Car Insurance Types
Driving on South African roads is a risky affair, accidents can happen when you least expect them. Then we have additional horrors such as road rage, hijacking and car theft to content with. Can you afford car insurance? Can you afford to be without any form of car insurance?

In South Africa we have three basic types of car insurance available – comprehensive, third party, fire and theft and third party only. There are also additional benefits, or add-on’s, available that you can choose or not. Let’s take a look at some of the options available to you when you are looking to insure your car.

Comprehensive Insurance
Comprehensive insurance, as the name indicates, provides you with protection against all the possible risks (in insurance called perils.) Risks included are accident damage, damage to third parties cars and claims from third parties. It also includes cover against theft and hijacking, hail damage and fire. Mechanical breakdown is not covered by car insurance policies. Most comprehensive car insurance policies will include additional benefits such as towing, medical assistance and roadside assistance.

When you finance the purchase of your car through a bank or other car financier it will be a condition of the loan that you obtain comprehensive insurance and provide the bank with proof of the cover. Comprehensive cover is the safest option as it provides you with the widest cover; for the same reason it will also be the most expensive option available.

Third Party, Fire and Theft
With this type of car insurance policy you will be covered should your car be stolen or hijacked, it also provides cover against fire damage and against claims from third parties should you be involved in an accident. This policy provides no cover for your own damage in case of an accident, you therefore carry your own insurance against accident risk.

This cover is much cheaper than comprehensive insurance and if you drive a rather old car you may wish to consider this as an option. With any claim you will pay an excess; that is the first amount payable by yourself, before the insurance company pays out the rest. If you weigh up your options you may decide that it is not worth your while taking out comprehensive insurance. You can even exclude the fire cover and save more on your premium. Most people may not realize this—car insurance packages are not cast in stone, you can customize your insurance to a large extent, discuss this with your insurance company or broker.

Third Party only
Third Party only will be your cheapest option as it provides only third party cover. This is car insurance you cannot and must not do without. Although the Road Accident Fund covers car accident victims in the event of an accident caused by someone who is not insured, it does not cover the actual cars involved in the accident. So, no matter how old your car may be, if you drive into an imported Audi and you don’t have third party cover, you will be personally held liable to pay for the damages to the other car.

Emergency roadside assistance insurance
Particularly for women, this insurance option covers unforeseen emergencies, e.g., a flat tyre or the cost of towing your car to the nearest garage. Some policies incorporate roadside emergency assistance; with others it is an optional extra for which you pay extra.

Gap insurance
This is something to consider if you drive an expensive car that is financed. If your car is stolen or written off in an accident, gap insurance will cover the gap between what your insurance company pays you and what you owe the company that is financing your car.

Read the fine print for exclusions
All car insurance policies have certain exclusions, for example, if your car is in an accident when driven by someone other than yourself or if an accident occurs outside the country in which the vehicle is registered you may not be covered at all. No car insurance policy will pay out if you have been found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Last, but not least, if your car was stolen because you left the keys in your car, didn’t park it in a lockup garage/ didn’t have approved anti-theft devices, the policy could become null and void. It is therefore imperative that you read the small print and understand all the exclusions in your car insurance policy. Don’t take chances, it’s not worth it.