Car Insurance Renewal

Time for your car insurance renewal? Here’s everything you need to know.

If your car insurance policy is set to expire soon, it's a good time to think about renewing.

Whether you’re looking for a better deal or thinking about how you can renew, we’ve made an easy guide to navigate the important details.

How to renew your car insurance

You’ll likely get a renewal notice a few weeks before your policy is due to end. How you go about renewing policy will depend on the options available with your insurer and how you originally took out cover.

  • Auto renewal. Your policy will automatically continue after the current policy period. This means you won’t have to do anything and your premiums will continue to be directly debited.
  • Online. Most insurers allow you the option of renewing your policy through a member portal or through a direct process where you enter your policy number, post code and banking details.
  • Phone. If you prefer to speak to a person, many providers have representatives that can help you renew your policy over the phone.
  • BPAY. Your renewal notice will generally include your insurers biller code and reference, which you can use to pay with online banking.

What to do before renewing your car insurance

You’re going to want to find out how much your premiums are going up before you decide to renew.

Depending on the type and age of your car, your claims history, and whether or not you have a no claims discount, your new premium could be a lot more expensive than you expected. If you no longer feel like you’re getting the best bang for your buck, it might be time to find a new provider.

Our research found that there was a variation in average annual costs of almost $400 for comprehensive car insurance when looking at 37 different Australian insurers. Finding a good deal can save you a lot of money, but it’s important to understand what your current policy covers so you can easily compare apples to apples when you shop around.

What to do if your renewal has been declined

If you’ve missed premium payments or violated the terms of your car insurance policy, there’s a chance your renewal will be declined. In that case, you have a few options to help you get coverage:

  • Contact your insurer to understand the specific reason you’ve been refused. If it’s something correctable like your payment or claims history, see if there’s a way to address these concerns and potentially renegotiate reinstatement.
  • Shop around for a new car insurance policy from other providers. Even if your current insurer has declined your renewal, others may still offer you coverage.
  • Improving your risk profile can be done by doing things like changing your driving behaviour, parking your vehicle in a safer location, or removing other listed drivers from your policy, especially if they’re younger or most risk prone.
  • Talk to a professional like a insurance broker or agent if you need further help in finding new coverage.

Compare and switch

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Finder Score Roadside assistance Accidental damage Storm Choice of repairer Agreed or Market Value
Finder Score
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Agreed or Market
Summary: A great value policy with exceptional customer service. Youi won the 2024 Finder Award for Customer Satisfaction. It scored highly for features and benefits, customer service and reliability. It also automatically includes roadside assistance with comprehensive policies in its price - a feature that typically costs upwards of $90 per year.
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Agreed
Get 10% off the base premium for the first 2 consecutive monthly policies and up to a 15% potential monthly discount from your 3rd month for being a safer driver. Minimum premiums may apply. T&Cs apply.
Summary: One of the most cost-effective insurers for under 25s, according to Finder research, with no aged-based excess.

Who it might be good for: Young drivers looking to keep costs down and anyone who’d like to get more flexibility from their car insurance.
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Receive 15% off your first year's premium when you purchase cover online. T&Cs apply.
Summary: Budget Direct Comprehensive is highly commended as a feature-packed car insurance. It's cheaper than most, plus you can lower costs by adding age restrictions.

Who it might be good for: Anyone who wants a good value policy.
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Coles logo
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Agreed or Market
Save 15% off your first year’s premium when you take out a new Coles Car Insurance policy online. T&Cs apply.
Summary: Coles Comprehensive Car Insurance includes the benefits you'd expect, plus features like grocery replacement (up to $200 if damaged or stolen. T&C's apply).

Who it might be good for: Those who want great quality cover and more rewards with Flybuys.
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Qantas Car Insurance logo
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Agreed or Market
Earn up to 40,000 Qantas Points with every car insurance policy. Ends 28 Jan 2026. Plus save 15% on your 1st year’s premium when you purchase online. T&Cs apply.
Summary: You need car insurance so why not get one that lets you earn Qantas Points? It's good value too (it's underwritten by the same insurer as Budget Direct).

Who it might be good for: People who want more bang for their buck with Qantas Points.
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ING logo
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Optional
Agreed or Market
Save 15% on your first year’s premium when you buy a new ING comprehensive car insurance online. T&Cs apply.
Summary: A policy with high benefit limits included as standard with plenty of optional add-ons.

