[tenar]

I've just gotten the renewal letter for our car insurance. We've had the car nearly a year and it's the first we've owned in years, so I'm unfamiliar with the norms for insurance like this.

Anyway, the excess for any claim has gone up from $600 to $625.

The premium has gone up from $753 to $808.

I guess I expected increases, but not for increases and the excess to change. Is this a usual sort of change?

This is for a secondhand car that cost $15,000 last year. We haven't made any claims.

[foxy_feline]

It's common for insurers to do this - it wouldn't hurt to to a couple of online quote comparisons just to be sure you're getting a decent deal.

[tenar]

Thanks foxy_feline. I'm out of touch with what is common practice.

[LovingTheBeach]

Car insurers base their premiums on a wide range of factors. I had a very insightful conversation with an insurance employee last year, basically told me that they gather huge amounts of information on cars - their repair costs etc and the area in which you live -whether it has a high incidence of car theft or car accidents. Thus, the information is changing continually and that's why premiums can fluctuate year to year. I always do at least 5 or 6 online/over the phone quotes each year for each type (except Health) insurance that I buy.

[*JAC*]

That sounds like a huge excess to me! I thought the norm was 300.00 - 350.00??

[heather124]

did you have any claims during the year? My excess went from $500 up to $625 with my renewal but I had 2 claims during the year (1 my fault and 1 someone hit me while I was parked and didn't leave details)

[bronhilda]

My premium went up about $140 from one year to the next. I rang around and found it was competitive so thought nothing more of it.

I rang my insurer the day the payment was due to ensure they had the right credit card details, and since I called the consultant 'looked' at my premium to see if I was getting a good deal, and knocked $150 off it on the spot.

Sometimes it is worth questioning it with your insurer.

[solongsuckers]

My excess increased to $625 this year with RACV I can't remember what my premium was last year, i think around $700. It was $774 this year.

$28,400 agreed value