Who do you insure with and why?? (Car)

[jackrose]

It's been a while since I owned a car and we have just purchased a second hand one today (Woot!)

I am a bit bamboozled about car insurance as there seems to be a lot more choice these days since I last looked into it.

Are there any things I should be aware of to make the decision of who to go with easier?

Bundling with house insurance?
Online companies vs traditional companies?
Any pitfalls to be wary of?

Who do you insure with and why??

[Rowellen]

We went with budget because we were with RACQ & they raised the premium a ridiculous amount. So we shopped around & Budget came back about $400 cheaper. We also have our house & contents insurance with budget. I've never had to claim so I don't know what they are like to deal with though.

[Taurean]

I think it's always safe to go with a major so SGIO, QBE, AAMI, etc. We swapped to AAMI earlier this year for all our insurance as their prices were significantly lower than SGIO who we were with at the time.

Definitely shop around, prices vary a lot! 'Youi' seem quite good as they really consider your individual circumstances and they are advertising a lot lately with great rates.

Bundling is good but you don't save much, usually 5 or 10% but often you can get a much bigger discount than that by going elsewhere.

Good luck, it's quite confusing.

[Asparagus and Lemons]

I am with YOUI, I have made 2 claims with them and they are very friendly.. they even sent me a toy garbage truck after I went up the back of one
I am currently still in the middle of claiming from them, it has been slow but that is because the other party ran off but YOUI have tracked him down finally..
Before I had smashed up any of my cars I was paying only $340 for 3rd party fire & theft. Now after 2 smashes I pay $410 a year for third party fire & theft but I get free car hire when my car goes in for repairs and the excess is only $400

must add.. Im an expert at smashes I've only written off 3 cars.. But I've been with AAMI, JUST CARS, COMMINSURE, and YOUI is the best Ive found

[Arimeh]

I am with AAMI for one reason only. (well other than the fact they were one of the cheapest quote). I was the secretary to a solicitor who dealt with personal injury claims - car accidents and the like.

She said that the best insurance company was AAMI. They looked after their customers and were by far the easiest to deal with in terms of starting a claim. That was all I needed to be told. Sometimes its not who is the cheapest, but also how they look after you after you've had an accident that matters.

[Jaycee]

I'm also with AAMI and have unfortunately had to made 2 claims this year, neither at fault, and they were fantastic, highly recommend them!

My only advice is to read the fine print, especially if you are switching your house insurance, I was with REAL for a while until I read their fine print and it basically said in the case of a house fire, if the fault was from anything electrical (drier, heater etc) the claim is voided! Considering a lot of house fires are caused from this kind of thing I changed over quick smart! So definitely read all the fine print!

[Tinks]

Our cars are with CGU because they were really reasonably priced. I've made 1 at fault claim with them and they were fabulous to deal with.