New Car Insurance

[Dazinoz]

Hi,

My wife and I are in the process of moving to Chiangmai in Thailand to retire. Last week I returned from 2 weeks there and in that time I achieved a number of things.

One of the things I did was to order a new car to be delivered just after we arrive. It is a Honda Jazz SV-AT at the price of 715000Baht. The insurance quoted on the order form seems a little high compared to Australian standards and was just wondering what people think.

I was quoted 24918Baht. The sum insured is is 580000Baht. The company name on the form is HCT, Kumpaz.

I assume this would be Level 1 insurance but not sure if includes CMI. I have text the dealer but no replies.

What do people think?

Thanks in advance,

Darral.

[899cc]

They hav'nt done you any favor's at that price, it's normal here to only get insurance upto 80% value of the car, we got free insurance last year when bought our car from Toyota, but our friend has just insured his 1 yr old Jazz sv 1st class cover and his premium 15,300 and that inc government insurance as well @ 645baht........

[habfan]

24,918.00 baht seems a little high to me as well, also as mentioned in the above post, Toyota picked up my first year's insurance in the selling price of my truck in March.

[habfan]

Just took a look at my receipt from Toyota the breakdown of the total on the receipt list's insurance at 17,500 baht on a 875,000 baht truck.

[Dazinoz]

Thanks for the info so far.

Thought sounded too much. I have not paid yet as that is to be done when they deliver. Trying to get a quote from Viriyah but not answering web quote requests.

[stevenl]

I would not recommend Viriyah, but opinions on that will vary.

Why don't you just ask a broker to come up with a good solution for you? I have recently contacted AA insurance . on of the TV sponsors, and am happy with the service so far.

Edited July 10, 2013 by stevenl

[Dazinoz]

I would not recommend Viriyah, but opinions on that will vary.

Only tried them because of recommendations on here.

Why don't you just ask a broker to come up with a good solution for you? I have recently contacted AA insurance . on of the TV sponsors, and am happy with the service so far.

Will try them, thanks.

[jbrain]

Just took a look at my receipt from Toyota the breakdown of the total on the receipt list's insurance at 17,500 baht on a 875,000 baht truck.

Keep in mind that the first year insurance you get with the new truck is a policy taylored for Toyota with reduced coverage

[899cc]

Just took a look at my receipt from Toyota the breakdown of the total on the receipt list's insurance at 17,500 baht on a 875,000 baht truck.

Keep in mind that the first year insurance you get with the new truck is a policy taylored for Toyota with reduced coverage

This is true & our free Toyota insurance would have payed out 80% in a total loss claim + any repairs done only at Toyota + the medical cover and bail bond were more than adequate......was I just lucky who know's

[habfan]

Just took a look at my receipt from Toyota the breakdown of the total on the receipt list's insurance at 17,500 baht on a 875,000 baht truck.

Keep in mind that the first year insurance you get with the new truck is a policy taylored for Toyota with reduced coverage

I suspected this. Thank you for confirming it.

[jbrain]

Just took a look at my receipt from Toyota the breakdown of the total on the receipt list's insurance at 17,500 baht on a 875,000 baht truck.

Keep in mind that the first year insurance you get with the new truck is a policy taylored for Toyota with reduced coverage

This is true & our free Toyota insurance would have payed out 80% in a total loss claim + any repairs done only at Toyota + the medical cover and bail bond were more than adequate......was I just lucky who know's

I understand your sarcasm, but if you want to know if I'm telling porkies just go to Viryah, as that is the company Toyota uses, and ask for the renewal insurance insurance.

After they tell you the premium is about 25% higher than the first year, ask them for the reason.

[899cc]

Just took a look at my receipt from Toyota the breakdown of the total on the receipt list's insurance at 17,500 baht on a 875,000 baht truck.

Keep in mind that the first year insurance you get with the new truck is a policy taylored for Toyota with reduced coverage

This is true & our free Toyota insurance would have payed out 80% in a total loss claim + any repairs done only at Toyota + the medical cover and bail bond were more than adequate......was I just lucky who know's

I understand your sarcasm, but if you want to know if I'm telling porkies just go to Viryah, as that is the company Toyota uses, and ask for the renewal insurance insurance.

