New Zealand:Motorists pay more when they fail to shop around for cover
New Zealand motorists are losing hundreds of dollars per year in car insurance savings by not shopping around, according to insurer Youi NZ.
A national survey of 2,500 motorists commissioned by Youi NZ shows that more than half of all New Zealand motorists (54%) may be failing to shop around when renewing their car insurance.
Youi CEO Frank Costigan said: “The research showed many New Zealand car owners are missing out on substantial savings by simply renewing their car insurance without taking the opportunity to review what price other insurers were offering. The research showed that almost half (46%) of those who did shop around by getting quotes from other insurers saved money on their car insurance policy.”
The study showed those who shopped around saved on average NZ$236 (US$170) off their renewal premium.
“New Zealanders aged 25 to 39 years was the group who saved the most with NZ$331 coming off current premium followed by those aged 40 to 59 years saving NZ$166 and those over 60 years saving NZ$136,” he said.
The study showed that 45% of females, compared to 48% of males shopped around before renewing their current car insurance.
The research revealed a variety of reasons why New Zealanders did not shop around for their car insurance each year and these included:
- Satisfied with their current insurer (50%)
- Could not be bothered changing insurer (8%)
- Believe their current insurance premium is competitive (7%)
- Too busy and not enough time to get around to it (5%)
- Never thought about it (4%).