Help me understand Car Insurance

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joker08

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I drive an 8 year old Etios which has a market value of R75000. I have a third party insurance for which I pay R111.
I want to get comprehensive insurance but they ask for R650 and its too expensive for this cheap car.
I am willing to risk and pay for any damages that happen in an accident because from what I read and learnt so far is most of the times its a pain to get the money from most insurance companies.
But I want someone to fight for me in court and recover whatever possible from the other party IF they are responsible. I am ready to wait for the money. Is there anyway I can do this ?
Or I just get the cheapest insurance with a big excess ? But How does excess amount work ? so say the excess is R10000 and the damage is R5000 do I still pay the insurance company R10000 ?
 
Your fully comprehensive insurance for that car should be about R350-R450 for that car so you’ve just been going to terrible places for quotes.

Or you’ve only just gotten your license or you are very your or both.

You never go and chase the money from insurers yourself, that’s the entire point of comprehensive insurance.

You pay the excess and they do the fighting for you and if they win you get your excess back.

And if you are paying more than R2500 for the excess you are doing it wrong.

And no of the damage is R5000 and the excess is an insane R10000 (never ever accept such a deal) then you simply don’t claim and pay it out of pocket.

You can also just do an excess waiver where you can essentially pay a little for it every month so as not to pay it.

If you claim the premium is too much ask yourself If you have R75,000 in the bank to cover a complete loss. I’m betting the answer is a hell no. It’s not worth the risk.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Your fully comprehensive insurance for that car should be about R350-R450 for that car so you’ve just been going to terrible places for quotes.

Or you’ve only just gotten your license or you are very your or both.

You never go and chase the money from insurers yourself, that’s the entire point of comprehensive insurance.

You pay the excess and they do the fighting for you and if they win you get your excess back.

And if you are paying more than R2500 for the excess you are doing it wrong.

And no of the damage is R5000 and the excess is an insane R10000 (never ever accept such a deal) then you simply don’t claim and pay it out of pocket.

You can also just do an excess waiver where you can essentially pay a little for it every month so as not to pay it.

If you claim the premium is too much ask yourself If you have R75,000 in the bank to cover a complete loss. I’m betting the answer is a hell no. It’s not worth the risk.
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I always called the insurance companies for quotes.
I am not a new driver, but SA license is 2.5 years old. Never had comprehensive cover or a loan or credit card in SA so dont have a credit history.
Say in the event of an accident I pay for my repairs instead of claiming insurance then I won't get my money back.
I just want someone to fight the case for me and bring me back some of the money I used for repairs.

I think I will see a insurance broker. R350 a month is something I will definitely agree to pay for my peace of mind.
 
joker08 said:
I drive an 8 year old Etios which has a market value of R75000. I have a third party insurance for which I pay R111.
I want to get comprehensive insurance but they ask for R650 and its too expensive for this cheap car.
I am willing to risk and pay for any damages that happen in an accident because from what I read and learnt so far is most of the times its a pain to get the money from most insurance companies.
But I want someone to fight for me in court and recover whatever possible from the other party IF they are responsible. I am ready to wait for the money. Is there anyway I can do this ?
Or I just get the cheapest insurance with a big excess ? But How does excess amount work ? so say the excess is R10000 and the damage is R5000 do I still pay the insurance company R10000 ?
Click to expand...
Please do yourself a favour a work through a reputable broker.
 
joker08 said:
I always called the insurance companies for quotes.
I am not a new driver, but SA license is 2.5 years old. Never had comprehensive cover or a loan or credit card in SA so dont have a credit history.
Say in the event of an accident I pay for my repairs instead of claiming insurance then I won't get my money back.
I just want someone to fight the case for me and bring me back some of the money I used for repairs.

I think I will see a insurance broker. R350 a month is something I will definitely agree to pay for my peace of mind.
Click to expand...

You can’t have it both ways.

They will fight for you...if you pay them.
 
Try Legalwise for legal cover, if you want some to fight for you in court
 
joker08 said:
But I want someone to fight for me in court and recover whatever possible from the other party IF they are responsible. I am ready to wait for the money. Is there anyway I can do this ?
Click to expand...

The best way to do this is to have fully comprehensive insurance.
 
joker08 said:
But How does excess amount work ? so say the excess is R10000 and the damage is R5000 do I still pay the insurance company R10000 ?
Click to expand...