After they tell you the premium is about 25% higher than the first year, ask them for the reason.

No sarcasm intended, it's funny you mention viryah with have 1 month to go before we renew our policy and viryah have come out the best with the only change to the free Toyota insurance was to name 1 driver, after checking I found Toyota dealer paid 18,650 baht for our free insurance & viryah renewal is 17,310 baht & has better coverage

[KittenKong]

Keep in mind that the first year insurance you get with the new truck is a policy taylored for Toyota with reduced coverage

Not necessarily.

The free first year's insurance I got with my new vehicle had almost identical cover to the follow-up insurance that I have just been arranging for the second year. The price on the cover note was within 20% also, though I'm fairly sure that the dealer/manufacturer didnt actually pay the full price indicated on the cover note.

Edited July 10, 2013 by KittenKong

[KittenKong]

No sarcasm intended, it's funny you mention viryah with have 1 month to go before we renew our policy and viryah have come out the best with the only change to the free Toyota insurance was to name 1 driver, after checking I found Toyota dealer paid 18,650 baht for our free insurance & viryah renewal is 17,310 baht & has better coverage

I recently found that being sole named driver gave about 10-12% reduction on the premium. 5000B voluntary excess gave about another 10%.

The spread on more or less identical cover from the same company via different brokers with and without optional excess, sole driver and non-dealer repairs was from 22,500B down to 13,800B (all including compulsory government cover), though this did also reflect a sum insured that varied between 530,000B and 680,000B (for a one year old vehicle that has a new value of 825,000B) and does not include the 10% no-claims bonus to which I will be entitled.

I'm still in the process of deciding but I expect to go with the 13,800 one which actually also had the highest vehicle value of 680,000. So I expect to be paying around 13K.

The answer with insurance here (and with most other things) is to shop around and above all to assume that absolutely everyone may be trying to pull one over you.

[jbrain]

As I understand the price of the policy is based on the sum they have to pay out in case of total lossThe policy price decreases each year as the value of the car gets lower as well decreases if you had no claims.

If the price of the policy and the total loss compensation amount the second year are the same as in the original policy, than it means that Toyota under insured the vehicle.

By the way, I have had 2 cars , Toyota and Nissan, which had a first year free insurance by Viryah and when inquired the second year the policy price was both times higher but had also other values in the policy.

Edited July 10, 2013 by jbrain

[899cc]

No sarcasm intended, it's funny you mention viryah with have 1 month to go before we renew our policy and viryah have come out the best with the only change to the free Toyota insurance was to name 1 driver, after checking I found Toyota dealer paid 18,650 baht for our free insurance & viryah renewal is 17,310 baht & has better coverage

I recently found that being sole named driver gave about 10-12% reduction on the premium. 5000B voluntary excess gave about another 10%.

The spread on more or less identical cover from the same company via different brokers with and without optional excess, sole driver and non-dealer repairs was from 22,500B down to 13,800B (all including compulsory government cover), though this did also reflect a sum insured that varied between 530,000B and 680,000B (for a one year old vehicle that has a new value of 825,000B) and does not include the 10% no-claims bonus to which I will be entitled.

I'm still in the process of deciding but I expect to go with the 13,800 one which actually also had the highest vehicle value of 680,000. So I expect to be paying around 13K.

The answer with insurance here (and with most other things) is to shop around and above all to assume that absolutely everyone may be trying to pull one over you.

sole driver did give about 12% discount there was also a discount for reduced milage which I didn't take, I gave up on using broker's & went direct which wasn't to good to start with in Pattaya viryah office there came in at 20,400 baht and a lot lower coverage then the wife went on a mission contacted viryah in Bangkok they came back after 2 day's with much better coverage than Pattaya office & a lower price of 17,310 baht, as allway's with any insurance check the detail, pay-out's etc, I guess next year the fun start's again with these company's....

