Queensland Comprehensive Car Insurance

Are you a Queenslander in need of a comprehensive car insurance policy? Canstar can help you with that! Our researchers help take the guesswork out of choosing a policy by rating QLD car insurance policies each year on price and features. Following in-depth analysis, Canstar awards five stars to the comprehensive car insurance policies that are judged to offer outstanding value to consumers.

In their most recent rating in May 2016, Canstar rated 50 QLD policies from 46 providers. You can view the star ratings for car insurance policies available in QLD for your age and gender by hitting the compare button below.

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Average Cost of Comprehensive Car Insurance in QLD

Compared to the other states, Queenslanders enjoy some of the lower average premiums for comprehensive car insurance. Canstar research in May 2016 found that for new cars, car insurance was cheapest in Queensland for three out of the seven profiles assessed, beaten out by Tasmania in the other four. These three profiles were ‘family’, ‘under-25 female’ and ‘under-25 male’.

For older cars, average insurance premiums were cheapest in Queensland for five out of the seven profiles assessed. These profiles were ‘family’, ‘25-29 female’, ‘25-29 male’, ‘under-25 female’ and ‘under-male’.

Car Insurance for New Cars in QLD

According to Canstar research in May 2016, these are the average comprehensive car insurance premiums in QLD for a new car (registered in 2014 or more recently):

Average comprehensive car insurance premiums for QLD drivers (new car)
Driver profile	Annual premium
Family	$1,548
45+ years old	$579
30-44 years old	$648
25-29 Female	$784
25-29 Male	$839
Under 25 Female	$1,469
Under 25 Male	$1,646

 Source: CANSTAR, May 2016. Premiums rounded down to nearest dollar.

Car Insurance for Older Cars in QLD

Our researchers also calculated the average QLD comprehensive car insurance premiums for drivers who own an older car (pre-2008).

Average comprehensive car insurance premiums for QLD drivers (older car)
Driver profile	Annual premium
Family	$1,442
45+ years old	$525
30-44 years old	$589
25-29 Female	$534
25-29 Male	$567
Under 25 Female	$1,302
Under 25 Male	$1,473

Source: Canstar, May 2016. Premiums rounded down to nearest dollar.

QLD Comprehensive Car Insurance vs Other Levels of Car Insurance

Like every other state and territory, Queensland requires all car owners to have compulsory third party (CTP) or ‘green slip’ insurance as a bare minimum level of coverage.

This is how the coverage typically varies between different levels:

Type	Damage to your car	Damage to other people’s property (e.g. other cars)	Damage or loss caused by theft of your car	Injuries or death to other people in an accident
Compulsory third party
Third party property
Third party property, fire and theft
Comprehensive

A comprehensive car insurance policy can give you the most peace of mind, but comprehensive coverage can vary between different providers. That’s why Canstar rates QLD policies on value as well as price.

Providers

In alphabetical order, these are the 46 car insurance providers that Canstar rates for QLD:

2016 QLD Award Winner – NRMA

The 2016 State Award Winner for QLD in Canstar’s 2016 Car Insurance Rating was NRMA. NRMA was judged as offering outstanding value across all the different star ratings profiles (e.g family, male 25-29 etc.) within QLD.

For more information on how we do our ratings and judge our awards, read our car insurance methodology here (PDF).

What do QLD drivers want in a car insurance policy?

Based on the thousands of searches on Canstar’s car insurance comparison table each year, our data demonstrates that QLD drivers really appreciate policies that allow them to pay monthly at no extra cost. With regards to after accident care, QLD drivers strongly value a free repair service in their policy.

