Phuket Car Insurance Experiences

[emubob]

Hi everyone!!

Just wanted to ask the members here in Phuket about their car insurance companies. I know some of you will say this should be posted in the car insurance forum but I am hoping for a wider audience among Phuket residents specifically.

It is now time for my car insurance renewal and I've been looking at quotes from various companies. To me it seems that they are all much of a much with a few tweaks here and there. I was wondering if any of you have any experience with Muang Thai insurance whether positive or negative. This company has given me the best quote (due to a discount) and I wondered if they are worth going for. I know they use Kaja? garage (close to Central) for repairs and would like to know if you have ever dealt with this garage also.

Whilst Honda would like me to go with a company called Ayudthaya Insurance they are quite a bit more expensive than the quote from Muang Thai and I am not sure whether it is worth it or not to go via Honda.

Any information or help that you can offer would be very much appreciated,

Kind regards,

Emubob

[agord]

Hi everyone!!

Just wanted to ask the members here in Phuket about their car insurance companies. I know some of you will say this should be posted in the car insurance forum but I am hoping for a wider audience among Phuket residents specifically.

It is now time for my car insurance renewal and I've been looking at quotes from various companies. To me it seems that they are all much of a much with a few tweaks here and there. I was wondering if any of you have any experience with Muang Thai insurance whether positive or negative. This company has given me the best quote (due to a discount) and I wondered if they are worth going for. I know they use Kaja? garage (close to Central) for repairs and would like to know if you have ever dealt with this garage also.

Whilst Honda would like me to go with a company called Ayudthaya Insurance they are quite a bit more expensive than the quote from Muang Thai and I am not sure whether it is worth it or not to go via Honda.

Any information or help that you can offer would be very much appreciated,

Kind regards,

Emubob

Tavet or Viriya have both been good. We had an accident while insured under Virya and handled everything with out any problems.

[ozymandious]

Quick note on Honda's insurance options.

I bought a new vehicle from them in August and they presented me with their 2 picks for insurance, they were offering them both free of charge for one year as part of my purchase of the vehicle.

I've used my personal insurance lady (AIG) for my car insurance needs for my past car(s) for the past 5 years and I asked her to look over the polices being offered. Both were fine but only offered up to 80% coverage. (That is if the car was stolen or totaled the insurance operator would only pay up to 80% of the total replacement value)

I declined Honda's insurance (received a 12,000Thb credit that I put towards extras on the car) and went with a provider that offered 100% coverage

[emubob]

Hi Ozymandious!

Thanks for your reply! That's a really interesting point you made..........I too was also given a years free insurance with Honda as part of the package for buying the car. I wasn't given 2 choices like yourself but just one which was with MSIG. The policy was in Thai when I got it and upon receiving the car and policy the cover was actually less than 80% of the value of the car. This is definitely something that buyers of new cars should check when being wowed with the offer of a years free insurance.

Was it easy for you to get a higher value placed on your car should it be stolen/written off or does that come at a much higher policy expense??? Is it something that you can negotiate with the insurance companies?

Cheers!

[steelepulse]

Ozy,

Was your AIG policy for your car via QBE or AIG?  My AIG guy got me a policy through QBE for whatever reason.

[hkt83100]

I was wondering if any of you have any experience with Muang Thai insurance whether positive or negative.

I had first class coverage by M.T. years ago. When a motorbike crashed in the front of my correctly parked car, the had a quick look at it, decided that the bumper needs a repair, and sent me to a lousy and dirty repair shop in Baan Koo Koo. I had to show these 'experts' how to remove the bumper, then we discovered that the ventilator was broken and the cooler of the aircon was somehow leaking. It took me forever to claim these damages in addition to the bent bumper and I appreciate the help of my normal garage in this matter. Never ever I will make a contract with M.T. again. You get the service you pay for, just cheap.

(Edited for clarity)

Edited November 25, 2008 by hkt83100

[LivinginKata]

We insured our brand new MU7 through MSIG. Cost us 1.24 million, but max insurance value we could get was 800,000 with MSIG. I just assumed all insurance companies had the same policy.

