About To Renew My Auto Insurance After 1st Year New Car

[Lopburi99]

Bought a new Toyota Altis last fall and received the first year insurance coverage "free" as a promotion item.

Well, it's time for insurance renewal time and the company, TIB (Toyota Insurance Broker) just sent me a bill for 18,271 baht for another year. This is for full coverage based on the amount financed (550,000 baht).

Is this a reasonable price?

Thank you very much.

[prakhonchai nick]

After 1 year you should be eligible for a 1 year No Claim Bonus assumong no claims.

Does the renewal offer reflect this?

Suggest you shop around for alternative quotes

[puyaidon]

I bought a Camry and the first insurance payment almost gave me a heart attack. But after five years of no accidents, it gradually came down significantly. I get the impression that only the car is insured. I have seen students of mine who have many accidents and their rates don't seem to go up. If they insured by the driver, most of us with no accidents would have very low payments. But like the man says, TIT.

[dsfbrit]

I have class A insurance through Viriyah Insurance on my 4 year old Toyota Vigo. This cover started at 21000 Baht 3 years ago with the no claims discount is now 12000 Baht. The insurance I had the first year with a different company, took some time for me to fully understand the 'subtleties' of just what it offered. I then realised the medical cover was not too good and they did not fit Toyata original parts. The new insurance cover is much better for me personally in both these areas - particularly the genuine Totota parts. So understanding what you are getting for your money is as important as the price.

Edited August 13, 2009 by dsfbrit

[msg362]

We have a one year old Mazda 3 2 litre and had 1st class insurance free for the first year with Viriya. wotrh about 23,000. With one year's no claims bonus, Viriya wanted 26,000 as they said the car was 'old'!! TIT!!!

Got a price of 18,000 form LMG but the terms aren't as good.

[jimmym40]

That price does seem reasonable to me. Same thing happened to us on our Altis. They actually wanted like 3,000 baht more for the second year, than the first. Why, because it was a "discounted" price for the dealer.

And here's some info many may not know: Usually on these insurance policies, they cover "anyone/everyone" that drives your car and has an accident. What you can do to lower your premium is to have only your name, or you/wife's name, on the policy, which means those are the only one/two people that are covered. In our case, only me and my wife are on the policy as we will not/do not let anyone else every drive our car (our pride and joy). I don't remember exactly what percentage or how much it lowered the premium, my guess was about 3-4,000 baht.

Like the saying goes, "you get what you pay for". If you shop around, you'll really have to compare coverages very closely.

[kamalabob2]

Prakhonchai Nick, Jimmym40 and dsfbrit have all brought up very valid points on auto insurance. With the no-claims discount the First Class Insurance premium on my 2005 Toyota Fortuner was set to be 17,246 baht. But by making only my wife and I the "named drivers" the annual premium dropped 2376 baht to 14,870 baht this year. This is through The Viriyah Insurance Company. Frankly every year it is a hassle to obtain the price and make the payment since this is the one insurance policy we did not buy through our insurance BROKER. The first year was "included" through the local Toyota dealership and then each year is the quest to find a Viriyah staff person who UNDERSTANDS questions posed in English. Viriyah never proposed lowering the policy with "named drivers", my Insurance broker suggested that question. Comparing the premium coverages, limits of liability and "original parts" coverage is real important in my opinion.

[hansnl]

That price does seem reasonable to me. Same thing happened to us on our Altis. They actually wanted like 3,000 baht more for the second year, than the first. Why, because it was a "discounted" price for the dealer.

And here's some info many may not know: Usually on these insurance policies, they cover "anyone/everyone" that drives your car and has an accident. What you can do to lower your premium is to have only your name, or you/wife's name, on the policy, which means those are the only one/two people that are covered. In our case, only me and my wife are on the policy as we will not/do not let anyone else every drive our car (our pride and joy). I don't remember exactly what percentage or how much it lowered the premium, my guess was about 3-4,000 baht.

Like the saying goes, "you get what you pay for". If you shop around, you'll really have to compare coverages very closely.

Indeed, lowers the premium by 4000-7000 baht.

However, if someone else is driving the car and gets an accident, your own risk will go up with the same amount.

Several companies, also the banks, have a lot of different offerings.

KTB (Krungthai Panich has the "Happy Car' scheme, starts at 7000 baht.

Shopping around, including the bank offerings, will pay off nicely.

Do remember, that at the moment a lot of companies are eager for business.

The market is shrinking very much.

It is a customers market at the moment.

Asia Insurance, not a big company but trustwothy, gave me a full cover for 7900 baht.

They only asked me to spread the risk by taking out the legal insurance too.

Big deal for 645 baht.

Give them a call, preferably in Thai.

[Lopburi99]

Your points are all well taken. In the states I'd have no problem shopping around to find the best deal for the most suitable coverage, but here with the language barrier I feel it would be impossible. Thinking more, maybe I can find a trusted person who is fluent in Thai and English to do my shopping around for me. It's be worth more than a few cool tall ones for that! As usual the language problem poses one of the most significant problems living in LOS for me for whenever I get involved with anything other than the bare basics.

