There are quite a few factors that can affect how much you pay on your car insurance premiums. These factors can influence how insurers estimate your level of risk – that is, how likely you are to make a claim - which impact premiums.
Insurance premiums can change from year to year, but at Bingle we're still able to keep our premiums pretty low by operating mainly online and not having costly overheads like sales centres.
1st May 2020
Younger and less experienced drivers are statistically more likely to have collisions. Unfortunately for young drivers that means you might be charged more than those a few years older. The plus side is, you might see your premiums lower once you've moved into a less risky age group.
Of course, other factors – like making a claim – could lead to an increase, so it's difficult to predict with certainty.
The age, make, and model of your car may play a part in deciding your premium. Some insurers also consider what modifications a car has, like if it has aftermarket custom paint or nitro – so if your car looks like it belongs on a race track, it may be either more expensive to insure or ineligible entirely.
At Bingle, we cover cars for their market value. That's the amount your car is worth at the time of an incident for which you're claiming, rather than a set amount that's decided upon when you take our or renew your policy. This value can change as time moves on, which affects premiums.
Where you park your car overnight may also affect your premium! Some spots are safer than others. Something as seemingly small as parking your car in a garage instead of on the street can impact premiums – after all, it probably makes your car a bit more difficult to steal.
The area you live in might also impact your premium. For example, extreme weather events like cyclones, flooding, or storms are more likely in certain areas, which affects how likely you are to make a claim.
It's not just your driving history that matters – any other listed drivers are also considered. If you've had to make a claim in the past, your premiums may be affected. The flip side is that if you've got a clean record, your premiums will reflect that!
The excess you elect to pay in the event of a claim, specified when you take out or renew your policy, can impact your premiums. So, if you opt to have a higher excess, you're likely to pay less on your premiums – but if you choose a low excess, you're likely to have higher premiums.
Keep in mind that this isn't always the case due to the number of factors that influence premium costs.
Your level of cover also impacts your price. It may be higher or lower based on whether you choose Bingle's Comprehensive or Third Party Property Damage car insurance. Third Party is generally cheaper than Comprehensive, but you won't be covered for any damage to your own car if you have an accident.
Also, if you choose to add optional extras like Hire car, Windscreen and Glass cover, or New for Old (for cars 3 years old or under) your premium will most likely go up.
Check the relevant PDS for further details before getting insurance or choosing extras to ensure they're right for your needs.
These percentages cover all the AAI Limited brands, which is the family that Bingle is a part of. Despite that, it stills paints a clear picture of where premiums are directed.
Naturally, you'd expect one of the largest parts of the premium collected are used to help payout claims. Claims are an important part of what we do to help protect what matters to you.
A part of the premium goes towards government taxes and charges. After we have calculated the amount to cover your insurance policy any applicable stamp duty, GST, charge and levy are then applied.
A part of the premium collected goes towards paying our own insurance premium to reinsurance providers. We purchase additional cover of reinsurance to protect against the exposure to large scale events such as storms, floods and cyclones. This helps us maintain our ability to payout claims.
Like any business, we need to make a profit to ensure we can continue running our business year after year. Our profit can vary significantly from year to year depending on whether there were large scale events like storms, floods and cyclones.
Bingle, like every business, has operating costs that enable us to continue our operations and service our customers. That's why a percentage of insurance premiums goes toward the operating cost of running our business. We also invest in the technologies and products that would improve the services we provide to you.
After the above factors (and a few more) are considered, government taxes and charges are added. Then, we'll have the magic number for you – the cost of your car insurance. The best way to work out how much your Bingle car insurance will cost is to get a quote online.