Who it might be good for: Drivers who like the ability to tailor their cover with lots of optional extras like windscreen damage and roadside assistance.
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Kogan logo
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Agreed or Market
Up to 10% off your first year's premium when you apply online and $10 monthly Kogan credit (valid on $100+ purchases) for active policyholders. Black Friday deal: Get 12 months Complimentary Roadside Assist. T&Cs apply.
Summary: Kogan comes with all the perks that most comprehensive car insurance policies include, but you’ll also be entitled to some benefits from its online store. This usually comes in the form of a gift voucher or discount if you buy online.

Who it might be good for: Kogan shoppers and those after a good range of policy options.
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Australian Seniors logo
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Agreed
Save 5% on your first year's car insurance premium by holding a valid Seniors Card. T&Cs apply.
Finder’s summary: Australian Seniors’ comprehensive policy includes complimentary hire car for a stolen car, up to $1,000 for a damaged trailer or caravan, up to $500 for emergency travel and accommodation cover.

Who it might be good for: People over 50 years old looking for flexible cover options.
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Bingle logo
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Market
Summary: Our data shows it’s the cheapest comprehensive policy. It just covers the basics such as damage to your car, theft and storms – it doesn’t go in for add-ons and extras.

Who it might be good for: Those wanting a low-cost, no-frills policy.
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Huddle logo
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Agreed or Market
Summary: Huddle's comprehensive policy will cover you if your vehicle is damaged or lost as a result of a collision, a natural event, a malicious act, theft or fire. It also includes up to $500 for essential repairs.

Who it might be good for: Someone who drives less than 15,000 km a year can opt for Pay As You Drive cover.
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Real logo
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Agreed
Summary: Real Comprehensive Car Insurance provides similar coverage to other insurers for the important stuff like looking after your car if it's stolen or you crash. It's also one of the few insurers who offer a Pay As You Drive policy, so you might be able to save big if you don't drive much.

Who it might be good for: Those that don't drive much can take advantage of its Pay As You Drive policy.
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QBE logo
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Agreed or Market
Save $75 when you purchase a new comprehensive policy online. T&Cs apply.
Who it might be good for: Those who want a trustworthy insurer and more cover than other brands, such as 3-year new car replacement (e.g. they'll give you money for a new car for up to 3 years if yours is written off).
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Finder Score for car insurance

We analyse over 30 car insurance products across insurance providers, and rate each one for price and features. We collect up to 36 quotes per product, for male and female drivers in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia. Quotes are collected for 20 year olds, 30 year olds and 60 year olds, assuming an excess of $850 for a 2020 Toyota Corolla 4 door sedan model, with an average 15,000 kms driven each year. We use your responses to our quiz to pair you with the closest price profile and while we are not allowed to display actual quotes, our price score aims to serve as an indicative guide to how cost competitive a product might be for you.

Our feature score assesses each product for more than 15 features across loss and damage coverage, repairs and assistance coverage, personal items coverage and policy coverage. Features we assess include but are not limited to legal liability, essential repairs, new car replacement, car hire events, roadside assistance, agreed or market value, windscreen damage and natural disaster coverage.

Depending on your answers to our car insurance quiz, we upweight the relevant price score or feature score to generate a dynamic Finder Score (80% weighting on the primary selection between Price or Feature). Finder Score, Price Score and Feature Score are only to be used as indicative guides and are not product recommendations.

Read the full methodology

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Cameron Thach's headshot
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With a background in writing across education, Web3, and finance, Cameron’s mission is to create content that speaks directly to readers in a way that’s easy to understand, helping them navigate complex topics with confidence. Cameron studied a Bachelor of Commerce, Economics and Marketing at Macquarie University, graduating in 2019. See full bio

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2 Responses

    Default Gravatar
    susanOctober 20, 2021

    My son’s car renewal insurance has been declined, is there another insurer we can use for insurance.

      James Martin's headshotFinder
      JamesNovember 10, 2021Finder

      Hi Susan,

      I’m sorry to hear that.

      You can compare a range of insurance providers here.

      Before applying, please remind your son to read a policy’s Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) so that he’s aware of what he’s covered for, along with any exclusions or restrictions.

      I hope this helps.

      Regards,
      James

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