Car Insurance

Comprehensive Car Insurance is a type of car insurance that covers you for:

• accidental damage to your car
• damage that may be caused by the use of your car cause to other vehicles and property, and
• theft, fire, and malicious damage to your car.

It offers more features and benefits compared to other levels of cover, such as Third Party Car Insurance.

In Australia, it’s mandatory to have Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance. CTP only covers you for injury-related costs for which you may be liable if you cause an accident while driving, and not for things like damage to your car or other people’s cars and property.

Whether you buy additional car insurance on top of your CTP is completely up to you. However, car insurance can give you peace of mind that if you have an accident, you might not have to fork out so much for repairs or replacing your car. Even if you can afford to replace your car outright should you ever need to, you may accidentally run into a car that costs a lot more to repair or replace. If you do, you might be liable for thousands of dollars in repairs. The right car insurance can ensure that, if something like that does happen, you may only have to pay the car insurance excess instead of the full costs of the damage.

Everyone uses their car differently. It’s important to understand and research the different levels of car insurance to find the best cover for you and your needs.

You can read more in our handy guide: What kind of car insurance do I need?

Car insurance is designed to cover the costs involved with certain events. Depending on what’s included in your policy, you can be covered to repair damage to your car after an accident, damage to other people’s cars and property, the cost to replace your car after it’s stolen, and more.

If an event happens that’s covered by your car insurance, you may need to make a claim. You may have to pay an excess (particularly if you’re at fault), and the rest of the bill will be covered by your insurer. The excess is usually a lot less than the total cost of the damage, which is why it can be useful to have car insurance!

When you get a quote for AAMI Comprehensive Car Insurance, you can choose the amount you want to cover your car for — referred to as the ‘amount covered’. We’ll ask you for details about your car and you, and then use that to give you a minimum and maximum amount you can cover your car for. You can adjust the amount to any number within that range, and that will become the maximum amount we’ll pay you in an insured event.

Third Party Car Insurance is a type of car insurance that covers you for damage caused by the use of your car to other people’s vehicles or property, if you’re liable for it. You can also add extra features to it, for an additional premium, to include cover for loss of, or damage to, your own car caused by fire or theft.

Third Party Car Insurance is different to Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance.

When calculating the cost of your premium, insurers take into consideration possible risks. Young drivers may be more inexperienced on the road, and therefore are sometimes more likely to have an accident (on average, of course. We know that each individual driver is different). For this reason, car insurance can end up costing more for a young driver.

There’s good news for young drivers with AAMI, though — eligible AAMI Comprehensive Car Insurance policy holders can take our Skilled Drivers course. This can earn you up to 10% off your AAMI Comprehensive Car Insurance rated premium (terms and conditions do apply, make sure you check out our Skilled Drivers course page for more info).

Many factors can influence how much your car insurance premium will cost, including:

• how expensive your car is, and how expensive replacement parts would be
• the age of your car
• certain safety features
• where you live, and
• the age, experience, and driver history of the insured driver.

You can find out more in our AAMI Informed article: Can you estimate the cost of buying car insurance before you buy?

Comprehensive Car Insurance is just that — comprehensive. It’ll provide you with coverage for a range of insured events such as accidents and theft, as well as weather events like hail, fire and storms. If you’re involved in an accident, your car and property and the other person’s car and property are covered, even if you’re at fault. Third Party Car Insurance, on the other hand, will only cover you for damage you cause to someone else’s vehicle and property. For more info on what is and isn’t covered, be sure to read the Product Disclosure Statement.

If you’re using your car less because you’re self-isolating, there are changes you can make to your policy that may reduce your premium. This includes increasing your standard excess if your policy is up for renewal, changing the average kilometres driven listed on your policy. You can do this easily via your My Account by following this step-by-step guide, or by calling 13 22 44.