JCI
• Bingle
• Allianz
• AON
• Bendigo Bank
• Budget Direct
• Bupa/HBA
• CGU
• Coles
• Kmart
• HBF
• NRMA
• NRMA QLD
• SGIC
• SGIO
• People's Choice
• Progressive
• RAA Insurance
• RAC
• Real Insurance
• StGeorge
• COTA
• Youi
• QBE
• Elders
• Shannons
• RACQ
• TIO
• CommInsure
• IMB
• Westpac
• RACV
• Real Insurance PAYD
Declined
The following insurers declined to be involved: 1Cover, Australia Post, Australian Seniors Insurance Agency, Bankwest, GE Money, NAB, ANZ’s Onepath, RACT and Woolworths.
How we survey
We collate quotes for five distinct scenarios and product features of 44 comprehensive motor insurance policies across all states and territories.
To review and rank the policies, we analyse the product coverage and establish specific levels of cover, or benchmarks, for product features for each scenario. Insurers that do not meet benchmarks we deem especially important are excluded for that scenario, and the remaining policies are given a weighting for other important features for which they don’t provide top cover. The weightings are then added to the premium for that policy, and policies are ranked lowest to highest (1 to 5) for each scenario in each state.
This method ensures that as long as the insurer provides the essentials, the cost of premiums are the major decisive factor in our review.
Where are the premium prices?
Car insurance is risk rated, which means the premiums are calculated on a number of factors - from your driving history to the street you live in. Insurers are also tending to consider increasingly specific details when calculating your premium, such as how far you drive and even the colour of your car. We look at thousands of premiums across the scenarios to establish trends, but printing them would only be confusing and to no real benefit. Prices also tend to change without warning. For this reason, it's best to use the recommendations as a guide and then get your own personalised quote from an insurer before deciding on car insurance.
Want more?
Get access to our independent testing reports and save yourself time and money.
28 May 2012
|
We review 73 home and contents insurance products from 40 different brands right across Australia.
31 Jan 2013
|
Premium hikes over the last year have often come with the addition of mandatory flood cover, but it’s not clear flood risk has anything to do with it.
2 Dec 2012
|
We review 22 brands of travel insurance and 89 policies in total - Asia, Europe and Worldwide policies have all been reviewed.
13 Dec 2011
|
Many gold and platinum credit cards offer travel insurance, but the cover can vary.
16 Mar 2010
|
We review term life insurance policies from 20 providers and policies from 10 large industry super funds.
18 Apr 2011
|
CHOICE scrutinised the contracts of some of Australia's largest car rental companies - and found plenty to be concerned about.
26 Mar 2013
|
We've tested 17 apps for iPhone, Android and Windows, priced from $0-70 to guide your decision.
11 Mar 2013
|
We've tested nine of the latest car GPS units, priced from $129 to $449.
12 Feb 2013
|
This small SUV packs in the features, but could it also do with a little more grunt? CHOICE members the Shepherdsons take a test drive.
