Tips for Saving On Your Car Insurance
Call us Sherlock, but car ownership is costly. This expense is even before you factor in running costs. Almost like moths to a light, cars attract a plethora of government taxes the instant they reach our shores.
The costs only go up when you attempt to register the vehicle. Car ownership presents a huge financial commitment, second only to your home. Apart from buying a used or a lower-end vehicle, there’s not much you can really do to lower your monthly instalments.
We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't scrimp on parking or petrol either; both are pretty fixed island-wide. The only way you can get away with lowering car ownership costs perhaps is to not always depend on your vehicle for commutes.
But then again, if you aren’t using it for its intended purpose, why suffer from the depreciation in the first place?
Having Your Cake And Eating It Too
But what if we told you that there was a way for you to reduce your financial outlay without any major sacrifice? Can you really have your cake and eat it too?
Enter Budget Direct Insurance’s world of customised car insurance policies. The ‘calories’ don’t count here - you get all of the flavours you enjoy, with none of the drawbacks.
See, insurers typically bundle in optional extras that you may not need - a common one perhaps being coverage for trips abroad to Malaysia and/or Thailand.
Customise Your Car Insurance and Save. Here’s how!
Optional Covers: Here are some of the more popular options as selected by motorists. Many more are available on their website for your choosing based on your driving needs.
Coverage |
Details |
|---|---|
No Claim Discount (NCD) Protection |
You can make one claim a year without affecting your No Claim Discount. Applies to those who have an NCD of 30% or more. |
Overseas Emergency Allowance |
Driving overseas to Malaysia or Thailand? Budget Direct Insurance get you home in the event of an accident. They’ll pay up to S$1,000 for towing and S$200 per person plus emergency phone calls up to S$100. If you or your passengers are seriously injured and need to be evacuated they’ll pay up to S$25,000 per person. |
24 Hours Roadside Assistance |
If you don’t want to be stranded by a breakdown, flat tyre, flat battery or anything else, Budget Direct Insurance’s 24 Hours Roadside Assistance will be there for you. |
Any Workshop |
Opt to have your car repaired at a workshop of your choice. |
Modifications and Accessories |
Budget Direct Insurance will repair or replace damaged or stolen car parts that are LTA compliant, declared to and accepted by them. |
Singapore-Only |
Gives you a discount of 5% if you drive your car in Singapore only. |
A Comprehensive policy would generally have these options offered as part of the cover. On the other hand, Budget Direct Insurance's Third-Party and Third-Party Fire & Theft (TPFT) plans do not have some or all of the items mentioned above.
In essence, think of this as a ‘buffet’ deal where you take what you want, depending on your driving needs. The less you take, the fewer ‘calories’ you pile on. This then also means you have less ‘bulk’ to take on in the long run!
Driver Plans:
Choosing a Driver Plan that best matches your usage can be a great way to reduce premiums too. Ask yourself a few key questions to better align your actual needs with the policies.
Are you the only one that uses your vehicle? Do your family members or friends use it occasionally too?
Whilst the premiums are mostly based around the driver who uses the car the most frequently (the Main Driver), having others use your car will affect the final premiums too.
In a nutshell, there are 2 driver plans. The Authorised Driver Plan covers the Policyholder, the Main Driver and anyone else you allow to drive your car, excluding household members of the Main Driver - who you’ll have to name on your policy in order for them to be covered. As the Authorised Driver Plan covers more drivers than the Named Driver Plan, you'd expect premiums for the latter to be cheaper.
The Named Driver Plan covers only the Main Driver and any other driver you include on your policy as Named Drivers.
Other Ways To Save Further
Opting to go paperless will save you S$20 on your premiums (before GST). Documents will be sent via email and will also be accessible from your Policy Manager.
Adjusting your excess amount can dramatically impact your premiums too. The standard excess for Budget Direct Insurance is S$600 (before GST).
You can opt to increase or decrease this sum depending on your claim experience and budget. Do note that you have to strike a balance here - higher excess sums mean lower premiums, but you will have to bear a bigger upfront payment for a claim should you be involved in an accident.
And if you’re considering extending your car’s COE, you’ll be glad to know that you can buy your insurance for older cars online from Budget Direct Insurance, which is able to cover your older vehicle for up to 30 years.
Last But Not Least
All the savings you’d enjoy will not come at the expense of quality coverage or service. In fact, Budget Direct Insurance offers Singapore’s cheapest Comprehensive Car Insurance, according to an independent study conducted by a consumer research firm. Plus they have an award-winning customer service team that is ranked very highly on Feefo, an online customer-review platform. Now that’s what we call cheap and good.
Apart from the optimisation of the policies, extra savings are passed on to the customer simply because you’re buying directly from the company itself - there’s no cut for a middleman - which can amount up to 20% of your premium!
If your policy is due, do yourself a favour and check out how much you can save with Budget Direct Insurance today!
Do note that Budget Direct Insurance policies do not cover vehicles for commercial or Private Hire Vehicles such as Grab/GrabHitch/Gojek.
This article was sponsored by Budget Direct Insurance.
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