[jbrain]

No sarcasm intended, it's funny you mention viryah with have 1 month to go before we renew our policy and viryah have come out the best with the only change to the free Toyota insurance was to name 1 driver, after checking I found Toyota dealer paid 18,650 baht for our free insurance & viryah renewal is 17,310 baht & has better coverage

I recently found that being sole named driver gave about 10-12% reduction on the premium. 5000B voluntary excess gave about another 10%.

The spread on more or less identical cover from the same company via different brokers with and without optional excess, sole driver and non-dealer repairs was from 22,500B down to 13,800B (all including compulsory government cover), though this did also reflect a sum insured that varied between 530,000B and 680,000B (for a one year old vehicle that has a new value of 825,000B) and does not include the 10% no-claims bonus to which I will be entitled.

I'm still in the process of deciding but I expect to go with the 13,800 one which actually also had the highest vehicle value of 680,000. So I expect to be paying around 13K.

The answer with insurance here (and with most other things) is to shop around and above all to assume that absolutely everyone may be trying to pull one over you.

sole driver did give about 12% discount there was also a discount for reduced milage which I didn't take, I gave up on using broker's & went direct which wasn't to good to start with in Pattaya viryah office there came in at 20,400 baht and a lot lower coverage then the wife went on a mission contacted viryah in Bangkok they came back after 2 day's with much better coverage than Pattaya office & a lower price of 17,310 baht, as allway's with any insurance check the detail, pay-out's etc, I guess next year the fun start's again with these company's....

So you claim that Viryah Pattaya has a higher policy price, for even lower coverage, as Viryah Bangkok ? Twice directly with the company ?

Strange at least.

[899cc]

No sarcasm intended, it's funny you mention viryah with have 1 month to go before we renew our policy and viryah have come out the best with the only change to the free Toyota insurance was to name 1 driver, after checking I found Toyota dealer paid 18,650 baht for our free insurance & viryah renewal is 17,310 baht & has better coverage

I recently found that being sole named driver gave about 10-12% reduction on the premium. 5000B voluntary excess gave about another 10%.

The spread on more or less identical cover from the same company via different brokers with and without optional excess, sole driver and non-dealer repairs was from 22,500B down to 13,800B (all including compulsory government cover), though this did also reflect a sum insured that varied between 530,000B and 680,000B (for a one year old vehicle that has a new value of 825,000B) and does not include the 10% no-claims bonus to which I will be entitled.

I'm still in the process of deciding but I expect to go with the 13,800 one which actually also had the highest vehicle value of 680,000. So I expect to be paying around 13K.

The answer with insurance here (and with most other things) is to shop around and above all to assume that absolutely everyone may be trying to pull one over you.

sole driver did give about 12% discount there was also a discount for reduced milage which I didn't take, I gave up on using broker's & went direct which wasn't to good to start with in Pattaya viryah office there came in at 20,400 baht and a lot lower coverage then the wife went on a mission contacted viryah in Bangkok they came back after 2 day's with much better coverage than Pattaya office & a lower price of 17,310 baht, as allway's with any insurance check the detail, pay-out's etc, I guess next year the fun start's again with these company's....

So you claim that Viryah Pattaya has a higher policy price, for even lower coverage, as Viryah Bangkok ? Twice directly with the company ?

Strange at least.

It's fact & we did feel Pattaya office really didn't want to help, like that's the quote take it or leave it attitude where as Bangkok quoted and we asked them to raise the level of sum insured + increase the medical cover to which they did & at a cheaper premium, where as Pattaya branch would not, also we found Axa branch in Pattaya had the same attitude as Pattaya viryah take it or leave it, as said shop around & check policy detail.

Edited July 10, 2013 by 899cc

[KittenKong]

If true then in that respect the insurance companies would be very much like the car dealers themselves, at least the ones that I have dealt with.

Pattaya car dealers dont seem to care at all about making a sale or keeping the customer happy or negotiating whereas Bangkok dealers seem much more helpful and keen to make a sale.

I did contact one Bangkok broker and their replies were many times quicker and more complete than the replies I got from Pattaya brokers (when indeed I got a reply at all from the Pattaya brokers).

