Cheaper car insurance after your first year - DirectAsia.Com

So you’ve survived your first year driving on the roads… and it’s time to renew your car insurance Now that you are more confident on the roads and more in-tune with the amount of money you need to fork out to maintain your car, you might be looking at ways to reduce your car insurance.

Car insurance is probably one of the few things that doesn’t increase over the years, especially if you’ve proven to be a safe driver. Here’s a look at some ways you can go about reducing your car insurance when it’s time for renewal:
 

1. No-Claim Discount

Experienced drivers will tell you that your No-claim Discount is the greatest discount you can get from your car insurer. Those who maintain a good driving record over 5 years consecutively are entitled to a NCD of up to 50%. Directasia also rewards those who have maintained a no-claims record of 10 consecutive years or more an NCD60 discount, a first in Singapore.

But say if you are just going into your second year of driving, you might want to build up your clean driving record slowly. As such, you might want to consider a private settlement for a minor incident to maintain a clean record.

The logic here is simple:

Let's assume you got in a collision with another car and both vehicles suffer minor damages. It’d probably cost just a few hundred dollars to repair. And if your excess is $600, you’d likely only claim $100-$200 from your insurer if you submit a claim. More importantly, making a claim would hurt your NCD, which translates to an increase in the cost of your car insurance by a few hundred dollars, erasing most of your insurance benefit. So, by opting for a private settlement for small damages, you can allow your NCD discount to continue.

Do note though, that you’d still need to report the incident to your insurer in such a case.
 

2. Higher Excess

The higher the excess, the lower your premiums. So if you feel rather confidently about forking out the excess should a claim occur, it might be worthwhile to opt for a higher excess in exchange for a lower premium instead. This only applies to our comprehensive car insurance policy.
 

3. Forgo your choice workshop

Some car owners prefer to go to their own workshops for various reasons. Some might have to stick to a certain workshop due to the warranty of their cars. However, if the warranty for your car has expired or you do not mind using the workshops of your car insurer, then opt for it to get a cheaper premium!
 

4. Review your usage

After your first year of driving, you will now have a clearer idea of how much you use your car. Perhaps you had thought that you’d drive to work every day, but have found the peak-hour jam and expensive season parking in the CBD don’t work for you. Or you might have hoped to drive up to Johor more often over the weekends for family trips but found braving the traffic jams a hassle. As such, you might want to opt-in to our low-mileage solution to get a cheaper premium.  There’s always a way around getting cheaper car insurance, if you just opt for what you need! At DirectAsia, we understand that and encourage our customers to only pay for what they find suitable. Find out more about our customisable car insurance here!