Why shop around for car insurance?

The car insurance industry in South Africa has become very competitive, evidenced in hearing and seeing a lot of advertising in this space. The car insurance companies are frequently adjusting their prices. Their big teams of actuaries, the people that work out how much they will charge you, are employed to continually review their rates. Not just that but you and your car are also always changing. Where you park your car during the night may have changed, since you have moved house, your credit score may have changed to be more favorable (Car insurance companies use this as part of your risk profile) So, prices are always changing.

The benefits of shopping for better car insurance
Even though you may not always find a better deal, shopping is the only way to be sure you’re not missing out on savings or getting the required coverage and benefits you may need.

According to Experian, when you get insurance quotes, credit report inquiries from insurance companies won’t affect your credit history. They’re treated as a “soft inquiry,” like requests from you for a personal credit score. So you can get quotes frequently without it affecting your credit profile.

Here are four benefits you may experience when shopping around for car insurance.
1. Shopping around might save you money. You may gain confidence that you are getting a good deal on your existing insurance by comparing on Better Compare.
2. It could actually indirectly help your credit score If you were able to free up some cash monthly by saving on your car insurance, this may free up some cash for you to consider paying off any debt you have, thus bringing down your monthly expenses.
3. It helps ensure you’re not taken for granted. Policyholders who keep the same policy year after year are more likely to be charged higher rates than if they periodically changed insurance companies. The likely reason being that the insurance companies know you have not moved company thus far, having probably had various price increases already, and therefore a future planned price increase would mean you are more likely to stay with them.
4. Shopping could improve your knowledge of car insurance. When you do a take time to find out more about an insurance company and its products you are probably learning each time. As an example you may stumble across an article like this one which may provide some additional insight or a recent article on Better Compare which shared factual information on the impact the Basic Excess amount you choose could affect your monthly premium and the amount you would need to pay in the event of a claim.

The bottom line
Comparing car insurance quotes can result in lower monthly premiums. However always consider that you’re not sacrificing coverage to save some cash.

The good news
Better Compare is here to make it easier to shop around for car insurance using our impartial and unbiased real-time comparison technology.