In response to the coronavirus pandemic, several car insurers have started offering discounts or financial relief to customers facing financial hardship. Consumers are also being encouraged to contact their car insurer to see if they can get a temporary premium discount because they are staying at home and using their car less. However, there are other potential ways to cut your car insurance costs, and comparing your options to potentially find a better-value policy could be one of them.
That’s one reason why every year Canstar analyses the car insurance providers and policies on our database, and rates them based on the value they are offering consumers.
This year Canstar has rated 42 policies from 53 providers. Two providers won a national Award for Outstanding Value and there was a single winner of the Outstanding Claims Service Award. In addition to the national winners, there were two providers who received state-based Awards.
How were the Star Ratings & Award results determined?
In order to figure out which policies received a 5-Star Rating, car insurance policies were assessed against a combination of cost (monthly/annual premiums and a percentage of policy excesses) and features (including ease of application, benefits offered by the policy and components of the claims process).
Policies were assessed against six different driver profiles:
- Under 25 year-old male
- Under 25 year-old female
- 25-29 year-old driver
- 30-39 year-old driver
- 50+ year-old driver
- Family with Young Driver (young meaning under 25 years old)
Each policy was assessed against all profiles in all six states considered (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia) where possible.
The state-specific awards for Outstanding Value were given to providers with the highest cumulative performance across the consumer profiles in a particular state.
The national award for Outstanding Value was given to providers with the highest cumulative score across all profiles in all states, with states weighted in accordance with their populations based on Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data.
How much could a 5-Star Rated policy save you on your car insurance?
While Canstar’s Star Ratings are calculated based on both price and features, you may be wondering how much cheaper 5-Star Rated policies are on average compared to the rest of the market.
Canstar’s research has found that, compared against the average annual premium of all car insurance policies on our database, a 5-Star Rated policy would, on average, be $491 cheaper per year.
Additionally, the tables below illustrate the average amounts a 5-Star Rated policy would save you versus the market average in different states, and for different consumer profiles.
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Average Annual Comprehensive Car Insurance Premiums by State |
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|
5-Star Rated products |
Market average |
Difference |
|
|
New South Wales |
$1,136 | $1,807 | $671 |
|
Queensland |
$783 | $1,227 | $444 |
|
Victoria |
$1,152 | $1,779 | $627 |
|
South Australia |
$854 | $1,303 | $449 |
|
Western Australia |
$755 | $1,157 | $402 |
|
Tasmania |
$771 | $1,159 | $388 |
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Source: www.canstar.com.au. Based on comprehensive car insurance policies rated in Canstar’s 2020 Car Insurance Star Ratings. Market average calculations include 5-Star rated products. Annual premiums include quotes for both new and used cars for a range of scenarios, with a state-specific target excess ranging from $600 to $750. |
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Average Annual Comprehensive Car Insurance Premiums by Consumer Profile |
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|
5-Star Rated products |
Market average |
Difference |
|
|
Under 25 Female |
$1,152 | $1,708 | $556 |
|
Under 25 Male |
$1,186 | $1,930 | $744 |
|
25 to 29 |
$1,001 | $1,387 | $385 |
|
30 to 49 |
$729 | $977 | $248 |
|
Over 50 |
$592 | $776 | $184 |
|
Family with Young Driver |
$909 | $1,715 | $805 |
|
Source: www.canstar.com.au. Based on comprehensive car insurance policies rated in Canstar’s 2020 Car Insurance Star Ratings. Market average calculations include 5-Star rated products. Annual premiums include quotes for both new and used cars for a range of scenarios, with a state-specific target excess ranging from $600 to $750. |
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2020’s Outstanding Value Award-winning car insurance providers
Outstanding Value Car Insurance – Australia
Bingle and Budget Direct are the winners of this year’s national Award for Outstanding Value car insurance. According to Canstar Research, these providers came out on top off the back of excellent pricing and consistent feature offerings relative to their peers in the market. This makes it the 14th year in a row Budget Direct has won the Award, while Bingle reclaimed one of the top spots having previously won in 2018. In addition to its national Award, Bingle won five of the six state-specific Awards for Outstanding Value.
Outstanding Value Car Insurance – state Awards
|
Award |
Winning provider |
| Outstanding Value Car Insurance – NSW | Bingle |
| Outstanding Value Car Insurance – QLD | Bingle |
| Outstanding Value Car Insurance – SA | Bingle |
| Outstanding Value Car Insurance – TAS | National Seniors |
| Outstanding Value Car Insurance – VIC | Bingle |
| Outstanding Value Car Insurance – WA | Bingle |
Outstanding Claims Service Award
Queensland-based insurer Suncorp has won Canstar’s Outstanding Claims Service Award for the fifth year in a row.
For this Award, providers were assessed based on the features they offered as part of their claims process, as well as on customer satisfaction with various aspects of the claim process including:
- Ease of lodging a claim
- Communication
- Time to commence repairs
- Time to complete repairs
- Quality of repairs
Suncorp outperformed the market average across a range of claims process features, and stood out particularly when it came to claim lodgement options and transportation options (e.g. the availability of a rental car in the event of a claim).
Suncorp also outperformed the market average across the board on customer satisfaction with the claims process. It performed especially strongly on claim lodgement process, communication, and claim lodgement ease, Canstar Research found.
For more information about Canstar’s Car Insurance Star Ratings and Awards, you can read the methodology or view the full results.
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