[meatboy]

Just took a look at my receipt from Toyota the breakdown of the total on the receipt list's insurance at 17,500 baht on a 875,000 baht truck.

Keep in mind that the first year insurance you get with the new truck is a policy taylored for Toyota with reduced coverage

yes jb.to our horror we have just found out that the toyota sales rep.who arranged our ins.for the first year[15k] which was cheaper than the quote we first got [19k] but the cover we got was greatly reduced so you must,must,must read what you are being covered for.

[AAInsuranceBrokers]

As always the devil is in the detail and unless all the facts are known one cannot say one premium is too high (or low) compared to another.

There is also the insurance companies to take into account when one choses one company over another i.e. some are rather slow on responding to problems/claims.

As always we suggest you work with a Broker – they cost no more BUT can help in several ways e.g. knowing the better companies to recommend, helping with problems/claims should they arise etc. and saving the vehicle owner time and trouble visiting different insurance offices/web sites

[meatboy]

As always the devil is in the detail and unless all the facts are known one cannot say one premium is too high (or low) compared to another.

There is also the insurance companies to take into account when one choses one company over another i.e. some are rather slow on responding to problems/claims.

As always we suggest you work with a Broker – they cost no more BUT can help in several ways e.g. knowing the better companies to recommend, helping with problems/claims should they arise etc. and saving the vehicle owner time and trouble visiting different insurance offices/web sites

we did get a fast reply from you requesting a quote but we found it to be a bit over the top.it makes you think why is comprehensive ins.400% more here than in the uk.i had 2 cars stolen in the uk.as it was we had our no-claims bonus protected,yet our premium was only 6,500bht.seems here in thailand the ins.co.are the ones that are fully protected.

[jbrain]

As always the devil is in the detail and unless all the facts are known one cannot say one premium is too high (or low) compared to another.

There is also the insurance companies to take into account when one choses one company over another i.e. some are rather slow on responding to problems/claims.

As always we suggest you work with a Broker – they cost no more BUT can help in several ways e.g. knowing the better companies to recommend, helping with problems/claims should they arise etc. and saving the vehicle owner time and trouble visiting different insurance offices/web sites

we did get a fast reply from you requesting a quote but we found it to be a bit over the top.it makes you think why is comprehensive ins.400% more here than in the uk.i had 2 cars stolen in the uk.as it was we had our no-claims bonus protected,yet our premium was only 6,500bht.seems here in thailand the ins.co.are the ones that are fully protected.

With all respect, but aren't you a little confused about the prices, or is the UK that cheap for insurance.

In my EU homecountry, the legal mandatory third party insurance on something like a Vigo would ring up 20.000 Baht already.

A full comprehensive, I guess 4 times that, at least that is what it would have been 15 years ago when I had my last insurance there, and I doubt the prives have gone down since.

[meatboy]

As always the devil is in the detail and unless all the facts are known one cannot say one premium is too high (or low) compared to another.

There is also the insurance companies to take into account when one choses one company over another i.e. some are rather slow on responding to problems/claims.

As always we suggest you work with a Broker – they cost no more BUT can help in several ways e.g. knowing the better companies to recommend, helping with problems/claims should they arise etc. and saving the vehicle owner time and trouble visiting different insurance offices/web sites

we did get a fast reply from you requesting a quote but we found it to be a bit over the top.it makes you think why is comprehensive ins.400% more here than in the uk.i had 2 cars stolen in the uk.as it was we had our no-claims bonus protected,yet our premium was only 6,500bht.seems here in thailand the ins.co.are the ones that are fully protected.

the ins.in the uk.was fully comp.myself and the wife,vauxhall corsa sxi 1200cc.2003 new,first yr.free then 5yrs back to my old ins.co.direct line the last time being £135, i did have full no claims bonus.

With all respect, but aren't you a little confused about the prices, or is the UK that cheap for insurance.

In my EU homecountry, the legal mandatory third party insurance on something like a Vigo would ring up 20.000 Baht already.

