If you are thinking about signing up for an EQ car insurance plan, here are some pointers that can help you decide if their product is suitable for you or not.

As with other insurance companies out there, EQ Insurance offers coverage for both individuals and enterprises. In this article, we will focus on Personal Coverage, which was designed to safeguard you and your family.

More specifically, we’ll touch on the motor insurance classic plan EQ insurance offers. So, if you are planning on signing-up for car insurance read on and find out what this plan can do for you.

Windscreen Coverage

Most comprehensive policies cover the cost of a replacement windscreen. Damage to your car’s windscreen cannot be helped as specks of gravel dislodged from tires of trucks in front of you trigger it. Over time this natural process can weaken the car’s windscreen and eventually break it.

With EQ Insurance’s windscreen coverage you can have it replaced by simply visiting an authorized workshop. Under the Classic Plan you will be able to limit your windscreen excess at $100 + GST. Reinstatement of cover is free.

Personal Accident (PA) for Insured/Passengers

As for personal accident, with EQ Insurance’s Classic Plan, you are insured up to S$ 50,000.

Towing

This service can be seen with most car insurance policies and EQ Insurance is no different from the rest. As a policyholder, you are entitled to free towing service of up to $500.

Medical Reimbursement

Another important part of motor insurance is the medical reimbursement. As a policyholder of EQ Insurance Classic Plan, this is something that you do not have to worry about. For both the insured and the passenger, a medical reimbursement of up to $300 will be provided if the need arises.

Excess Structure

Excess is a standard feature of every insurance policy. The average excess clients have to pay range from $600 to $800. For EQ Insurance, their standard excess is within this range if your car is of a typical make and model.

Under any EQ car insurance plan, there will be an additional excess imposed for unnamed drivers or young, elderly and inexperienced drivers.

Let us discuss how additional excess is applied for unnamed drivers. With the Classic Plan, policyholders have to pay twice the policy excess. Say for example, the insured pays $750. The unnamed driver thus needs to pay twice that amount, which is $1,500.

(All unnamed drivers should be older than 26 years old and younger than 70 years old and with more than 2 years driving experience.)

For drivers who are younger than 26 years old or older than 70 or with less than 2 years driving experience, there will be an additional $3,000 above the unnamed driver excess.

Adding Named Drivers

In some cases, there may be multiple drivers for a single car. Remember that with EQ Insurance the first named driver is for free however it is still subjected to the driver’s age and experience.

Adding named drivers (second and third) to the classic plan would mean an additional $50 + GST.

Installment Plan

Many car owners have a budget plan for their money. As such, you may want to look into EQ car insurance seriously if you are thinking of paying by installments. You can sign up using their 6-month or 12-month installment plan via either UOB or Citibank credit cards.

Payment Method

To date, interested parties who would like to sign up for EQ car insurance policies can pay using either: cash, check and credit card.

If you are a UOB card holder, you may take advantage of their 5% UOB Smart Dollar Rebate. Do take note, however, that this is applicable only for Single Premium payments, not installment.

Excluded Models

Like every other insurance companies, there are certain make and models that EQ insurance will not insure. This generally includes high end models, sport models and high performance vehicles.

Availability

EQ Insurance only accepts car insurance applications coming from local Singaporeans and Singapore permanent residents (PR) only.

With the above benefits, you will surely be able to enjoy a complete peace of mind while you are driving to work or just cruising along with your family.

If you want to see how EQ car insurance measures up to the rest of the insurance companies (in terms of price and features), click on www.motorinsurancesingapore.com and request for quotes now.

AXA insurance offers different type of car insurance plans you can use to protect your vehicle. Here, you can discover which plan is most suitable for you. Also, you will learn about different options that can help you customize your car insurance policy to suit your needs.

Like most other insurers, AXA insurance offers 3 types of car insurance policy – Comprehensive coverage, Third Party Fire & Theft as well as Third Party Only insurance.

Among these, comprehensive coverage is the most well-liked. This is because apart from the standard legal liability (Third Party Only) coverage, AXA insurance also pays for accidental damages to your car.

For Third Party Only (TPO) insurance, AXA compensates for the death or bodily injury to others. Also any loss or damage to other people’s property will be compensated. On top of this, if you require a lawyer to fend for you, your legal costs and expenses may be taken care of.

AXA’s Third Party Fire & Theft (TPFT) covers a little more than this. Adding onto the Third Party Only scope of coverage, AXA will pay you the market value of your vehicle in case you lose your vehicle accidentally or it gets destroyed by fire. Also, if it is stolen, AXA insurance will write you a cheque for the value of your vehicle.

As an added bonus, AXA can also replace your vehicle accessories and spare parts. And in case you need towing service, AXA insurance will cover this as well. However these are on the condition that the loss is due to fire or theft.