[stevenl]

My car used to be insured by QBE. Since I bought a new one, I have the one year free insurance with another company, no idea about the name.

After the one year I will go back to QBE, very happy with their service in case anything goes wrong.

[emubob]

LivinginKata.......that's a very big hit to take on your first year if your car gets stolen or totalled........especially if you are paying the car off over a period of years. It really is something worth looking into when renewing. In saying that I had to claim from MSIG and they were very good. I used the Anuphas Shop for repairs by the Heritage in Kathu and they were excellent.

HKT83100........sorry to hear your bad experiences with MT. You did say it was "years ago" which to me sounds like it was a long time back so maybe they have upped their game since. They aren't really any cheaper than the rest of the companies I have looked at in all honesty.

It does seem that a lot of companies don't take into account the actual car specifications other than engine size so if you have a top of the range model with extras it doesn't factor this in to your policy which seems very strange to me.

Anyone ever dealt with the garage called Kaja? by Central??? What were your thoughts?

Cheers

[N47HAN]

A bit of a plug for a friend really,

He owns an insurance brokerage , must be worth a call , if nothing else i know youll get honest advice in English!

The name of the company is AA insurance based in Pattaya , however i know they use companies in Phuket etc for repairs.

Sometimes it is actually cheaper to use a brokerage than going direct ( ever walked into a hotel off the street and asked how much their rooms are per night , compared to what you can get from a company that gives them alot of customers ? )

may be blocked but i think its actually honest advice more than a plug !!

[starkey_rich]

A bit of a plug for a friend really,

He owns an insurance brokerage , must be worth a call , if nothing else i know youll get honest advice in English!

The name of the company is AA insurance based in Pattaya , however i know they use companies in Phuket etc for repairs.

Sometimes it is actually cheaper to use a brokerage than going direct ( ever walked into a hotel off the street and asked how much their rooms are per night , compared to what you can get from a company that gives them alot of customers ? )

may be blocked but i think its actually honest advice more than a plug !!

I'm with AA .They are the brokers TV use.Saved me 6k bht off my last insurance.Never made a claim so I don't know anything about that side of things.

[chiang mai]

Villiers, you get what you pay pay for.

[emubob]

Hi guys!

Thanks for your replies and advice. I did try AA Insurance and although they were cheaper I didn't particularly like the 3,000 baht excess charge they had. I don't feel condident enough in Phuket of not having to make at least one claim a year. The way people drive here, no matter where your car is or how good a driver you are, there is a good chance it is going to get damaged. Whether, it's parked at Central, on the street, at home, driving on the numerous pot-holed roads, soi dogs, motorcycle scrapes, vandalism, etc etc. The list is truly endless!!

[keestha]

My experiences with Meuang Thai, Phuket office, were quite positive. My pickup was wrecked by the 2004 tsunami, and they quickly paid the full amount. After that I bought a second hand pickup, which burned down after a bit more than a year because of a problem with the electrical cabling. Once more they instantly paid me the full amount for which the car was insured.

[chickencurry]

My car used to be insured by QBE. Since I bought a new one, I have the one year free insurance with another company, no idea about the name.

After the one year I will go back to QBE, very happy with their service in case anything goes wrong.

A bit of an old thread this, so hope you are still around. I am trying to find a valid email address for QBE in Phuket Town and wonder if you might have one? If you do, could you send me a PM with it? Many thanks.

And yes, I have googled but the one that I found which was an @ksc.th.com email address does not work. And yes, I do have a couple of contact numbers, but I now live abroad so email is best, and I also want to get an answer from them in "black and white" for reasons I won't go into on here.

[petercallen]

We insured our brand new MU7 through MSIG. Cost us 1.24 million, but max insurance value we could get was 800,000 with MSIG. I just assumed all insurance companies had the same policy.

Seems a common thing with insurance companies here to right down the value of a brand new vehicle before its been driven.

I was used to insurance companies insuring the driver not the car, and driver nominating the car to be insured against damage

You keep the same policy and change it to your new vehicle and accumulate a no claim bonus up to 60%

You also get at least 12 months full replace value on a new vehicle

I have not been able to find the same type of insurance here they only insure the car

[stevenl]

My car used to be insured by QBE. Since I bought a new one, I have the one year free insurance with another company, no idea about the name.

