How we calculate car insurance premiums
Calculating car insurance prices involves weighing up a number of things. Some are related to you (the driver), like the kind of car you own, where you live and other personal details that help us figure out your risk of having an accident.
Other factors affect everyone’s premiums equally. Things like more weather events and increased repair costs for high-tech cars. Once we've considered everything carefully, we do our best to keep insurance affordable. Check out the video for more on how we calculate car insurance premiums.
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Personalised premiums
The roads can be a risky place, and as an insurance provider, we need to calculate your risk of having an accident, so we can work out how much you should pay. Factors like past claims and your age, as well as your choice of car and where you live, can help us determine your likelihood of having an accident. That’s why from year to year, what you pay may change.
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Smarter cars
The average car on the road today is a lot smarter than they used to be. With features like lane departure warning, parking sensors, and collision avoidance, they’re easier to drive and most importantly, safer. But these benefits can be costly when it comes to repairs. Not only are parts more expensive but our repairers must be skilled specialists to fix them. These costs can add to insurance premiums.
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Wilder weather
In the last 50 years, New Zealand has experienced over 150 natural disasters and weather events. We’re rated as one of the riskiest countries in the world to insure. Plus, with climate change affecting global weather patterns, we’re likely to see wilder weather more frequently. Insurance companies have insurance too (it’s called reinsurance). As NZ experiences more weather events and disasters, the cost of reinsurance increases and can impact the price of your car insurance.
Choose the right level of cover for you
You can choose from three levels of car insurance cover to suit your needs and budget.
Comprehensive
This policy provides the broadest protection, with cover for accidental loss or damage to your car as well as someone else's car or property.
Learn more
Third Party, Fire and Theft
With this midrange policy, your vehicle will be covered against fire and theft, and you'll be protected if you damage someone else's vehicle or property.
Learn more
Third Party
An economical option which covers you for damage to someone else's car or property. However, you won't have cover for your own vehicle if it gets damaged, lost or stolen.
Learn more
Ways to save
There are a few things you can do to reduce your car insurance premium:
Review your vehicle value as shown on your policy schedule - your car may be worth less than it's currently insured for- Review your eligibility for discounts
- Increase your excess amount (what you pay towards a claim)
- Remove any optional cover you might have
- Reduce type of cover
If you’d like more support on how to reduce your premium, give us a call on 0800 100 200
and our friendly team will go through the options with you.