There are several companies in South Africa that offer car insurance coverage. However, before making the final decision you will have to compare car insurance quotes given by different companies. Yes, the quotes will vary from company to company depending on how they assess the different factors that determine the aggregate risk associated with your vehicle. Some of these factors are under your control while the others are not. Before you set out to research and compare car insurance quotes, it is imperative that you know the factors that increase insurance premiums and those that might help premium rates come down. Following are a few tips that will help you make a better decision when comparing car insurance quotes.
Your insurance policy includes various clauses; each one protects different areas of risk that revolve around your car. Here are some of them. You may at times even increase the weightage of one or more of these clauses over the others depending upon the flexibility that your insurance company offers. Following are some of the components that make up your insurance policy.
This clause is for the protection for the third party that might be affected by an accident caused by you. It will cover all or partial costs resulting from the third party’s injury or death.
This clause covers claims for the loss of property caused to a third party that took place because of an accident caused by your fault.
This covers all the bodily injury that occurred to you and to all those present in your car at the time of the accident. The accident could have happened with a third party or might involve any other party at all. Regardless of whose fault it was, your car insurance company will cover all medical expenses incurred to restore you and the passengers back to good health.
Can you imagine your car being hit by someone who does not even have insurance? Such a situation could indeed by nothing less scary than a nightmare. The ‘uninsured third party’ clause in your insurance policy protects you from such hit-and-run drivers. In some states of the U.S up to 30% of car owners do not have insurance. This percentage is way higher in developing countries.
In case your car collides with an inanimate object that is not being driven by any one at the time, the damage caused to your car will be covered by the collision coverage clause. The amount of coverage will depend on the car’s book value and not on the market value. So if your car is old, the recovery money paid by the insurance company will be way less than how much it will actually cost you to fix the car due to inflation.
The more time you have spent driving your car, the more control you are expected to have over the vehicle. Hence, if you are young, your insurance premium might be higher than someone older than you and with more experience.
Experience might not be your strength if you have been the cause of lots of accidents in during your driving history. The same applies for new drivers too. The car insurance company will analyze the frequency with which your accidents happened and how likely you are to get involved in one again. The higher the chances are, the higher the premium.
The state of your car will heavily influence the insurance cost. The more attractive the exterior is, the more likely it is to be stolen or robbed. Whereas, the older it is, the more vulnerable its engine and other parts will become to damage.
Car insurance companies will ask you where you live. Obviously, your neighborhood would be the place that your bike will always be exposed to. If you reside in an area that has a higher than usual crime rate or is subject to harsh weather, the insurance premium is likely to go up. Also, the nature locations that you usually go to such as your workplace and where you park your motorcycle will also affect insurance cost.
Bearing all these factors in mind, compare car insurance rates provided by different companies. You may use to following interface to check out different insurance rates provided by different car insurance companies.