After the one year I will go back to QBE, very happy with their service in case anything goes wrong.

A bit of an old thread this, so hope you are still around. I am trying to find a valid email address for QBE in Phuket Town and wonder if you might have one? If you do, could you send me a PM with it? Many thanks.

And yes, I have googled but the one that I found which was an @ksc.th.com email address does not work. And yes, I do have a couple of contact numbers, but I now live abroad so email is best, and I also want to get an answer from them in "black and white" for reasons I won't go into on here.

Sorry, don't have the insurance papers from QBE anymore.

As I said, I was very happy with QBE and went back to them, but after a year changed to Allianz. The only reason I had for that is some kind of loyalty, because I used to work for Allianz back home. You could try info.thai at QBE.com, just managed to find that on the web.

[barka]

my only advice i can give..have a word with Eric Dohlan of E &I I nsurance brokers..he is a long standing Phuket based broker..who speaks..reads and writes thai he will give you some good advice

[chickencurry]

my only advice i can give..have a word with Eric Dohlan of E &I I nsurance brokers..he is a long standing Phuket based broker..who speaks..reads and writes thai he will give you some good advice

No this is an "old issue" we have with them. We no longer live in Phuket.

Stevenl, I looked at that website and got a couple of names and contact numbers from there, but not an email address unfortunately. I did see an email address for QBE in BKK so I think I'll try that one. They must know if Phuket has an email address I guess.

thanks folks.

[katabeachbum]

Every time I need to buy new car insurance, I first go check with Toyotas body/paint shop to see which Insurance companies accept their prices, use new original parts and have credit with them.

Usually not more than 5 Insurance companies (of the approx 100 in Thailand) pass this one

[Valentine]

LivinginKata.......that's a very big hit to take on your first year if your car gets stolen or totalled........especially if you are paying the car off over a period of years. It really is something worth looking into when renewing. In saying that I had to claim from MSIG and they were very good. I used the Anuphas Shop for repairs by the Heritage in Kathu and they were excellent.

HKT83100........sorry to hear your bad experiences with MT. You did say it was "years ago" which to me sounds like it was a long time back so maybe they have upped their game since. They aren't really any cheaper than the rest of the companies I have looked at in all honesty.

It does seem that a lot of companies don't take into account the actual car specifications other than engine size so if you have a top of the range model with extras it doesn't factor this in to your policy which seems very strange to me.

Anyone ever dealt with the garage called Kaja? by Central??? What were your thoughts?

Cheers

Used Kaja a couple of times & no problem. I think I had QBE for my 1st car here, the agent sent me to a relative's repair shop & the paint started peeling off after a few months. At the end of the 1st year the Toyota sales lady "helped" out by personally collecting the premium & taking care of the details. Come the end of the 2nd year I went to the insurance company myself to renew only to be informed I had no coverage the previous year. They showed me a newspaper clipping & there was a photo of the ex Toyota sales lady with a story stating she was wanted for fraud having done many similar deeds to others.

[steelepulse]

chickencurry, if you need QBE contact info pm me.

[katabeachbum]

Used Kaja a couple of times & no problem. I think I had QBE for my 1st car here, the agent sent me to a relative's repair shop & the paint started peeling off after a few months. At the end of the 1st year the Toyota sales lady "helped" out by personally collecting the premium & taking care of the details. Come the end of the 2nd year I went to the insurance company myself to renew only to be informed I had no coverage the previous year. They showed me a newspaper clipping & there was a photo of the ex Toyota sales lady with a story stating she was wanted for fraud having done many similar deeds to others.

following the fraud of car sales staff collecting cash to "sell" insurance, Toyota by pass has established "after sales service" office, handing you an official Toyota Pearl reciept when paying insurance. They repesent a bunch of Insurance companies, slightly less expensive than others

Kaja, hmm, any garage not using original new parts, I pass. Its cheap, and could be ok for a 7-10 year old, but........................

[merijn]

When i bought my Camry 2 years ago i received a free one year first class insurance from Toyota.