Features

QLD usage of the features filter on Canstar’s car insurance comparison table between 1^st January 2016 to the 12^th of September 2016:

• Pay monthly at no extra cost: 25.38%
• Agreed or market value: 23.81%
• Roadside Assistance: 15.18%
• Cover for unnamed drivers: 11.93%
• Reduction for driver’s age: 10.91%
• 24 hour help line: 7.19%

Note: Percentage values represent the distribution of usage of this filter

Features glossary:

Feature	Explanation
Pay monthly at no extra cost	The premium can be paid in monthly instalments without costing you more than it would if you were paying it annually.
Agreed or market value	The policy allows the driver to insure their car at either agreed or market value.
Roadside Assistance	On-road mechanical help for policyholders left stranded by their cars.
Cover for unnamed drivers	The insurance covers drivers of the vehicle that aren’t named on the policy.
Reduction for driver’s age	The policy allows holders to reduce the premium by putting an age restriction on who’s insured to drive the car.
24 hour help line	The insurance provider has someone to speak to over the phone at any time of the day.

After Accident Care

QLD usage of the after accident care filter on Canstar’s car insurance comparison table between 2^nd January 2016 to the 17^th of July 2016:

• Free repair service: 40.29%
• Can lodge claim online: 33.61%
• Emergency repairs available: 26.10%

Note: Percentage values represent the distribution of usage of this filter

After accident care glossary:

Feature	Explanation
Free repair service	Other than the excess payment, there’s no cost for repair when you make a claim.
Can lodge claim online	A claim on the policy can be made over the internet through the provider’s website/app.
Emergency repairs available	The policy allows immediate repairs to be made to the car (up to a certain cost) to help you get home or to a service station.

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QLD Road statistics

Important figures you should know about QLD roads:

How many cars?

Queensland has the third most registered motor vehicles in Australia (after NSW and VIC).

• There’s over 3.8 million of motor vehicles registered in the QLD (as at 31 January 2016)
• This makes up for around 20 percent of the 18.4 million motor vehicles in Australia.

Source: ABS

How many road deaths?

• In the year ending July 2016, 246 people died on QLD roads
• This made up around 19 percent of the total fatalities around the country (1,292) that year.

Source: Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development

Road fatality factors:

There were 243 fatalities on QLD roads in 2015. These were some of the major characteristics:

Mobile phone usage:

According to a 2015 Canstar Blue survey, QLD drivers are slightly more responsible than the rest of the country when it comes to mobile phone usage on the road:

• 21% of QLD drivers admit to texting while driving (below the national rate of 26%)
• 12% admit to using social media while driving (below the national rate of 15%)
• 28% have made/received a phone call (without hands free) while driving (below the national rate of 32%)

Source: Canstar Blue

Crash hotspots:

QLD roads experienced 168 fatalities over the year ending 11^th September 2016. By region, this was where they took place:

Source: QLD Department of Transport and Main Roads

QLD Car Crime Statistics

The price of your car insurance premium in QLD can be influenced by things such as crime rates. For example, if your suburb has a high number of car thefts, insurers are likely to take this into account to your detriment.

If your suburb is letting you down in that respect, don’t forget that car insurers also consider preventative measures which can lower your premium, such as:

• Parking your car in a garage rather than on the street
• Additional security features (e.g. a car alarm)

QLD Car Theft

According to the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council, there were 8,723 car thefts in QLD over the year ending March 2016. This made up 16.4 percent of the national total (53,110). Remarkably, this was the same proportion as the year prior, when this 16.4 percent represented 8,256 QLD car thefts out of 50,200 around Australia.

These were the 10 QLD regions with the most car thefts:

Source:  National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council

QLD Road Weather Dangers

Queensland is well-known for its wild summer storms. The sub-tropical climate along the east coast can often dish up some of the most ferocious displays of strong winds, thunder, lightning and pouring rain you’re ever likely to experience anywhere else in the world.

North Queensland typically bears the full brunt of summer cyclones, but extreme flooding can felt just about anywhere in the state. During the 2011 floods, three-quarters of QLD was declared a disaster zone.

If a road is flooded in Queensland, do not even attempt to drive through it unless it is an emergency. Water damage can easily write your car off. Flooded roads are also very dangerous. Queensland Fire and Emergency Services have been running “if it’s flooded, forget it” campaigns to remind people.

During Queensland’s storm season (November-April), keep up to date with the latest weather warnings through BOM and avoid parking beside trees. Also get your car under cover as soon as you hear of a hail threat.

When driving in rain, turn your headlights on and double your braking distance to 4 seconds.

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Written by: Dominic Beattie