7 Ways to manage your Insurance Premium

I recently spoke to a customer about insurance and she asked for an article on how you can manage your insurance. I’d been meaning to share one for a while, so here it is. Please …

Club 4X4 Insurance
Aug 15 2019

I recently spoke to a customer about insurance and she asked for an article on how you can manage your insurance. I’d been meaning to share one for a while, so here it is. Please beware though – some of these may reduce your cover, or increase the amount you pay if you need to claim. In the interest of giving you a full list, I’ve included them anyway.

The key thing here is that it is all about managing your risk – you’ll need to decide what works for you (or not). Most of the items in this list can relate to any insurer, although some are specific to Club 4X4.

While I’ve prioritised these from what I think are the easiest and lowest increased financial risk to the more difficult and potentially more costly, you’ll need to weigh up the cost and benefit to ensure you are getting the best value from your insurance.

1. Multi-policy discount

This is a simple way where you can save additionally by bringing your insurance to one company. By doing so, most insurers will give you up to 10% discount when you hold 3 or more policies with them. At Club 4X4, we’ll apply this discount when you have 2 or more, and we can put everything on a Single Policy too (read more about a single policy with Club 4X4 and the Multi Policy or asset discount here).

2. Take an Age / Driver Restriction

The next easiest way to help reduce your premium is to take an Age / Driver Restriction. This limits who can drive your car, but that certainty for the insurer translates to a smaller premium. For some insurers this will look like a nominated driver policy (where only the nominated drivers can drive the car), and for others it might be an age restriction – (no-one underthe age of X drives the car). At Club4X4, we offer an Age restriction, running in brackets of 5 years up until 35. The higher the age restriction, the more you save. So, for example, you’d see a bigger reduction if you select no one under the age of 30 driving the car than you did if you said no-one under 20. The beauty of our system is that you have flexibility to select a rangeof ages, not just under 25’s!

The catch with this is that you are generally not covered if someone under the age you select drives the car.

3. Review those optional extras

There are a range of optional extras you can take up with most policies, which will increase your cover, but at a cost. This includes things like hire car after theft, free windscreen replacement cover, and sometimes even roadside assistance.

If you need to reduce your premium, it is worth considering whether you could take these off your policy. It will reduce your premium, but beware, you will also reduce the cover you have available, so another one to do a cost benefit analysis on.

Also beware that sometimes you can’t add or reduce these covers mid term, so in some cases you may need to wait until renewal to drop the cover if you decide you don’t need it.

4. Take Laid up cover (Caravans/Camper Trailers etc)

If you’ve got a Camper Trailer or Caravan and want to reduce your premium further, and you know you won’t be taking it away, layup cover is a great choice. Witha Club 4X4 policy, you can choose up to 2 layup periods per year which can help make the most of when you can’t get away.

Please remember though, with this option you are only covered for fire, theft, or a claimable event at the garaging address, not out on the road. You even need to call your insurer for permission if you are going to take the vehicle for a service.

5. Increase your excess

Increasing your excess can be another easy way to reduce your premium, although it does have the effect of increasing the amount you pay if you need to make a claim, and that is why I’ve put it further down the list. Effectively here, you take on more of the risk or potential cost in the case you need to make a claim. It can be beneficial if you don’t have a claim, but it will work out more expensive if you do!

Club 4X4 has a standard $650.00 excess. To help manage your premium though, you can choose an $850, $1,200, or $1,800 excess.

6. Complete Driver training

Completing driver training can be another way to reduce your premiums. It is a great (and fun) way to improve your driving skills and will also reduce your chance of having an accident. I’ve included it down here though because you need to book and pay for a course in most cases to become eligible for the discount.

At Club 4X4, you can save up to 20% by completing accredited offroad 4X4 training or offroad towing training, plus we can get you discounts on the training. Find out more here

7. Become a member of a 4WD Club

Many insurers will offer some kind of discount to certain clubs or groups. Find out which ones and see if you can become a member to save.

Club 4X4 offers an additional 5% discount to those who are members of a 4X4 Club that is affiliated with us. You can find out more about how to access the discount or sign your club up here

I hope you’ve found this useful!

Aiden

Club 4X4 Insurance