Car insurance in South Australia (SA)

There are four types of car insurance in Australia. These are:

• Compulsory third party (CTP) insurance: provides financial cover if you injure or kill someone in a car accident. In South Australia, it is included in the cost of your car registration.
• Third party property damage: provides financial cover if you damage another person’s property with your car, such as their car or home.
• Third party fire and theft cover: provides the same cover as third party property damage, plus financial cover if your car is damaged by fire or theft.
• Comprehensive car insurance: provides the highest level of cover. As well as financial cover for damaging another person’s property, damage to your own car caused by fire and theft, it also covers accidental damage to your car. Depending on your policy, it can also include damage caused by events like storms and floods, plus other benefits.

In Australia, only CTP insurance is compulsory. However, you may want to consider taking out comprehensive car insurance for a wider level of coverage.

This will depend on your own circumstances and the level and type of coverage you want. To find the best policy for you, consider:

• Do you want to keep your premiums down or are you willing and able to pay more for a higher level of cover?
• How often do you think you will claim? If you don’t think you will claim very often, you could choose a higher excess to help save you money on premiums. However, you will have to pay a bigger out-of-pocket cost if you need to make a claim.
• How often do you drive your car? If you drive it regularly, you may want to get a policy with a higher level of cover for added peace of mind.
• What risks do you want to be covered for? For example, if you live in an area prone to events like flooding or storms, you might want to choose a policy that covers this.
• Do you want cover for optional extras, such as windscreen protection? Including this on your policy may raise your premium.
• Do you need to have cover for additional drivers, such as younger drivers? If you don’t, you might be able to save money by restricting the drivers covered in your policy.

You can also check out which insurers have won Canstar’s Car Insurance Awards. Canstar gives state-based Awards to the insurers with the highest combined performance across the profiles considered.

To determine the cost of your premiums, insurers will consider factors like the level of cover you wish to take out, the excess you choose, your age, gender and driving history, the vehicle you are insuring and where you live.

To give you an idea of how much you might expect to pay, Canstar Research crunched the numbers and found the average cost of car insurance in South Australia across a range of age groups. Here’s how much you might expect to pay annually:

• Under 25 female: $1,942
• Under 25 male: $2,169
• Age 25 – 29: $1,550
• Age 30 – 49: $1,184
• Age 50+: $912
• Family with young driver: $1,954

Source: www.canstar.com.au – 15/06/2023. Based on comprehensive car insurance policies rated in Canstar’s 2023 Car Insurance Star Ratings. 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.

The ‘best’ car insurance is a subjective matter, and will depend on factors such as your age and the level of protection you want. If you only want to be insured for damage you might do to others’ vehicles and property, then third party damage insurance may be sufficient for your needs, but if you also want your own car to be covered against such things as fire and theft, then comprehensive cover, while generally more expensive, may be appropriate.

The table above may be helpful to you in finding a car insurance policy that suits your needs, and will allow you to compare types of cover with the specific inclusions you require, and even compare covers that offer discounts for good drivers and low kilometres driven.

Compulsory third party or CTP insurance is mandatory when registering a vehicle in South Australia, and it protects you from the financial impact of injuries or death of other drivers and passengers in a motor vehicle accident. This is the only form of compulsory car insurance in SA or anywhere in Australia – all other types of car insurance above and beyond this are optional.

That said, if you want to be covered for damage you might do to another driver’s vehicle in an accident, then it may be advisable to at least seek out a third party damage insurance policy, to protect you financially in the event that you are at fault in a car accident that causes damage.

Likewise, if you want your own vehicle insured against such things as theft in South Australia, then a comprehensive car insurance policy may be worth considering.

Recent figures from the Royal Automobile Association of South Australia (RAA) suggest that car theft has been on the rise in the state in recent years. Data from April 2022 showed that, in the 12 months previous, car theft in the state increased by 24%, while the rate of vehicle break-ins jumped by 56%.

RAA spokesman Mark Borlace said that the increasing density of housing in residential areas is one reason why car thefts may be on the rise. “[If] they’ve knocked down one house and put two houses on a block, it often reduces the amount of car-parking available – so more and more cars are parking in the street,” he said, noting that this gives thieves greater opportunity to strike.