Unfortunately I need to be sure anybody driving the car would still keep the insurance in effect. I've been unable to keep the son from gaining access (a big sore point with me) now and then. Also, I would want to be sure a quality repair job was done using genuine Toyota parts, and that medical coverage for an accident would be premium.

[ThaivisaInsurance]

Your points are all well taken. In the states I'd have no problem shopping around to find the best deal for the most suitable coverage, but here with the language barrier I feel it would be impossible. Thinking more, maybe I can find a trusted person who is fluent in Thai and English to do my shopping around for me. It's be worth more than a few cool tall ones for that! As usual the language problem poses one of the most significant problems living in LOS for me for whenever I get involved with anything other than the bare basics.

Unfortunately I need to be sure anybody driving the car would still keep the insurance in effect. I've been unable to keep the son from gaining access (a big sore point with me) now and then. Also, I would want to be sure a quality repair job was done using genuine Toyota parts, and that medical coverage for an accident would be premium.

May we suggest an Insurance Broker ? In Thailand it costs no more to us a Broker and a fully licensed one has accesss to all the avaiable policies.

Thai Visa Broker : Here

[PattayaParent]

You should know that the 'free' insurance from the dealer isn't free.

You can discount the sales price and buy the insurance cheaper from a broker.

[kjhbigv]

I had same problem, 'free' first year insurance on a a new Yaris, this year all quotes from various people 15-18k...basically due to the fact that Thai Insurance Companies base the premium on the car, it's a bit of a captive market for them....costs twice as much to insure my Yaris inThailand, as my Audi A3 in the UK!!!

[blakegeee]

I had same problem, 'free' first year insurance on a a new Yaris, this year all quotes from various people 15-18k...basically due to the fact that Thai Insurance Companies base the premium on the car, it's a bit of a captive market for them....costs twice as much to insure my Yaris inThailand, as my Audi A3 in the UK!!!

I just used the link for ThaiVisa insurance above and the quote is better than expected. For second class plus extra stuff, its about 9000b/year for a 350,000b Vigo. In Canada, basic liability would be over 30,000b!

I have heard that they won't offer a deductible unless you ask and that provides a good discount. I still have to talk to the guy about that. I heard that a 3000b deductible will usually give you about a 5000b saving per year. Also, if you are the only driver, they will give you a good discount. I am also waiting to hear back from him about that. So it might end up being cheaper than 9000b in the end. They also confirmed that genuine Toyota parts can be used in case of an accident. Apparently thats not always the case.

[JUDAS]

I used TV insurance for the renewal on my 1 year old vigo 4x4 and was pleased with the service and price. Was 18,xxx Baht including Roadside Assist.

[Dave the Dude]

I used TV insurance for the renewal on my 1 year old vigo 4x4 and was pleased with the service and price. Was 18,xxx Baht including Roadside Assist.

Thats a good deal, its 3,000b cheaper than mine without roadside assistance

Rock on Rab !

Dave

[Bosse137]

Trying to make a very long story short,I have to exclude many details. This is posted as a warning! For some years I used,what I thought was a local office of one of the bigger companys in the market,to insure my car. One year,about 6 months after I had renewd my insurence,I recieved a letter from headoffice,telling me,that I did not have any insurence,since I had not paid for it!! I send the copy of my payment,but this was not valid,"must be from the headoffice". It turned out,that the office,where I had insured my car,was run by an "agent",who was not employed by the company... This agent had simply run away with all the money instead of sending them to headoffice.Why did they not tell me sooner,then? "Because we like to give the agents plenty of time to send in the money". In the meantime, I had been driving about every day for SIX months without any coverage!! After a lengthy period with many meetings,I was finally, thanks to help from some state agency,granted my insurence. It happened when there was about one week left on it. My arguring,that I should have a "new" one,starting at that day,fell on deaf ears.So ;; be careful out there,when it comes to "agents" !!

[ThaivisaInsurance]

A very well timed 'word of warning' as this has just happened again. Unlike yourself this person had an accident and then found out his 'agent' had not paid over the premium. He was recommended by one of our Customers to see if we could help and fortunately we were able in this instance.

The lesson here is to only use a licensed Broker and not to be afraid of asking to see their Brokers license. Alternatively one can check on the OIC website for licensed Brokers.

Thai Visa Insurance Brokers

[Pib]

I would have to agreed with earlier posts that dealership arranged/free Type I Comprehensive Voluntary Insurance from insurance company XYZ as part of the car buying deal may not provide the best deal on the first year/initial issue/renewal of insurance. You would be better off cutting a deal to lower the auto purchase price by XX thousand baht (say 20 to 30 thousand baht). Then you would probably be better off insurance coverage-wise to buy your own insurance versus going with the dealership-arranged/sponsored insurance. While the dealership arranged/sponsored insurance was OK, it was not the most comprehensive and lowest cost in my case for my Fortuner.

On my first year insurance renewal I was happy that I used a insurance broker here in Bangkok to select auto and home insurance, as using the broker didn't cost me anymore, provided plenty of policies in English for comparison (this in important for your review and peace of mind), and the broker spoke/wrote excellent English. And the broker may be able to assist when you have a claim. Yeap, in my case as a person just trying to get the best insurance coverage/deal, I'm happy I used a good insurance broker (with good spoken/written English capability) here in Thailand to renew/switch my auto insurance.