| Agreed value | You agree with an insurer on how much your car is covered for before you buy a policy. | There's more certainty on exactly how much you're insured for. But you're likely to pay more for the privilege. If car prices are rising, agreed value may still be short of the total cost of replacing your car. |
| Baby capsule/child seat cover | An insurer replaces a damaged or stolen child seat or baby capsule in your car, resulting from the claimable event. | A payout limit, usually around $500, will be set by an insurer. |
| Choice of repairer | You can choose your own licenced repairer after an accident. | In most cases, this benefit needs to be added to a comprehensive policy for a fee. |
| Comprehensive car insurance | Wide-ranging insurance that covers damage to your own car as well as damage to other people, vehicles and property. Typically, it also covers costs caused by fire, storm and hail damage and replacement costs if your car is stolen. | Comprehensive insurance is the highest level of car insurance you can get in Australia. |
| Cover for drivers under 25 years old | Whether you want insurance for an additional driver under the age of 25. | Be sure to shop around for cheaper deals available each year as you get older and gain more driving experience. |
| Emergency accommodation | An insurer pays for the cost of your temporary accommodation if your car can't be driven safely and you can't be taken back to your home. | This benefit is often included in comprehensive policies. You may find it in some third party property, fire and theft policies. |
| Emergency repairs | Protection if you need repairs to drive your car from the scene of an accident. For example, if your headlight is broken. | Insurers tend to cover emergency repairs in comprehensive policies with a payout limit of around $500. |
| Emergency transport | An insurer pays for you and your passengers to be taken to the address where the car is
normally kept at night if your car can't be driven safely. | This benefit is often included in comprehensive policies. You may find it in some third party property, fire and theft policies. |
| Flexible excess options | This policy feature lets you adjust the excess on your car insurance policy. An excess is the amount you need to pay upfront to make a claim. | Policies tend to split their excesses as follows: a basic excess and an under-25 driver excess. |
| Flood cover | A policy benefit that covers flood water damage. | Driving through flood water is likely to be seen as reckless behaviour by an insurer. It means they may refuse your claim. |
| Hire car | Your insurer sorts out a temporary replacement car for you. Or, it pays costs for you to hire one. In this case, the insurer pays up to a daily hire amount such as $70 or $90 for up to 30 days. | A comprehensive policy usually includes car hire cover if your car is stolen. But you'll often pay extra if you want cover for an accident as well, regardless of whether it is your fault. |
| Key replacement | A policy feature that pays costs for the replacement of your keys if they are lost or stolen. It also covers the recoding of locks on your car. | Cover for lost or stolen keys is included in some comprehensive policies. It usually pays up to $1,000. |
| Legal liability | Cover in case you get sued as a result of injury or damage you cause to people or their property. | Most insurers pay up to $20 million in legal liability cover. |
| Lifetime guarantee on authorised repairs | If your vehicle is damaged following an accident, a lifetime guarantee means you don't have to sort out the repairs yourself. Your insurer will make the arrangements for you. | You will most likely find it included in a comprehensive policy. It doesn't usually come as an optional add-on. |
| Market value | Your insurer estimates what your car was worth right before a claim. | Premiums tend to be cheaper if your car is insured under its market value. In general, there's a higher chance you'll be underinsured. |
| Multi-policy discount | A discount an insurer offers you if you hold at least one other policy with them. | Savings usually range from 5–25%. But it isn't always the case you'll get cheaper cover if you hold multiple policies with the same insurer. |
| New car replacement | If your new car is written off within 2 years of you buying it, new car replacement can reimburse you with a new one. | Conditions and limits apply with new car replacement. For example, many insurers will only replace a new car if it has fewer than 40,000km on the clock. |
| No claim discount | A discount you get on your car insurance premium for each year that you don't make a claim. It's also known as a no claim bonus. | Your discount can be as high as 15% if you have no at-fault claims for 5 years. |
| Pay as you drive | An insurer calculates your premium based on the kilometres you actually drive. | If you're on the road a lot less than in previous years, you could access cheaper premiums with a pay-as-you-drive provider. |
| Pay monthly at no extra cost | You can make payments each month, rather than annually, at no extra cost. | Only a few insurers in Australia won't charge you more by paying monthly. So, you can often save by paying your whole premium in one go (if you can afford it). |