No, if the damage is less than the excess, pay out of pocket.
Panel beaters will prolly give you a better price

Also, in 35 years, 5 accidents and 3 insurance companies .... the chance of getting the excess paid by you back is pretty slim.
My last insurer in SA, Discovery - after an accident, I recovered the excess myself.

Whatever insurance you get. Remember come year end the cnuts try and increase your premium. Tell em to f off. Your car has decreased in value so you pay less.
Click to expand...

This .... excellent advice.
 
dont both.... personal experience with a broker and numerous insurance companies... they do not bother going after those whom impacted you. They look at the viability of the person being able to pay you back and they simply write it off. Legal costs etc outweighs the cost to pursue repayment. Save your money and keep it for a rainy day. Even the vendors they use to repair ---> "oh look, insurance claim, lets add 500% ontop of our normal rates".
 
berrypi said:
dont both.... personal experience with a broker and numerous insurance companies... they do not bother going after those whom impacted you. They look at the viability of the person being able to pay you back and they simply write it off. Legal costs etc outweighs the cost to pursue repayment. Save your money and keep it for a rainy day. Even the vendors they use to repair ---> "oh look, insurance claim, lets add 500% ontop of our normal rates".
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But at least your damage has been fixed and repaired. If you were on your own and tried going after the same example you'd be out of pocket on lawyer cost and repair costs...........
 
Ive been with Naked insurance for 3 years now, have not had to claim, but their quote was 75% of what I was paying and what others charged, and now with lockdown I pay a super low premium for stationary cover.

It is a lot easier than the Take CTRL app, attempted to get a quote from them about a year ago, but so many questions!

Anyway here is my referral link for Naked insure : https://app.naked.insure/4xtxenMpP6

With Miway Ive had one accident's excess recovered, the people in two other claims just 'disappear' and they give up after 3 years, so YMMV if the issue here is the recovery of excess.

Any claim less than excess should be handled privately.
 
HibiscusTunes said:
Ive been with Naked insurance for 3 years now, have not had to claim, but their quote was 75% of what I was paying and what others charged, and now with lockdown I pay a super low premium for stationary cover.

It is a lot easier than the Take CTRL app, attempted to get a quote from them about a year ago, but so many questions!

Anyway here is my referral link for Naked insure : https://app.naked.insure/4xtxenMpP6

With Miway Ive had one accident's excess recovered, the people in two other claims just 'disappear' and they give up after 3 years, so YMMV if the issue here is the recovery of excess.

Any claim less than excess should be handled privately.
Click to expand...

This. Just download and try the Naked app. They were significantly cheaper and much nicer to deal with (no humans lol). Have heard nothing but good things about them - think there was a thread on here about a young dude who’s hot hatch got written off the day he picked it up or something and they sorted him out with no hassle.
 
HibiscusTunes said:
Ive been with Naked insurance for 3 years now, have not had to claim, but their quote was 75% of what I was paying and what others charged, and now with lockdown I pay a super low premium for stationary cover.

It is a lot easier than the Take CTRL app, attempted to get a quote from them about a year ago, but so many questions!

Anyway here is my referral link for Naked insure : https://app.naked.insure/4xtxenMpP6

With Miway Ive had one accident's excess recovered, the people in two other claims just 'disappear' and they give up after 3 years, so YMMV if the issue here is the recovery of excess.

Any claim less than excess should be handled privately.
Click to expand...
naked quoted me R650 premium for a R70000 car. I guess because I dont have a insurance history. I only have third party.
 
joker08 said:
naked quoted me R650 premium for a R70000 car. I guess because I dont have a insurance history. I only have third party.
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Yeah, unfortunately if you don’t have insurance history (even as a driver on someone else’s policy), you’re going to get nailed the first time you get comprehensive. More so the younger you are. Unfortunately, the car being cheap doesn’t really matter - it’s you, the driver, that’s jacking up the premiums.
 
Naked has extended their additional 'lockdown' stationary savings for another 3 months. Currenlty only paying ~15% of my normal comprehensive cover for stationary cover. Easy to switch it on and off in the app.
 
Spliffcat said:
Whatever insurance you get. Remember come year end the cnuts try and increase your premium. Tell em to f off. Your car has decreased in value so you pay less.
Click to expand...

This is true.
But........
The prices of parts to repair the car, the labour costs and the price of materials such as paint increase due to Rand values and inflation so the costs for a repair job has to be factored into the price of the premium. Since there are far more claims for repairs than write offs, the value is off lesser risk.
 
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