Insurance can be a grudge monthly payment to some people but it's vital to keep yourself covered for everyday hazardous driving, acts of God and even when your vehicle is parked too. However, there are different types of insurance, and in this article, we'll be discussing comprehensive insurance.
Related: What is car insurance excess?
Here's our insurance Q&A here.
What is Comprehensive Insurance, and what does it cover?
As the name states, comprehensive insurance is a comprehensive policy that covers you for a wide range of risks, from accidental damage, riot damage, acts of God like hail damage, theft and more, depending on which company you take a policy with. Comprehensive insurance allows you to claim for damage repair and even to replace your whole vehicle. Some insurance companies offer extra add-ons depending on what you want to cover, such as scratch and dent cover, tyre and rim guard, vehicle tracking, and much more.
Comprehensive insurance can also cover damage to someone else's vehicle in the event of a collision with your vehicle and vehicle contents that are insurable, like vehicle extras such as aftermarket wheels. Do note that if you are negligent, insurance will not pay out. For example, if you were driving under the influence and involved in an accident, your insurer will not pay out.
Do you really need comprehensive insurance?
This depends on your financial situation, type of vehicle, and exactly what you want to cover. If you can get it, though, we implore you to do so. The benefits of comprehensive insurance are that it's all-inclusive, meaning you can claim for damage caused to your car due to accidents, natural disasters, vandalism, theft and more events which may relate to your circumstances. If any of those events happen, comprehensive insurance generally pays out for many damages to cover you from a hefty bill. You have complete peace of mind when you have comprehensive insurance provided you follow the insurance prerequisites like a maintained vehicle and factors that can potentially cancel your insurance policy like negligence.
Is Comprehensive Insurance expensive?
In South Africa, insurers assess your insurance's cost through a 'Risk Profile'. Using this method, insurers will determine how much you'll be paying for comprehensive insurance. Insurance companies don't know who you are, how and what you drive. In order for them to develop a risk profile, they need quantifiable descriptors. To put it simply, a risk profile measures expected losses, such as what it will cost to replace your vehicle in the event of a total loss (Like in the events listed above). This measure is for a defined period and is based on different types of historical data like what total losses have been encountered, the number of losses, what's the average loss size, and payout patterns for whenever you've had to claim. Depending on how the risk profile assessment goes, it can result in your comprehensive insurance either being affordable or expensive. If comprehensive insurance is too costly for you then have no fear, we have some methods to get cheaper insurance.
Choosing the right comprehensive insurance
As mentioned, this all depends on your circumstances. Still, it's best to compare insurances to not only see what you can muster up for monthly premiums and excess but also matters pertaining to what the insurance policy excludes and includes so you don't have a nasty surprise when an unfortunate event happens. It's also good to do some homework on what the claims process is like with the insurer, so you know what you're getting yourself into. Aggregator websites like Hippo.co.za can assist you with this.
