Car Insurance Recommendation for a Prius

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  CheapAzChips on 29/05/2024 - 21:19

  +1

  We have a Prius and have had an excellent experience so far with Tower. Made a couple of claims (one for accident damage after an encounter with a flying trampoline, another windscreen claim) and they were processed very quickly and fairly. Highly recommended.

• 

  Alan6984 on 29/05/2024 - 23:03

  The excess is pretty much up to you (most will have a minimum, but it is likely to be very low - $250 or $500 say).

  Best option is to try a number of different insurers, make sure you are always comparing like for like, and see what they offer. I'd suggest you get quotes from at least three, and preferably more like half a dozen.

  • 

    desikiwi on 21/08/2024 - 16:22

    250excess who are you with ?

    • 

      Alan6984 on 21/08/2024 - 17:29

      250excess who are you with ?

      Currently Tower, but my comment is more general.

      If you increase your excess you can often reduce your premiums quite a bit, and there is little point insuring the gap between, say, $250 and $1,000 if you can cover an additional $750 loss from your liquid funds.

      Its a cliche (for good reason), but you should generally insure only what you can't cover yourself.

      • 

        desikiwi on 22/08/2024 - 13:10

        I am with ami with 100excess i was looking for alternative options to ami.
        I was not able to see tower with 250 NZD excess online .

        I had many no fault claims 4 were from random people dinging the car at parking lots 1 major no fault but it takes long time to process it for now low excess for worth it even with more premiums

        • 

          Alan6984 on 22/08/2024 - 13:53

          @desikiwi:

          I am with ami with 100excess i was looking for alternative options to ami.

          I was not able to see tower with 250 NZD excess online .

          I had many no fault claims 4 were from random people dinging the car at parking lots 1 major no fault but it takes long time to process it for now low excess for worth it even with more premiums

          Give them a call perhaps - I'm fairly sure we were with AMI a few years ago, and had an excess of $2,000 at the time, which meant we were covered for significant issues, but with very low premiums, plus avoiding the hassle factor of doing a claim for relatively small amounts (as was the insurer of course).

          I guess things might have changed, but I can't see any obvious reason any insurance company would not offer higher excesses and correspondingly lower premiums.

          The only claim I recall making myself in the last ten years or so was a total write-off of my vehicle when it was struck by another party (absolutely no doubt that it was completely their responsibility, so 'no fault' on my part).

          In that case, the excess was irrelevant on my side, as my insurer (pretty sure it was AMI actually) paid me out the agreed value of the vehicle and the other party (through their insurer perhaps, but that's besides the point), had to reimburse my insurer.

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  ace310 on 29/05/2024 - 23:10

  If you have home insurance look at initio. Most likely the cheapest.

  You can try quashed to get some price comparison and do research on it.

• 

  NovaAlpha on 16/08/2024 - 01:08

  +1

  Late reply but I was just looking at renewing my existing car insurance policy. This might help you, refer to the table a few pages down:
  https://www.moneyhub.co.nz/car-insurance.html#bestbuys

  I went with State because they offer windscreen damage protection addon for 3rd party cover (which is what I've got) and there is zero excess required.
  https://www.state.co.nz/blog/driving/all-about-windscreens

  My premium is $234.15 paid annually and my excess is $400. I could probably increase the excess to lower my premium, but meh it's good enough. I only ever get 3rd party because I don't drive my car much (I WFH 99% of the time) and I live so close to work anyway, so there's no point driving. And I drive sensibly, so the risk of me crashing into others is very low, which means that I'd only have to worry about others crashing into me - in which case I hope they'll cover for the damages with either their insurance or their own money if they don't have one. Since the risk of me crashing into others is so low, getting a 3rd party might not even be required, but I kept it just in case I do need to pay for damages that I've caused others.

  I had my windscreen broken into and got it replaced for $250 per glass panel by Novus Glass last year. Prior to moving to State, I was with AMI and 3rd party cover and nothing else. Premium was around $180. With State, I figured that if the windscreen damage addon is only a little bit extra and it is excess free, then might as well add it.

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  curiousb on 28/08/2024 - 16:06

  Is that like a Toyota Aqua, where it gets stolen a lot? If it is, try Westpac. They do a separate excess for theft, so if it gets stolen you pay the higher excess, but anything else it's the lower excess. Keeps the premiums normal.

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  LupinS on 28/08/2024 - 16:49

  Well I for one 100% do NOT recommend Tower.

  Made a claim where the other party was 100% at fault. A year later I'm still arguing about the excess they refuse to waive, because despite having a picture of the car, accident, drivers licence, and passenger (was on a learners) I still apparently haven't "identified" them because I didn't supply a phone number….