Living costs drive away car insurance
HOUSEHOLDS hit by the rising cost of living are more likely to ditch their comprehensive car insurance than any other form of family protection, new research suggests.
A study by comparison website Finder. com. au found 23 per cent of drivers had cancelled comprehensive policies because they couldn’t afford it.
Finder’s national survey of more than 2000 people also found that 17 per cent of people had scrapped private hospital cover, 16 per cent ditched extras cover and 12 per cent can- celled life insurance because of financial pressures.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows the cost of insurance has surged 66 per cent in the past decade, 2 ½ times faster than the overall inflation rise of 26 per cent in that period.
Finder spokeswoman Bessie Hassan said the research showed that some people were thinking twice about car insurance as a necessity.
“Unlike with other insurance products, there’s no real penalty for ditching a comprehensive car insurance policy,” Ms Hassan said.
“Whereas with health insurance, for example, you may have to re- serve waiting periods.”
Comprehensive insurance covers accidental damage to your vehicle, theft, and damage that your car does to other people’s vehicles or other property.
The research found that Generation X was the most likely age group to be cancelling comprehensive car cover.
Insurance Council of Australia spokesman Campbell Fuller said industry statistics showed there had been no decline in the number of overall policies being sold for home, contents and motor vehicle insurance and no decline in levels of overall cover.