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Accident An incident that is not planned or expected. An accident or accidents arise out of a single event that took place at a particular time. Accessory An extra item which is fitted to your car. This could have been done by the dealer or another party but is not standard with your car. Agreed Value An amount your vehicle is insured for as agreed by your insurer. Agreed value often give you the option to request APRA Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is a Federal Government agency, which regulates superannuation funds and other bodies in the financial sector, ensuring they operate within the requirements of legislation. ASIC Short for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, is the Australian regulator body which is responsible for the supervision and enforcement of the Corporations Act which people and organizations abide by. At Fault At fault is a term used in CTP insurance. If the accident was your fault then the you are insured for the people you injured but it does not cover your injuries. CTP Insurance Is third party personal liability insurance and is required in all states. Some states require you to purchase CTP insurance yourself and other it is included as part of your registration. CTP Insurance for more information. Green slip Green slip is the certificate of third party personal liability insurance required for registration of a motor vehicle in NSW. See CTP Insurance for more information. Car towing If you have an accident and you can’t drive your car your insurer will pay for a towing service to take it to a repairer. Carbon Offset Are you passionate about the environment and want to do your little bit. Carbon offset is now an option with your car insurance in Australia. They will offset the carbon footprint of your car as part of your policy. To see what your offset it, use the CarCostCalculator Card holder discount If you are a pensioner, concession card holder or hold a similar discount card you may be able to use that card to get a discount on your insurance. Choice of Repairer Do you have a repairer that you always use and knows your car inside-out? If so then you might want to make sure you have ‘choice of repairer’ included in your policy. It lets you either select your own insurer or one from a large approved list supplied by your insurance company. Claim A claim is what you make when you have an accident and you want to get renumerated from your insurer. You will most often have to fill out some paper work for your insurance company outlining the details of your accident and what monies you want to claim. Common Law Law based on court decisions Comprehensive Insurance Comprehensive insurance offers complete coverage for both the parties involved in an accident Consequential Loss Indirect loss which accompanies an insured loss, such as loss of earnings resulting from a burnt down business that was insured against fire. Cover Cover is what is protected by the insurance policy. Diminished value If you have a collision policy, your insurance company will pay for the repairs after an accident. However, is the financial damage really fixed? Not necessarily. A car that has been in an accident and had the body fixed may look the same, but it won't sell for the same price. Would you pay the same for a car that has been in an accident? A car that has been in an accident might be worth $2,000 less than a similar un-damaged car. This is called "diminished value," and may be covered by your policy. However, diminished value is often not paid unless you push the point. Get a car dealer to do an estimate of the diminished value if necessary, and present this to the insurance company. You pay for insurance to have your losses covered, and they aren't covered if you aren't paid for this. Emergency Repairs Repairs that need to be done to make it possible for you vehicle to drive your car safely from the site of the accident. Excess Excess is the amount you need to pay first when making a claim before your insurance company begins to pay. For this reason, you should only make a claim where the amount sought is larger than the excess. Flexible payment options Insurance companies used to make pay your premium for a year in one lump sum. Now most insurance companies offer annual or monthly payment options so to reduce the stress of a lump sum payment. GVM Stands for Gross Vehicle Mass. It is important to know your GVM if you drive a big vehicle as you might require a different license to your normal car license. See license types for more information. Hire car Some insurers will provide you with a hire car after your accident usually for up to 14 days after your accident. If you don’t have a second car and can’t live without wheels then hire car is not a bad thing to have. ICA Insurance Council of Australia is the Organisation that represents the interests of the Australian general insurance industry. Insurance Certificate See Policy Schedule. Lifetime repair guarantee The quality of workmanship and the materials authorised by your insurer in the repair of your car will be guaranteed for the life of the car. Some keep this guarantee even if you sell car. Low kilometre (km) bonus If you don’t drive your car much then you may be able to get a low km discount on your insurance policy. Insurance companies have a reduced risk of a claim because you don’t drive much and hence some offer discount for low kms travelled in a year. See Paying for the kms you drive for more information. Loyalty discount Insurance companies love it when a policy holder stays with them for a long period of time and some reward it by offering discounts for sticking around and not changing insurers. Some offer loyalty discounts even if that long period of time was spent with your previous insurer. Despite some insurers offering a discount, QuoteMyWheels recommend that policy holders re quote their insurance every year. If there isn’t a better deal available