If you drive less than 1 000km a month, you may find that opting for a ”pay as you go” insurance on your car could save you a substantial amount of money.
I put Hollard insurance to the test to see if there was actually a substantial saving in opting to pay per kilometre that you drive. While this is not meant to be a product endorsement, I was quite simply astounded by how much I could save, not only in lower premiums but also the cost of tracking devices.
I recently purchased a car. A fully comprehensive insurance would have cost R606 a month. However, by opting for the pay-as-you-go insurance, based on the 700km I expect to drive each month, my premiums fell to just over R330 a month. But wait, there is more. Because Hollard pay as you go requires a tracking device to be fitted in your car to clock your miles, you no longer need to pay the additional monthly fee for a tracking device like Netstar or Tracker. The Hollard tracking device is included in the monthly premium, which saved me a further R184 a month. In total, I saved R460 a month. If I put that into an investment, after ten years I would have a lump sum of R84 000, based on a 8% per annum return.
The insurance works on a basic premium that includes just over 400km of travel. In my case that premium was R264. If you drive less than this mileage, you still pay the basic premium. For every kilometre you drive over you pay a rate per kilometre, in my case 21c. I estimated that on average I would drive 700km so my variable premium is estimated to be R56 a month. However, in my first month I did not drive the full 700km and therefore only the amount that I exceeded of the basic mileage was deducted as a premium. By setting an estimated mileage I was not penalised for not using it. If I had driven more than 700km I would simply have paid the 21c per kilometre as normal. I have calculated that I would have to drive 1 314km a month to pay the normal comprehensive insurance rate.
The one catch is the tracking device, which is included in the premium, but you do have to sign up for a 36-month contract. Should you cancel the insurance you would still be liable for maintaining the monthly tracking device for the duration of the contract. However, the tracking device, managed by Mobile-data, is itself a selling point. At any time you are able to log on to their website and see where your car is and obtain a 24-hour report on where your car has been travelling, at what speed and even if there has been any sharp braking. Ideal if you have staff or children using your car. It also has an emergency button that you press and the call centre contacts you on your cellphone. Apart from a hijacking situation, you can also press it should you break down. The tracking company knows exactly where you are and is able to dispatch an emergency vehicle. One warning though: Hollard breakdown cover is fairly limited to R500 so if your car has to be towed far, you will have to pay some of the towing expenses. It may be worth taking some top-up cover like the AA.
While this is certainly an outstanding product, like any insurance the real acid test will be when I need to make a claim.