If you have a car, you must have car insurance. But how do you choose the right insurance? And what, besides the price, do you have to think about?
If you have a car, you are required by law to have liability insurance. The liability insurance covers damage you may cause to other people or their property – e.g. other cars.
But there are several types of insurance that you can supplement with.
Find out how to find the cheapest and best car insurance for you and what you should pay attention to when choosing car insurance.
Compare insurance policies before choosing
Before choosing car insurance, it is a good idea to obtain quotes from several different insurance companies. Then you can compare them and choose the one where you get the coverage you need at the best price. Remember that the most expensive insurance is not necessarily the one that covers you best in relation to your needs.
You can use forsikringguiden.dk to compare price and cover with different insurance companies. Forsikringsguiden.dk has been developed by F&P (the industry organization for insurance and pension companies) in collaboration with the Consumer Council Tænk.
You can read that in the insurance terms
The insurance terms tell you, among other things, what must be met in order for you to be covered in a given situation, and what you must do specifically if you need the insurance.
You must therefore remember to read them thoroughly. Pay particular attention to exceptions – ie. what is not covered by the insurance.
The terms of cover state what the insurance covers, who it covers and where it covers – for example whether it covers abroad.
Excess is also part of the cover terms. With many insurance companies, you can adjust how high your excess must be, which affects the price of the insurance.
Compare the coverage of different insurances and assess which coverage you need. Avoid paying for more coverage than you actually need.
This means the deductible on your car insurance
The deductible on your car insurance is the amount you pay yourself when a damage needs to be repaired. The insurance company pays the remaining price of the damage.
If damage occurs where the costs of repairs are lower than your deductible, you should consider whether it makes sense in the specific case to have the damage repaired via the insurance. It might not.
The price of your insurance varies depending on whether you have chosen to have a high or low deductible. The higher the deductible you choose, the lower the price of your insurance.
Make up with yourself how risk-averse you are and how high a deductible you can afford to pay if you have an accident.
Car Insurance: Understanding Coverage and Finding the Best Rates
Package solutions are not necessarily the cheapest
Many insurance companies offer package solutions if you buy several of your insurance policies from the same company. But the total prices make it difficult to see what you are actually paying for the individual insurance policies – and whether you have found the best car insurance for the price.
At Forsikringsguiden.dk you can see the price of the individual insurance policies with and without any collective discounts.
We have tested insurance packages several times, and tests show that it often pays better to put the insurance together yourself than to buy complete packages. Therefore, be critical of collective discounts when buying insurance.
Check complaints about the insurance company
It can be good to hear experiences and opinions from friends and family when choosing insurance. But remember that the experiences of your acquaintances are not necessarily representative.
You can instead check the appeals at the Insurance Complaints Board to get an indication of the companies’ service and claims handling. If a company has a relatively large number of complaints in the Insurance Complaints Board, for the consumer to be fully or partially upheld, it may be an indication that the insurance company is treating the claims too harshly.
Consider what car insurance you need
Comprehensive insurance: If the car is worth a lot of money, it probably pays to have comprehensive insurance for it. Comprehensive insurance covers damage to your own car – for example if you accidentally crash into something or if your car is broken into. On the other hand, it rarely pays off with comprehensive insurance if the car has a modest value. Therefore, weigh the value of the car against the price of comprehensive insurance.
Glass coverage: Glass protection or glass coverage is an additional insurance that can be part of the comprehensive insurance or that can be purchased additionally. Glass insurance typically covers damage to windows, mirrors and lights.
Driver cover: Driver cover covers injuries to yourself and covers more than your accident insurance.
Roadside assistance: Roadside assistance means that you can get help if, for example, your car cannot start or breaks down and needs to be towed to a workshop.
There are several options you can choose for car insurance. They all make insurance more expensive, so always carefully consider whether you need them.
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