| Storms | Storm damage can include thunderstorms, lightning, hail, snow, rainwater runoff and storm surges. | In an insurer's eyes, rain showers on their own aren't usually classed as a storm. |
| Third party car insurance | Entry-level insurance that covers damage you cause to someone else's vehicle or property. | This policy, often referred to as third party property damage (TPPD), won't cover your car; but it could stop you from facing large bills from other people. |
| Third party, fire & theft | Mid-range cover that'll protect you financially for damage to another person's vehicle or property as well as damage to your car resulting from fire or theft. | Third party, fire & theft doesn't cover damage to your car in the event of an accident; for that, you'll need comprehensive car insurance. |
| Towing | An insurer pays for your car to be taken to a mechanic – or a safe place nearby – after an accident (up to a certain distance). | Reasonable towing costs are covered by most comprehensive policies. You won't always be covered on more basic types of insurance. In which case, you'll need to pay a company to tow your vehicle. |
| Trailer cover | A policy benefit that covers a trailer attached to or being towed by your car. | Most insurers won't pay out if a trailer is owned by someone else. Also, they don't typically cover a trailer's contents. |
| Weather events | Covered events can include cyclones, earthquakes, bushfires, storms, floods and hail. | Many comprehensive car insurance policies let you claim for hail damage. Be aware there's usually a waiting period of a few days before you can claim for storms, bushfires, floods or cyclones. |
| Windscreen cover | With windscreen cover in place, your excess gets waived so you're not out of pocket if your car window gets damaged. | You can add excess-free windscreen cover to a comprehensive car insurance policy. This could save you hundreds of dollars if you need to replace your windscreen, which can otherwise cost as much as $1,000. |
| Partner repairer | Your insurer will send your car to a repairer that they have an agreement with. This is sometimes called "preferred repairer". | Keep in mind a partner repairer may not be close to where you live, and they won't necessarily have expertise in repairing your specific vehicle. |
| Personal effects | Cover for your personal belongings if they are stolen or damaged. Personal effects are generally defined as things you can wear or carry such as clothes, laptops and headphones. | Keep an eye on the cover limit per incident. It's often about $500. Also, some insurers include baby capsules as part of their list of personal effects covers. |
| Roadside assistance | A type of insurance that protects you if you get stranded because of an issue with your car. It's also known as breakdown cover. | You can add roadside assistance to some car insurance policies; there are very few insurers who'll include it automatically. A roadside assistance callout won't count as a claim. |
| Underwriter | The company that assesses the risk of providing you with insurance. | Examples of underwriters in Australia include Youi Pty Ltd, Insurance Australia Limited, AAI Limited and The Hollard Insurance Company Pty Ltd. |
Which insurance should I choose if I am not a Australian resident and just hold a working holiday visa?
Hi Arthur,
This really depends on your personal circumstances so I’m limited in what I can suggest here. Being on a working holiday visa is unlikely to affect your ability to get insurance so it’s best to consider how long you need cover for and what kind of cover you’re after then go from there.
Hope this helps.
Hi,
I have read all the information already on the website with regards to short-term insurance and they have given me some insights already – thank you for that information!
I would like to get some things clarified that are relevant to my situation and hope you could help me.
I have my work travel planned next week and seeking available options for my company to consider getting my personal vehicle insured for 2 weeks only. The additional driver will be my colleague and we will use my vehicle as a ‘work car’ for that period.
My car is already insured of course, but it is company travel so I wanted to make it as clear as possible who is paying for what and having that short period insurance on top of my personal insurance.
Is it something that would work?
Hi Hyemi,
That might work. The first thing you can do is ask your insurer if they offer extra cover that you can simply pay for that would be just valid within your business travel. If they can’t offer that type of policy you need, you can ask for advice.
Aside from that, you can also try to get in touch with commercial and business car insurance providers (https://www.finder.com.au/car-insurance-for-business-use). They may be able to give you limited cover for your trip.
Be sure to read through the terms and conditions of your chosen policy to be sure that you have chosen the right one for you.
Regards,
James