AAMI Comprehensive Car Insurance Policy
What to do and what happens when
Your car has been damaged
Phone AAMI (as soon as possible) on 13 22 44.
AAMI chooses the repairer and arranges the repair
For your peace of mind, our claims service looks after all the arrangements for the proper repair of your car.
If your car can be safely driven
We arrange a time with you to bring your car to the AAMI Customer Service Centre most convenient to you. All you do is leave it there. We pay for your taxi home or back to work.
If your car cannot be safely driven
We transport your car to either the AAMI Customer Service Centre most convenient to you or an AAMI approved holding yard.
The repair
We choose the repairer and arrange the repair for you. To do this, we ordinarily obtain two independent, competitive quotations from repairers we recommend. If you want, you can choose a repairer to provide one of the quotes.
Once our assessor has reviewed the quotations and what is necessary to properly repair your car, we select the repairer:
who submitted the more competitive and complete quote, and
this is the repairer who then repairs your car.
We keep you informed of the progress of the repair and advise you when your car is ready for collection.
In areas not covered by an AAMI Customer Service Centre, we arrange the repair of your car in consultation with you.
The repair is covered by AAMI's Lifetime Repair Guarantee - see page 25.
Your car has been stolen
Report the theft immediately to the Police and to AAMI.
We allow 14 days for your car to be found from when you reported its theft to us.
So you are inconvenienced as little as possible, we can provide you with a hire car for up to 21 days. See page 15.
If your car is found damaged within the 14 days from when you reported its theft to us and it:
can be repaired, we will arrange the repair. See 'The repair' page 22.
cannot be repaired, see 'If your car cannot be repaired' page 26.
If it is not found within the 14 days, and we are satisfied your claim is in order, we declare your car a write-off and pay the agreed value or replace your car. See 'What happens when we make a write-off payment or replace your car' on pages 26-27.
The use of your car has caused damage to someone else's property (legal liability)
Phone AAMI (as soon as possible) on 13 22 44.
We cover your legal liability for any loss or damage to other people's property and loss or damage consequent upon damage to other people's property resulting from the use of your car. The use of a trailer attached to your car is also covered.
We will pay up to a total of $20,000,000 for all claims arising from the one event.
Any person who uses your car with your permission and who complies with the terms and conditions of this policy is covered.
Your employer or principal is covered if you are driving your car in the course of your employment or agency, and the use of your car is private use or you are covered under this policy for business use.
We do not pay for any loss or damage caused to property owned by you or any person ordinarily living with you.
Further information about repairing or replacing your car
Inspecting and repairing your car
You must make your car available to us if we decide to inspect or repair it. If requested by us, you must take your car or allow it to be taken to a place nominated by us.
You must not authorise the repair of your car without our written authority.
Your contribution to repair work
If the repair of your car leaves it in a better condition than before it was damaged, we may ask you to contribute to the repair cost. If we ask you to contribute we will always explain why, tell you how much it will be and how to pay it.
Where replacement parts are required for the repair of your car and:
your car is within its manufacturer's standard new car warranty period
New genuine parts will be used except for the replacement of windscreens and window glass for which Australian manufactured, Australian Design Rule compliant parts may be used.
your car is outside its manufacturer's standard new car warranty period
New and/or recycled genuine parts will be used except for the replacement of windscreens and window glass for which Australian manufactured, Australian Design Rule compliant parts may be used.
Parts produced by genuine parts suppliers may be used in the repair of components such as radiators and air conditioners.
parts for your car are no longer available
Where replacement parts are required for the repair of your car and they are no longer available, we may pay you what it would have cost us to repair your car with those parts had they been available.
The AAMI Lifetime Repair Guarantee
The quality of the workmanship and the materials authorised by AAMI in the repair of your car will be guaranteed for its life. The parts used in the repair of your car will be of the same type as those explained on these pages.
If you are concerned about the quality of the repair of your car, you must call us on 13 22 44 and you must make your car available to us. You must not authorise rectification work without our written authority.
We will inspect the repair and arrange any necessary rectification work. If in our opinion, it would not be safe or economical to carry out the rectification work required, we will declare your car a write-off.
If our write-off declaration is made:
within the current period of cover, we will pay the agreed value shown on your policy schedule for that period.
after the current period of cover, we will pay the market value of your car applying at the time of our declaration.
If your car cannot be repaired
Sometimes cars are so badly damaged that they would not be either safe or economical to repair.
If in our opinion, the damage to your car is so great that it would not be safe or economical to repair, we will declare your car a write-off and pay the agreed value or replace it.
See 'The protection we provide' pages 9-10
What happens when we make a 'write-off' payment or replace your car
| When we make a 'write-off' payment | When we replace your car |
| We deduct any unpaid or additional premium owing from our payment. | You will need to pay us any unpaid or additional premium owing first. |
| We pay the agreed value and your policy comes to an end. | We replace your car and your policy comes to an end. You will need to organise new insurance cover for your replacement car. |
| We will post you a cheque for the agreed value or deposit it directly into your nominated bank account. | |
| If someone else has a financial interest in your car, we will pay them what they are entitled to and pay you any balance. | |
| Because our 'write-off' payment meets all our obligations to you in full, there is no refund of any unused portion of the premium. | There is no refund of any portion of the premium because our replacement of your car meets all our obligations to you in full. |
| We retain your damaged car unless you wish to keep it. If you wish to retain your damaged car: | |
| Its salvage value will be deducted from our payment. | You will need to pay us its salvage value first. |
In this table 'your car' and 'your damaged car' each include all insured options, accessories and modifications, and unless the law where you live provides otherwise, the value of any unexpired portion of your car's registration and Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance.
Your responsibilities when you claim on your policy include:
Obtaining our written consent
You must not make any admissions or settle any claims without our prior written consent.
Giving assistance - information, notices, negotiating, defending and settling claims
In this section 'you' means you and, if you were not driving your car, the driver of your car.
You must give us the information and assistance we reasonably request in evaluating the cause, extent and value of any claim. This may include:
providing us with full details of the claim in writing, including the name(s) and address(es) of the driver(s) of and registration number(s) of any vehicle(s) involved in the accident or event,
providing contracts of sale, receipts or other evidence of ownership,
providing written statements,
providing other relevant documents,
undergoing an interview or interviews about the circumstances of the claim, and
appearing in court and giving evidence.
The information you give must be honest, correct and complete.
You must assist us to recover any part of the claim from the person responsible for the accident or event which results in a claim.
You must promptly deliver to us any relevant letters and notices that come into your possession. This includes promptly telling us if you become aware of any demands, court proceedings or offers of settlement.
We shall be entitled, but not obliged, to defend or represent you in any legal proceedings relating to an accident or event which may give rise to a claim against us and to control, settle and deal with those proceedings as we see fit.
We will pay the legal and other reasonable related costs of defending any claim made against you, provided we appoint the solicitors who will defend the claim and we have told you in writing that we will pay their costs.
You must assist us in all our endeavours to negotiate, defend or settle any claim made under this policy and to exercise for our benefit your legal right of recovery against any other party.
If you fail to assist us, or do not abide by any of these terms, we may reduce or refuse to pay your claim or be entitled to recover from you any monies paid under the claim.
Would you like more information about how we pay claims?
For more information about how we pay car claims under this policy, including examples of different claim types and payments, you can read our AAMI Comprehensive Car Insurance - Premium, Excesses & Claims Guide. It is available on our website at aami.com.au (under the Car Insurance section) or call us on 13 22 44 if you would like us to post you a free copy.