then stay with your current insurer but a new quote takes only 10 min and could save you $100’s. Market Value Is the price that one would reasonably get for your vehicle in the market place. Several companies such as redbook provide the market value for many cars. Member benefits If you already have a policy or use a product or service from a particular company then you may be entitled to a discount if you move your auto insurance to them. Modifications A modification to the car usually refers to any alteration to the car's standard engine, body, suspension, wheels, paintwork or sound system. Moral Hazard The possibility that a person may act dishonestly in an insurance transaction. NCB protection If you have a good rating and want to switch insurers often your new insurer will let you keep it. This means you don’t have to worry about losing your rating when seeking a better deal. It is also an extra insurance you can get to ensure you stay at rating 1 despite an at fault claim. NCB for life If you have held your rating 1 for a certain amount of time you may be able to keep it for life. This would mean if you had an accident claim your insurance premium would not increase. New car guarantee If your car is in a crash or stolen and is relatively new then you can replace your car with a new car. Measurements are usually done on age and kms travelled or a combination of both. No claim cash reward Most insurers will increase your rating if you don’t make a claim but in addition you can now get a cash reward by not making a claim, as in the insurance company will actually give you money. No Claims Discount (NCD) NCD is the amount you receive as a discount on your insurance premium as a result or your rating, see What is No Claims Bonus (NCB)? For more information. No Fault No Fault is used in CTP insurance and means that regardless of whose fault the accident was, all parties involved are covered for their loss. Overinsured Overinsurance occurs when your policy covers an amount which is more that what your vehicle is worth. Overinsurance may be considered as moral hazard if the amount overinsured is large enough. Period of Insurance Period of insurance is the duration for which your insurance policy is valid. This is usually 12 months and is shown on your insurance policy schedule. Personal stolen items cover Covers policy holders if your car gets broken into and robbed and you have personal items stolen – cover is usually capped at $500-$1000. Policy Schedule This is the document that lists the details of your insurance policy. Premium Your premium is the amount you pay for your car insurance policy Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) A legal document lodged with the ASIC that sets out information on a product, including the features of the product, fees that apply, the benefits and risks of investing in the product, information about making a claim, and other information that might reasonably be expected to have a material influence on an persons decision to purchase the insurance. Regular Driver Regular driver is usually anyone who uses the car more than 20% of the time. This may change between policies. Skilled driver course (SDC) There is no doubt that people who have completed a SDC come out of it a better driver and one more aware of how scary and dangerous an out-of-control car is. Some insurers provide discounts to drivers who have completed a SDC and some even pay for you to complete the course (this is usually for drivers under 25). Third Party Personal Liability Insurance See CTP Insurance Third Party Property Insurance TTP is the lowest insurance coverage available from most auto insurance companies. According to liability insurance policies, the insurance company provides protection upon a third party's (another person's) property up to a specified amount. TPP car insurance will not provide any protection for your vehicle so if the crash is your fault then you will have to pay out of your own money. Third Party Property Fire and Theft Insurance TPF covers you as TPP does but also you for theft or burning of your vehicle. Taxi service Insurers may offer policy holders rebates on any taxi they get from the crash site to accommodation or up to a fixed amount. If you have hire car included then you may be able to use a taxi until it becomes available. Trailer cover Covers your trailer up to a certain value if it is damaged in a crash. TPP no fault cover If you have a crash which wasn’t your fault then the insurer of the person at fault will fix your car. If they are not insured and you only have TTP insurance then you may have problems getting the money off them to fix the car. TTP no fault cover will pay for your car to get fixed up to a specified amount (ie: $3000). This may be enough to get your car back on the road without having to pay for comprehensive insurance. Underinsured Underinsurance occurs when your vehicle cover amount is not sufficient to replace your vehicle if required. Basically, you are underinsured if the value of your car exceeds the amount your policy covers. Uninsured Motorist Cover Provides cover for non-comprehensive policy holders in the event the other driver was proven to be at fault but is uninsured or you do not have their identification details. Variable excess Most insurers now offer consumers the choice of varying their excess. Doing this can significantly increase or decrease your premium. If you think you are a good driver and think you won’t have an accident then increasing your excess could save you $100’s on the cost of your premium. Windscreen damage Is usually an extra that you pay for but some insurers do include it as part of their standard policy. It covers you for window and glass damage sometimes not requiring an excess to be paid. Write-off If a vehicles’ value is less than the cost to repair it, an insurance company will declare the vehicle a 'write-off'. In some instances it may be more cost effective to replace your vehicle than to repair it. |