Multi car insurance

Have more than one car in your household? That means you qualify for a multi-car policy. Which also means that you get to save on your overall premium. Sounds too good to be true? Not surprisingly! But your insurance company wants to reward you for not only remaining a loyal customer, but also bringing more business to them.

Anyone who has more than one vehicle in their house. And the beauty of it is, they don't all have to belong to you, just share the same residency - in some cases you don’t even need to be residing at the same place. If you need further clarification, here’s a checklist of who may qualify for a multi-car insurance policy:

• A single person with more than one vehicle
• A couple with more than one vehicle
• Friends, siblings or relatives who collectively have more than one vehicle
• A single parent family or partnered with one child or more, who are old enough to drive and have their own vehicles. Some policies will insure your children even if they live, study or work away from home.

Want to start looking for car insurance? Read on.

If you’ve had your policy for a long time it’s never too late to add more vehicles to start seeing your benefits. The more cars the bigger the discount! However, some insurance companies will cap the amount of cars to say, five vehicles, but this is something you will need to check with the company you sign up with.

There is no real difference between purchasing a multicar policy over regular comprehensive or third party property insurance. The main differences however will be the obvious, like cheaper premiums with bulk car insurance policies if all placed under the one name.

Need some help working out if a multicar policy is right for you? Read some of Mozo’s car insurance customer reviews for an unbiased view on what works for people just like yourself.

• Pros: Having a multicar policy does not change the ownership of the actual vehicle. In order to benefit from the discount, each vehicle will need to be listed under the one name, one policy. This means that although the policy will be owned by the original first nominated person, the other driver’s names can be listed under the policy as well.
• Cons: If a member of the household who doesn’t own the policy but wants to build on their own loyalty membership, will need to be independent of your multi-policy and start their own. But check with the insurance provider. Some companies allow you to co-insure without affecting your individual no claim bonus.

Something to think about: if a car-owner within your multi car policy is accident prone, is it really a good idea to have them included?

Should I stick to what I already have?

This is really up to you and down to your personal situation. It’s a good idea to take the time in doing some research, while keeping the conversation open with your family and friends who want to join in on your policy to start benefiting from the multi discount. It’s one thing to grab a bargain, and one thing to have a policy or product that’s fit for everyone.

It’s ok if you’re overwhelmed or confused. Everyone is until that make a decision. How about comparing multi car policies to Mozo’s car insurance guides on comprehensive or third party property to get the full picture.

No claim bonus: There are many queries about this topic, and rightly so. When there’s a multicar policy in a household, as discussed earlier there is one owner of the policy, but potentially many car owners who co-insure, which basically means you’re sharing the policy. So if one person makes a claim within the group, it’s only their own No Claim Bonus that’s affected. Everyone else's remains intact.

Premium: However the major effect that you need to be aware of is the premium total will change, which means if everyone is sharing the cost, then everyone’s shared cost in the multi policy will be higher. And depending on the provider you go with, this could be 5-20% higher each year someone has an accident and claims it.

Remember: the policy name will be under the one person's name, but the ownership of each individual vehicle remains the same as the day you purchased them.

Things that may affect your overall premium cost may come down to the overall driving credibility of some of the members that co-insure with you. so even if you have a clean driving record for the past twenty years and another person listed in your policy has made a claim three times in 8 years, then your premium will go up.

Let’s look at some other factors that may affect the price you pay. If a person included in your multicar policy has:

• a provisional license, either red or green P plates (young and mature ages included)
• a young driver 25 years or under, regardless of driving record
• a driver has made a claim within 12-24 months, regardless of license type
• a criminal record
• lost their license previously
• a driver aged 75+

While the multi-car policy concept is great, potentially saving you and your family and friends hundreds of dollars in the long run, you’ve got to ask yourself this: if some of the members that are co-insured with you have any factors connected to them that help hike up the price of your premium, will you be enjoying the savings you had hoped for? Or is it a better idea to let them hold their own policy. You be the judge.

Need a helping hand? Check out Mozo’s car insurance comparison tool to get you started.