Car insurance up 20% home / contents insurance up 30%

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Car insurance up 20% home / contents insurance up 30%

timmmay

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#304004 27-Mar-2023 20:21

I got our car insurance renewal papers today, and I was surprised at the increase. Last year the car was valued at $19,750 and the premium was $692. This year the car is valued at $18,500 and the premium is $812! That's around a 17% increase in premium on back of a small decrease in value! This is with State, AA Insurance costs a bit more.

Their info says "When your insurance renews, you may see an increase or decrease in your premium, which is due to a number of factors. There are the things that relate to you, like your past claims, where you live and the type of car you drive. But also, some factors that affect everyone. For example, we've had a number of extreme weather events, leading to an increase in claims. The cost of car parts and repairs continues to rise. As the volume of data grows, we're able to improve how we measure risk and reflect it in our pricing."

I just thought it was interesting.

Update - see the update below, but home and contents insurance is also up by 28% for the same cover, with no claims this year. Lots of natural disasters pushing up premiums and inflation I guess.

2025 update here.

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#3055497 27-Mar-2023 20:27

My annual increase this year was a similar percentage. I was going to go out to market, but then I figured that the entire industry is probably increasing premiums as they must be getting smashed with claims recently.

Senecio

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#3055561 27-Mar-2023 21:05

Your car's value is of little importance. If you run into a $250K Ferrari or knock over a pedestrian that ends up immobilised for the rest of their life then it doesn't matter if your car is valued at $19K or $18K.

Insurance costs are sky rocketing especially automotive.

Bung

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#3055579 27-Mar-2023 22:19

In NZ the pedestrian and others involved in the accident get covered by ACC.

Wheelbarrow01

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#3055638 27-Mar-2023 23:13

Yea my main vehicle's premium with Tower rose quite sharply last year, after having been the cheapest out of several companies the year prior to that. This prompted me to change back to State - who I left previously because they were no longer competitive. I suspect they are only competitive to win your business and then rely on customer inertia to keep you as a customer beyond renewal time. But not me - I review my options every renewal period and don't hesitate to switch if I can get a cheaper deal under the same/similar conditions elsewhere. This is relatively easy with instant online quotes available from most brands - It's certainly easier today than 20 years ago when you had to phone around.

I have several vehicles and they are all with different insurers - State, AA, Star (x2), NZI from memory. The multi policy discounts many companies claim to offer don't actually amount to much in my experience.

rscole86

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#3055644 28-Mar-2023 02:30

I've just seen the same with Trademe insurance, I'm eligible for the multi discount and Trademe member discount. I think the total discount was around $100 over the years premium.

I'm yet to shop around again, but when I switched two years ago no one could beat Trademe, including going through a broker.

kobiak

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#3055671 28-Mar-2023 08:50

alasta:

but then I figured that the entire industry is probably increasing premiums as they must be getting smashed with claims recently.

I strongly suggest to compare quotes. as I found over the years, the difference could be upto 50% cost.

quick compare for my car (15 yrs old SUV)

- tower $430 comprehensive
- state $690 comprehensive

rather insane difference.

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Silvrav

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#3055692 28-Mar-2023 09:26

kobiak:

alasta:

but then I figured that the entire industry is probably increasing premiums as they must be getting smashed with claims recently.

I strongly suggest to compare quotes. as I found over the years, the difference could be upto 50% cost.

quick compare for my car (15 yrs old SUV)

- tower $430 comprehensive
- state $690 comprehensive

rather insane difference.

Fully agree - our SUV is insurance for 60k at $988 per annum (and it's comprehensive) - @timmmy insurance cost seems high for 20k worth of insurance.

Our second car is insured for 30k at $700 - note this is brand new vehicle.

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michaelmurfy

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#3055697 28-Mar-2023 09:43

Mine was up by 10% but then again I have a Tesla set at an agreed value with Star Insurance.

Have a look at Quashed (https://quashed.co.nz/) as you can load your policies and do a market scan to compare against multiple providers. I also just find it handy to track all my insurance.

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frankv

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#3055717 28-Mar-2023 10:33

Senecio:

Your car's value is of little importance. If you run into a $250K Ferrari ~~or knock over a pedestrian that ends up immobilised for the rest of their life~~ then it doesn't matter if your car is valued at $19K or $18K.

Insurance costs are sky rocketing especially automotive.

The above relates to third-party.

Also, your car's full insurance value is only paid out if it is written off. If you have a fender-bender or a broken windscreen, it only costs the insurance company what it costs to fix your car (and maybe the other car), less your deductible. Most claims are in the fender-bender category... relatively few are write-offs. The only time it matters to the insurance company whether your car is valued at $19K or $18K is if you have damage between $18K and $19K to repair, in which case it's either an $18K write-off or (say) $18,500 repair.

Wheelbarrow01

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#3055762 28-Mar-2023 11:27

kobiak:

alasta:

but then I figured that the entire industry is probably increasing premiums as they must be getting smashed with claims recently.

I strongly suggest to compare quotes. as I found over the years, the difference could be upto 50% cost.

quick compare for my car (15 yrs old SUV)

- tower $430 comprehensive
- state $690 comprehensive

rather insane difference.

This was exactly my experience, which is why I switched from State to Tower in July 2021. However, when my Tower policy came up for renewal in July 2022, they hiked the premium to the extent that State's quote was the cheaper of the two options, so I switched back to them. Will be interesting to see what July 2023 brings....

alasta

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#3055768 28-Mar-2023 12:06

To be honest I would probably pay a premium to stick with an IAG brand over Tower, because they are probably more financially stable.

timmmay

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#3061206 10-Apr-2023 20:22

We got the contents insurance premium renewal today... 28% increase for the same cover from State. We've had no claims that I recall, if there were any they were small. I guess all the natural disasters are pushing prices up across the board, not helping inflation.

Oblivian

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#3061208 10-Apr-2023 20:29

Pretty much had the same speech from AMI at renewal since 2010

It was quakes increases for about 8 years. Then the multiple one in one hundred floods in Canterbury. Then west cosst 2x, Now we have all the north island easy targets.

Geektastic

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#3069420 29-Apr-2023 22:11

I'll be getting a bunch of renewals in June and the premiums were high enough last time to make my eyes water.

The one thing I will say is that the price is not the only thing to consider when choosing insurance. Claims handling, excess levels, nature of cover etc are all things that might cause you to choose something other than the ostensibly cheapest option.

Our house cover is very expensive indeed but has a number of features (such as extremely high item limits without needing to specify and no limit rebuilding) that tend to push premiums up a lot.

Brunzy

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#3069493 30-Apr-2023 13:00

michaelmurfy:
Mine was up by 10% but then again I have a Tesla set at an agreed value with Star Insurance.

Have a look at Quashed (https://quashed.co.nz/) as you can load your policies and do a market scan to compare against multiple providers. I also just find it handy to track all my insurance.

Just tried it on mine, only came up with one option,Trade me ,
House only( you can only select house or contents)
More than double my existing policy with AA which is up for renewal and increased 20%

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