A full comprehensive, I guess 4 times that, at least that is what it would have been 15 years ago when I had my last insurance there, and I doubt the prives have gone down since.

[KittenKong]

It's not easy to compare Thai and non-Thai insurance prices.

Non-Thai cover may vary wildly according to your post code and your personal situation. Here there seems to be far less difference arising from those details (apparently none at all when it comes to where you live or your job).

Non-Thai cover will normally be for the value of the vehicle, here you may be lucky to get cover amounting to 80% of that.

Excess is almost obligatory elsewhere (unless you like paying absurdly high premiums) but here zero excess seems to be the norm (though you can get a decent discount on the premium if you opt for having an excess here).

Here bail-bond cover is important but who ever heard of needing that in the UK?

After much consultation and study I am fairly happy with the final price I will be paying for my insurance here (obtained through a broker), though I still think that the insurance company is doing me a disservice by not taking account of the fact that my vehicle will almost certainly never be stolen from where I live, and that my car park is 100% flood-free (even tsunami-free for that matter).

I never expected that I would need to put in so much effort with all the brokers I tried into getting the price down via the various possible reductions. It really was a question of having to ask if I could get this or that reduction, in every case. No broker suggested the possible reductions of their own accord though I would consider this to be a big part of their job. And in a couple of cases the broker actually lied to me ("no-claims discount already included", "no-claims discount cannot be transferred from another company").

So as with everything in Thailand: caveat emptor.

[Dazinoz]

My next problem seems to be getting a reply. I sent 2 online requests for a quote to Viryah, no replies. 1 to AA a couple of days ago, no reply. I am using a group to help you move and integrate into Thai life, sent them an email, no reply. I also text the Honda car dealer that is selling me the car, no reply.

Is this Thai culture? I tend not to phone as I have a little trouble with my hearing to English speaking people so I email or text or prefer to talk in person.

[899cc]

My next problem seems to be getting a reply. I sent 2 online requests for a quote to Viryah, no replies. 1 to AA a couple of days ago, no reply. I am using a group to help you move and integrate into Thai life, sent them an email, no reply. I also text the Honda car dealer that is selling me the car, no reply.

Is this Thai culture? I tend not to phone as I have a little trouble with my hearing to English speaking people so I email or text or prefer to talk in person.

I've had the same problem's i.e 2-3 day's before e-mail reply's, in the end I found e-mail insurance quote's to be lower coverage & more costly, if possible you have someone who speaks Thai let them call on your behalf it's seem's to get the job done I've found...p.s welcome to Thailand

[Dazinoz]

I've had the same problem's i.e 2-3 day's before e-mail reply's, in the end I found e-mail insurance quote's to be lower coverage & more costly, if possible you have someone who speaks Thai let them call on your behalf it's seem's to get the job done I've found...p.s welcome to Thailand

Thanks for the info and the welcome.

[jbrain]

My next problem seems to be getting a reply. I sent 2 online requests for a quote to Viryah, no replies. 1 to AA a couple of days ago, no reply. I am using a group to help you move and integrate into Thai life, sent them an email, no reply. I also text the Honda car dealer that is selling me the car, no reply.

Is this Thai culture? I tend not to phone as I have a little trouble with my hearing to English speaking people so I email or text or prefer to talk in person.

Procedure for sending an email . ( Apply's to Thailand only )

Send an email > call the person in question and inform he has received an email > hold the line until he has opened his email software and has located your mail among of the many hundreds unanswered mail in his inbox > hang up the phone an hope he will reply.

[stevenl]

My next problem seems to be getting a reply. I sent 2 online requests for a quote to Viryah, no replies. 1 to AA a couple of days ago, no reply. I am using a group to help you move and integrate into Thai life, sent them an email, no reply. I also text the Honda car dealer that is selling me the car, no reply.

Is this Thai culture? I tend not to phone as I have a little trouble with my hearing to English speaking people so I email or text or prefer to talk in person.

Maybe an answer ended in your spam box? I have exchanged emails with AA Insurance, and always received an answer within a few hours.