Two months ago i received the renewal papers for the insurance with a 75% price increase. ( we had one small claim )

I said no way to my wife and started phoning around for a new car insurance.

Finally I ended up with QBE after recommendations from friends and they offered me a very good deal for my Camry.

They also are very fast in responding and other inquiries i had.

In the end i ended up with a first class insurance with better conditions for more than halve of the price.

I hear many good things about QBE.

[Valentine]

Used Kaja a couple of times & no problem. I think I had QBE for my 1st car here, the agent sent me to a relative's repair shop & the paint started peeling off after a few months. At the end of the 1st year the Toyota sales lady "helped" out by personally collecting the premium & taking care of the details. Come the end of the 2nd year I went to the insurance company myself to renew only to be informed I had no coverage the previous year. They showed me a newspaper clipping & there was a photo of the ex Toyota sales lady with a story stating she was wanted for fraud having done many similar deeds to others.

following the fraud of car sales staff collecting cash to "sell" insurance, Toyota by pass has established "after sales service" office, handing you an official Toyota Pearl reciept when paying insurance. They repesent a bunch of Insurance companies, slightly less expensive than others

Kaja, hmm, any garage not using original new parts, I pass. Its cheap, and could be ok for a 7-10 year old, but........................

Interesting your earlier comment about checking which car repair shops actually use genuine parts. How did you verify that? Have you actually seen them install the genuine parts? Except for the one company who I was directed to by the manager of QBE & the paint started peeling off (in this case I insisted they buy a new original door which they did) I have found Kaja, Anuphas to be just fine repairing vehicles less than 2 years old i.e. still looked fine when the vehicles were later sold.

[katabeachbum]

Interesting your earlier comment about checking which car repair shops actually use genuine parts. How did you verify that? Have you actually seen them install the genuine parts? Except for the one company who I was directed to by the manager of QBE & the paint started peeling off (in this case I insisted they buy a new original door which they did) I have found Kaja, Anuphas to be just fine repairing vehicles less than 2 years old i.e. still looked fine when the vehicles were later sold.

Toyota Pearl is by Toyota only allowed to use original parts, have a look at their garage. and yes I have actually seen them install the genuine parts, as everyone can go and watch. Toyotas repair ruotines is much more than only using original parts, its specified by Toyota japan, basicly a hood can not be repaired on car, it must be taken off, repaired to original spec, sprayed and then installed again.

Anuphas repair shop next to Shell pump in Kathu is excellent quality job, but Insurance decides where to source parts. Would you like a 5 year old red hood on your new white pearl car? If not buy a proper Insurance

[Valentine]

Toyota Pearl is by Toyota only allowed to use original parts, have a look at their garage. and yes I have actually seen them install the genuine parts, as everyone can go and watch. Toyotas repair ruotines is much more than only using original parts, its specified by Toyota japan, basicly a hood can not be repaired on car, it must be taken off, repaired to original spec, sprayed and then installed again.

Anuphas repair shop next to Shell pump in Kathu is excellent quality job, but Insurance decides where to source parts. Would you like a 5 year old red hood on your new white pearl car? If not buy a proper Insurance

Do Toyota now have their own body repair shop?`

[katabeachbum]

Toyota Pearl is by Toyota only allowed to use original parts, have a look at their garage. and yes I have actually seen them install the genuine parts, as everyone can go and watch. Toyotas repair ruotines is much more than only using original parts, its specified by Toyota japan, basicly a hood can not be repaired on car, it must be taken off, repaired to original spec, sprayed and then installed again.

Anuphas repair shop next to Shell pump in Kathu is excellent quality job, but Insurance decides where to source parts. Would you like a 5 year old red hood on your new white pearl car? If not buy a proper Insurance

Do Toyota now have their own body repair shop?`

I used it first time in 2005, Toyota Pearl in town (opposite Mission Hospital), downstairs. Only a few insurance companies accept their prices though, and even fewer have credit there

Anuphas covers all the Anuphas dealers, Honda, Mazda, Ford

I chose Anuphas for a white pearl paint job on bike parts. Stunning quality, not one imperfection