You should review your insurer when it’s time to register your vehicle. All greenslips provide the same cover, but not all insurers are the same. Find out what to look for when you review your insurer.
Opportunities to review your insurer
You can change insurer only at the date of registration. However, you can review your insurer:
- Just before your registration is due
- If you have bought a different kind of car or changed your address
- When there are circumstances your insurer needs to know about now.
Before registration is due, your current CTP insurer will send a renewal notice. You are not obliged to renew your greenslip with them. This is the time to review your insurer. Use the greenslips.com.au Calculator to compare prices from all six insurers before renewing.
If you’ve bought a different kind of car or changed address, it could make a big change to the price of your next green slip. For example, it you moved to the country, your green slip will be much cheaper than when you were in a metro area. If you bought a ute instead of a passenger car, you are likely to pay more for your green slip. When your registration is due, it will be even more important to review your insurer.
Sometimes, you experience a change in circumstances that your insurer needs to know about now. For example, your youngest child has moved back home and now borrows your car. While you can’t change your insurer in the middle of a registration period, your insurer will add the youngest driver to your greenslip policy.
Just because your insurer was the cheapest last year doesn’t imply they will be the cheapest this year. The price of a greenslip always depends on the changing circumstances of the driver, the vehicle, and the insurer’s business environment. When you review your insurer, use the greenslips.com.au Calculator to compare prices first.
Which insurers offer green slips?
Six insurance companies are licensed to offer green slips in NSW. They are AAMI, Allianz, GIO, NRMA Insurance, QBE and Youi. Other companies appear to sell greenslips but they act as agents for one of the six licensed insurers. For example, APIA and Shannons sell GIO green slips and Kogan and Australia Post sell QBE greenslips.
It doesn’t matter how or where you buy your greenslip, it comes from one of these six licensed insurers. Find contact details for the six insurers on greenslips.com.au
Same greenslips, different insurers
All greenslips provide the same cover, but each insurer is different. You could ask these kinds of questions when you review your insurer:
- Is it easy to buy a greenslip?
- Does the greenslip include At-Fault Driver Cover?
- Are there insurer discounts on other products if I have its green slip?
- Do I have an existing relationship with a CTP insurer?
It is becoming easier than ever to buy a green slip. You now have the choice of paying online, by phone or at a branch, an agent or post office. This may be a motivating factor for someone who lives in a country area.
Only one of the six insurers, NRMA Insurance, now offers At-Fault Driver Cover on top of its green slip. Its Driver Protection Cover offers extra protection for the at-fault driver in an accident and may appeal to a frequent driver.
AAMI, GIO and NRMA Insurance offer discounts on other insurance policies if you hold their green slip. These include loyalty discounts, multi-policy discounts or discounts off a new policy.
Remember, you can’t get discounts on your green slip because the price is already discounted for any risk factors favourable to you.
If you have an existing relationship with an insurer, you might want to continue with them to simplify things.
How well insurers deal with greenslip claims
All greenslips provide the same cover, but not all insurers have the same record in dealing with greenslip claims.
SIRA publishes a quarterly report on insurer claims performance.
It answers these types of questions with an industry average and the performance of each insurer:
- What are the chances of having my claim accepted?
- How long will I wait for treatment and care benefits?
- How long will it take to get income support if I take time off work?
- What happens if I disagree with the insurer?
- How many complaints does my insurer get?
- How many active claims do they have?
While nobody expects to have to make a claim, it is another way to help you decide on your green slip insurer.
Some people simply want to know who is the most popular insurer. One way to find out is to look at market share. Currently it is NRMA Insurance, followed by AAMI and GIO combined.
When you review your insurer, make sure you take advantage of greenslips.com.au so you are well informed.
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