For anyone with a vehicle, car insurance is simply a must. Between problems of accidents and thefts, car insurance is a simply a basic necessity. In addition, new threats like natural hazards and rising criminality which includes minor cases of vandalism and extreme acts of terrorism, car insurance has become a need more than ever.
And as far as responding to various threats go, a comprehensive insurance is the most complete and therefore safest car insurance option. Of course, the benefits of getting extensive coverage are often compromised by the cost as comprehensive car insurance tends to be very costly.
Comprehensive Coverage Means Comprehensive Cost
Comprehensive car insurance, as the name implies, covers a comprehensive range of damage to a motor vehicle including vandalism, fire, wind, flood and other non-accident causes and even loss of the vehicle due to theft. Bodily injury insurance covers injury and death claims including legal costs against you if your car is involved in an accident that injures or kills someone. It also has property damage liability which means it covers claims of medical payments insurance coverage compensate for injuries to the driver as well as other occupants of the car. In Singapore, comprehensive car insurance also provides uninsured motorist protection which covers injuries caused to you or the occupants of your car by uninsured or hit-and-run drivers. This new type of insurance also covers claims against a driver who has inadequate insurance. Furthermore, “act of god” coverage has also become part of car comprehensive insurance and covers damage to vehicles due to natural events such as storm, cyclones, flood and other natural disasters.
Further still, a number of Singapore insurance companies are also now offering “forgiveness” packages which frees first time offenders from liabilities. In Singapore, drivers with no prior record of accidents can significantly benefit from this coverage option since accident forgiveness insurance allows drivers to avoid the insurance rate increase that comes with their first at-fault accident.
Understandably however, such an extensive list of benefits means very considerable cost. This usually means $2,500-3,000 plus $500-700 for additional coverage such as Young or Inexperienced Driver Excess.
Insurance Alternatives
Of course, the exorbitant price to pay for a comprehensive insurance may still be worth it in the long run. Although accident insurances are way cheaper, they do not provide half the same security that comprehensive insurance does. And also, there are various cheap car insurance options Singapore and it may just take creativity and research to avail of these.
Finding a cheap insurance in Singapore would mean looking at special packages. For instance, new off-the peak cars (OPC) options have become widely available in Singapore today. OPCs are cars that are relatively cheaper due to lower costs of registration which is in turn due to the fact that these vehicles can only be used in limited terms, for instance, they can only be driven outside peak hours which means anytime other than 7am-7pm or on Saturdays and public holidays. OPC insurance is among the cheapest Singapore car insurance packages since it is a “pay as-you-drive” type of scheme which allows motorists to pay insurance premiums only according to where and when they drive similar to phone charges that only pick up when you use your phone. This helps drivers control their premiums by driving only at off-peak hours.