Car insurance is a necessary evil: we know we need it, but we sure don’t enjoy paying for it. Fortunately, there are many ways to get discounts on your premium. We’ve compiled a list of the top ways you can save big on your auto insurance to make sure those payments are as painless as possible.
table of contents
Reading: How much does car insurance go down after 1 year no claims
- Third Party Only Plans and Third Party Plans, Fire & robbery plans
- discount without claim
- certificate of merit
- off-peak enrollment
- other discounts
main types of auto insurance discounts
There are four main ways to substantially reduce the amount you owe on your auto insurance beyond taking advantage of promotions: buy a third-party-only policy, maximize your no-claims discount, get a certificate of merit from the California singapore, or register your car as off-peak. The chart below shows approximately how much you can save on your auto insurance for each method. the dollar amount of savings reflects the driving profile of a 30 year old single male with 2 years of driving experience. Without any of the following options, he would be paying a premium of S$2,304 per year.
third party plans only (tpo) and third party plans, fire and theft (tpft)
The first decision you’ll need to make when shopping for auto insurance is what type of plan to get: Third Party Only (TPO); third, fire and theft (tpft); or whole. each type of plan offers a different level of coverage and its price reflects that. Depending on your needs, your comfort level with risk, and the vehicle you plan to insure, you may be able to save on your auto insurance by purchasing a cheaper type of plan. Keep in mind that your insurance plan only comes into play when you are deemed to be at fault for an accident; if it is not, the other party’s insurance must pay the costs incurred.
comprehensive plans
Comprehensive plans have the most comprehensive coverage and are therefore the most expensive. Although they are the most expensive, comprehensive insurance policies are actually the most common type of car insurance plan in Singapore: Most people are generally unable to buy cars without a car loan thanks to the cost of vehicles, and Auto loans generally require comprehensive plans. comprehensive plans include coverage for loss or damage to your vehicle up to the market value of your car at the time of the crash, coverage for medical expenses, personal accident benefits, windshield damage, and towing.
tpft plans (30% cheaper)
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third party plan, fire and theft (tpft) is the second cheapest type of auto insurance. It insures you for any liability to third parties (property damage or death or injury to others), as well as any accidental damage to your car as a result of fire or theft. However, like the TPO plan, it generally does not include coverage for loss or damage to your vehicle, windshield damage, medical expenses, personal accident benefits, loss of use, auto accessories, etc., so it is more expensive than tpo. plan, but less expensive than the more expansive comprehensive plan. tpft policies can be a good option for owners of older cars whose market value has significantly depreciated, as this type of policy will allow them to pay a lower premium more proportional to the remaining value of the car.
tpo plans (40% cheaper)
The cheapest option of these three is the tpo plan. It covers you only for any liability against a third party (meaning anyone other than you), which means it will only cover the cost of any death or injury that occurs to a third party as a result of the accident, as well as any damage done to the property of a third party. it also means that you would have to pay out of pocket for any damage caused to your vehicle for any reason (accident, fire, theft, flood, etc.) or any medical expenses you may have due to an accident. As the minimum amount of coverage you need to legally drive your vehicle, TPO plans are the cheapest and the riskiest. however, if you’re still financing your car, you generally can’t insure it with this type of plan.
discount without claim (10-50%)
A no claim discount, or NCD, is a discount on your car insurance premium that you can get for consecutive years of safe driving that could save you up to 50% on your car insurance. For every year you drive without making a claim, you get a 10% discount when you renew your insurance policy up to a cap of 50%. so after 1 year of having car insurance without having to make a claim, you have a 10% ncd. With more than 5 consecutive years without an accident, your NCD would be 50%, which means your premium would be cut in half. Clearly, safe driving can pay big dividends.
Fortunately, your NCD will not automatically drop to 0% if you are in an accident and need to file a claim. First, it depends on how much liability you are objectively judged to have for the accident, as determined by the liability settlement barometer (ball). As long as you are determined to take 20% or less of the responsibility for an accident, nothing will happen to your NCD. But if your liability is found to be greater than 20%, your NCD may decrease by as much as 30%. if you had to make two claims in a year, it would go down to 0%. singlife with aviva is an exception to this general market-wide practice, as it will reduce your ncd by only 10% per claim.
Second, some auto insurance policies offer the option to add a NCD protection feature, which prevents your NCD from falling out when you file a claim. NCD Protector generally costs an additional 10% on top of your premium and will generally only apply to the first claim made within a year. but there are exceptions: fwd, a relatively new insurer on the market, will protect your ncd for life if you have 50% ncd, even if you have multiple accidents in a year.
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If you get a new car or switch to a different insurance company, you can transfer your ncd. however, it cannot be applied to two vehicles at the same time. So if you buy an additional car, that second car’s NCD will start at 0%. You should be aware that if you don’t have a car for more than 12 months, your ncd will reset to 0% and you’ll have to rebuild it again over time.
certificate of merit (5%)
If you are a particularly safe driver, you may also qualify for a Certificate of Merit (com) from the Singapore Traffic Police, which will entitle you to an additional 5% discount on your car insurance premium from participating insurers in addition to your ncd to apply, you only need to maintain a continuous driving record with no negative points for 3 continuous years. You may be assigned demerit points for a wide variety of minor to major traffic violations, such as not wearing a seat belt, speeding, violating the right of way, crossing double white lines, running red lights, etc
If you are eligible for the com, it is a very simple process to obtain one. all you have to do is log in to eddies (the electronic driver information and inquiry system) via the ecitizen website or the singapore police website with your nric/fin or singpass. eddies will generate the com automatically. If your insurance company participates, you can log in to Eddies to verify that you have received it. The table below lists participating insurers as shown on eddies.
off-peak enrollment (25%)
If you don’t need to use your car to get to work and can agree not to drive it during the busiest hours of the day, you can save big on your car insurance premiums by registering your car as off-peak. We calculate that, all things being equal, a 45-year-old male driver who registered his vehicle during off-peak hours received premiums 25% cheaper on average than he would otherwise receive. off-peak drivers can also receive a refund of up to S$17,000 and a discount of S$500 on annual road tax (subject to a minimum road tax of S$70 per year).
Unsurprisingly, off-peak drivers, who are identified by wearing red license plates on their vehicles, face fairly strict restrictions on the length of their driving. they cannot drive their cars from 7 am to 7 pm on weekdays unless they obtain a special electronic day license (e-day license) to drive during those hours. Under the revised off-peak car (ROPC) scheme, which applies to cars registered or converted to the scheme from 25 January 2010, there are no restrictions on driving on weekends and religious or public holidays. public. While cars under the old off-peak vehicle (opc) or weekend car (wec) scheme may not be driven on Saturdays and some religious holidays from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. m. to 3:00 p.m. m., can be easily converted to the new ropc system.
other discounts
We’ve detailed the top ways you can cut a big chunk out of your car insurance premium. however, you should also be on the lookout for smaller discounts and promotions that individual insurers may offer. for example:
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