First Class Versus Second Class Auto Insurance

[jellymeister]

Hello:

I am in looking for any ideas on how to reduce the insurance premium for a vehicle….

What are the major differences between First/second class auto insurance

in terms of cost/coverage?

Is it ever advisable to have anything less than first class, for example with an older vehicle, or is this asking for trouble?

Does lowering the insured value of the vehicle lower the premium?

Any and all advice most welcome.

[mca]

My sister in law has what you'd call 2nd class insurance which covers 3rd parties, fire and theft. About 8k baht first time coverage.

If you stick with 1st class and don't have any claims the premiums are pretty good over the years. My friend has an Isuzu LS 4x4. 5 years old. owned from new, no claims and 8k baht 1st class cover. I seem to recall my 1st class cover when I got my car new was about 25-30k. 3 years later and I'm down to about 13k

[true blue]

im in to my 5th year with my fully comp ins,same car honda city same insurance agent 10 000bht this year.

[Crossy]

I'll move this to motoring

We saved a couple of grand by going for 'named drivers'

[ajahnlau]

Lowering replacement value will reduce ins. rate.

[bangkokeddy]

I thought 2nd class didn't cover theft and that was the major difference?

My insurer dropped 2,000 after haggling, so do some haggling before you renew. It's a buyer's market.

[up-country_sinclair]

^

I agree.

We threatened to go to another agency, and our rate dropped by about 2,000.

[Bobr]

You really should think twice about trying to save money with cheap car insurance. Everyone who drives here knows it's very easy to have an accident and there really is a tendency to find the farang at fault regardless of the facts. Having good insurance through a reputable company means you have someone to defend you and protect your interests since yours and theirs become the same. I hate the horror stories some people tell here but I have known people who were shaken down for money after hitting one of these morons who ride motorcycles on the wrong side of the street. You need good insurance here and it is still cheaper than at home.

[MikeyIdea]

IMO, it's OK to have 2nd class on an older vehicle. Depends on who's driving. Thai wives have a tendency to scratch corners of cars a bit. My wife is up to 10 times in 5 years now and she is still as sad every time it happens. I never blaim her of course. Claiming anything increase premium and it is perfectly OK to change insurance company if they do. There are many more than we think around. I have over a million km without accident that was my fault over the years and thought that I could build up bonus (reduction of premie) here to but, no, that was not to happen. Have to settle for changing insurance company every year instead if the car is to look nice.

I'd never have less than 1st class on a newish car

[caf]

I thought 2nd class didn't cover theft and that was the major difference?

My insurer dropped 2,000 after haggling, so do some haggling before you renew. It's a buyer's market.

It does not cover own fault damage either, or damage that the other side will not admit to. Can be a problem if a police report does not state it is the Thai's fault, if you get my drift.

[mca]

I was also under the impression that 2nd class didn't cover theft but my sister in laws policy certainly does. It's not a straight third party policy. Sort of a 3rd party "plus" thing which includes theft as a new thing suggested by her broker.

[seanocasey]

OK can someone please explain to these mor** how much they have to pay in bail money just to get out of jail.

OK + the extras why do not these people use search I'm to lazy to tell them how much they p*** every one off.

I'm sorry been there done that please wake up you morons 1st class insurance unless you have $500,000bhrt in bank.

please guys wake e'm up before they end up where every hypocritical fa-rang ends up.

[ignis]

There are so many different types, you really need to know them all, what is included what you can add etc..

My 1st new car here was 1st class, the truck is always 1st class every year + renew the truck every 4 years. my older Audi A6 is not, cost a few baht less then 7,000 per year, has the Bail Bond + cover the other party fully + covers my car to 200,000 baht

[bdenner]

im in to my 5th year with my fully comp ins,same car honda city same insurance agent 10 000bht this year.

Same Same, a bit under 10K baht 5 YO DMax, 1st year was about 23KBaht. Saved a bit more as well by adding a clause in the policy where I pay the 1st 10K Baht on any claim.

[aussiebebe]

Amazing that this hasn't been moved to the insurance forum yet, but Thaivisa members can get an insurance quote from Thaivisa brokers. At least you get piece of mind that the company is reputable.

The main ways to reduce premiums are having a named driver, getting a no-claims bonus and lowering the insured value of the vehicle.

Second-class insurance still covers fire and theft as I discovered when my Toyota-Soluna was stolen. That was an old vehicle and I paid 10,000baht for 2nd class for the dealer to sort out, then later checked with New Zealand Insurance online and discovered I could have had 1st class for only 13,000

Best advice, use a broker or compare quotes to lower premium. It's tempting to renew with existing provider (easier) but this isn't the way to save