So I just got the premium renewal notice for my 2011 VW Touareg - the renewal from State comes with a 19% price rise at the same time that State has wiped 25% off the "agreed" value compared to last year. To say I feel short changed is an understatement. That's a massive reduction in value, the likes of which I've not personally seen before. Of course I could manually select a higher value but that also increases the price rise even further.

Today I obtained quotes from all the usual suspects - AA, Tower, Trademe, AMP, AMI, Cove ANZ and Westpac - I found that none of them could match State's renewal figure (although a couple were close).

I was about to throw in the towel and begrudgingly let State take my money for another year, but at the last minute I checked out Kiwibank.

Kiwibank initially came in around $150 cheaper than State - not bad I thought, but then I dived a bit further.....

I have a second car (a 2014 Corolla) that I also have insured with State on a 3rd party/fire/theft policy with a multi policy discount. If I move BOTH cars to Kiwibank, I get the benefit of their multi policy discounting and I will essentially be getting the Corolla insurance for free - the combined price for both policies through Kiwibank is about $12 more than just the VW policy by itself with State. A total saving of $270/year all up.

All comparisons were like for like - same agreed values, same excesses, and with excess-free glass cover for both.

Once again, this demonstrates the power of shopping around as much as possible.

[EDIT: As mentioned in one of the replies below, be aware that your results may vary!]