AXA Comprehensive Car Insurance is one of the most popular motor insurance plans in Singapore. It covers a comprehensive array of benefits that car owners need. In summary, here is what AXA insurance offers to car owners who are considering an authorized workshop package:

Own Damage

-    Repair or replacement of any part of your car or its accessories
-    Free towing of vehicle to an authorized workshop for accident repair
-    Compensation at full market value if car is destroyed or is beyond economical repair
-    Free windscreen coverage with zero-dollar excess and free unlimited reinstatement
-    AXA pays you $50 per day when your car being repaired beyond 4 days, up to a maximum or $250 per accident

Third Party

-    AXA pays off your liabilities for death or bodily injuries to other people
-    AXA compensates for any property damages resulting from a car accident
-    Covers any legal costs necessary to defend your case

Personal Accident and Medical Expenses

-    AXA insurance pays up to $30,000 under its personal accident coverage for the insured. This benefit (of up to $20,000 each) can be extended to your passengers at an additional premium of $30 + GST
-    For medical reimbursement, AXA insurance pays up to $500f or both you and your passengers

Other than these benefits, you can also sign up for an NCD protector for an extra 10% premium. This option is only available to 50% NCD holders and it can help keep your NCD at this level even after an accident claim.

AXA pays out the insurance benefits even for incidents like flood, hurricanes, volcanic, earthquake, typhoon, and other acts of nature. On top of these, strike, riot and civil commotion are also covered.

In addition, AXA also waives off the excess (for you and your named drivers) up to a certain limit. If you are a 50% NCD holder, your basic excess will be totally waived off. If your NCD is 40% or below, the excess is waived off by half. Also, this waiver is not just limited to the first claim. As often as you need to make claims, this waiver of excess benefit remains.

Like other major car insurers, AXA insurance accepts many forms of payments such as Cash, Cheque or Credit Card. A 6-month or 12-month installment is also available for DBS, POSB, OCBC or UOB cardholders.

Being an international insurance company, AXA may consider your overseas NCD if you present a written confirmation from your previous (overseas) insurer.

If you want to sign up for an AXA car insurance policy that allows you to go to any workshop for repair, the premium is estimated to be about 15% more.

With the above in mind, you can decide if AXA car insurance is right for you.

There are 3 main types of car insurance policy:

1.    Comprehensive Coverage
2.    Third Party Fire & Theft Coverage (TPFT)
3.    Third Party Only Coverage (TPO)

Each insurance policy has its unique characteristics. The coverage that you should get depends on a few key factors. We’ll take a look at them here.

Comprehensive Coverage

Comprehensive car insurance offers you the best protection. It has the protection that Third Party Fire & Theft gives, and in addition it protects your car against accidental damage, malicious damage and windscreen damage.

On top of these basics, you can also enjoy a plethora of benefits like Personal Accident coverage, Towing Service and Medical Reimbursement. Quite often, you may also enjoy insurance riders such as NCD Protection, Loss of Use Benefit, Waiver of Excess, Free Choice of Workshop, et cetera, for an additional fee. At times during promotions, one of these may even be thrown in free-of-charge.

It is important to understand clearly the benefits and restrictions to your vehicle insurance policy. Therefore you must refer to your policy document for details. (We often summarise them for our clients since they can be a little technical.)

If you are buying a new car, you are almost always required to buy Comprehensive Insurance. This is a requirement from the finance company (a.k.a. hire purchase) that you took a car loan from. Here’s why.

Since the car is technically owned by the finance company, any total damage to the car will not leave them in the red in case you refuse (or are unable) to pay up the remaining car loan.

For this reason, some finance companies also do not allow car owners (hirers) to buy Third Party Fire & Theft coverage. Because there is still some unmanaged risk that the finance company has to bear. Thus before you sign up for a TPFT car insurance coverage, drop your hire purchase company a line to check.

On the other hand, if your car is fully paid, you are free to insure your car under any type of car insurance coverage, even Third Party Only insurance.

Third Party Fire & Theft Coverage

A Third Party Fire & Theft insurance has the protection that Third Party Only insurance offers, and it also protects your vehicle against total loss due to fire or theft.

Even though this type of insurance may be more affordable than Comprehensive Coverage, it may not be your best option since it offers only limited protection. This means if there is any damage to your car, however expensive that may be, you cannot make an insurance claim for it. You have to cough out the money from your own pocket to repair your car. Thus it may eventually be more expensive to insure your car under such insurance plan.

Having said this, it doesn’t mean TPFT coverage is useless. Some car owners love to buy old cars with a very low body value. As such, all they need may be TPFT or TPO coverage.

For example, you bought a 9-year old car that costs $12,500 (fully paid in cash) and it has almost zero market value. What you essentially need is an insurance coverage that protects you from third party liabilities. Meaning you make sure you can compensate others in case you knock into their expensive cars (or property).

Any exterior damages to your old car are often left unrepaired anyway. And in case the vehicle is damaged beyond economical repair, it can be scrapped without losing too much money.

Third Party Only Coverage

A Third Party Only insurance essentially protects third parties (other road users and property owners) so they do not suffer financial loss should you harm them or cause damage to their asset.

This is the most basic form of car insurance required by law in Singapore. Like Third Party Fire & Theft coverage, this type of insurance should only be bought under specific circumstances. Because it merely compensates for damages you cause towards other people.