Insurance premiums are not the same for everyone due to the many factors involved in calculating the best car insurance for you. There are, however, some common factors insurers take into account when calculating your car insurance quote, some of which include:

• Demographics: Your insurer collects information from you that helps determine certain risk factors (based on statistics) of an incident occurring. This includes your age, gender, marital status, and financial background. 
• Your car: The car you drive determines which premium is best. Cars that are more expensive will generally have higher premiums because they cost more to repair. Cars that are easier to steal can also have higher premiums due to the high risk of theft.
• The driver: Insurance companies will need to know certain details, like the age, driving history, and the date the driver’s licence was issued, to successfully calculate the most budget-friendly premium. These details need to be provided by the person who drives the car the most.
• Experience behind the wheel: Younger drivers are at higher risk of accidents. Therefore, they usually have higher premiums that cover their lack of experience on the road. People who have been driving for much longer usually have lower-priced premiums.
• Security: You can often reduce premiums by installing a car tracker and alarm system in your car. Parking in a secure location (especially at night) can also lower your premiums.
• Inflation: No matter the age of your car, paint will go up, labour will go up, parts will go up. Inflation isn’t something we can escape.

Knowing about these factors beforehand can help you make an informed decision when choosing your insurance provider. 

Budget Insurance provides you with great discounts and offers when you maintain other policies with us. For example, if you bundle your Car Insurance with your Home Contents Insurance and/or your Buildings Insurance, you will get a 15% discount on your Car Cover premium and 5% each off Home Contents and Buildings Cover.

In addition to us easing your budget, there are things you can do to lower your car insurance premium:

• Mindful driving: Being aware on the road reduces your chances of having an accident. Fewer accidents can mean lower premiums.
• Bulk discount: Insuring more than one car under a single policy will lead to an even greater discount.
• High-end cars are more expensive: Chances are you’ll be paying a lot on your premium if you insure a rare or top-of-the-line car. A safer and less expensive car will cost you less. Also, cars that are manufactured locally are often cheaper to insure because of parts availability.
• Location, location, location: Where you live can influence the price of your premium. If you live in an area with a higher statistic of theft, your premium will be affected.
• Value: Insure your car for the correct value for your budget. Usually, you can insure for the retail value, trade value, or market value. The retail value is the highest you can insure for – it’s what you’d pay for your car if you bought it from a dealership. The trade value is the lowest you can insure for – it’s the book value of a car. Market value is what you could sell your car for in the open market, like if you sold it privately. Budget Insurance takes your car’s depreciated value into account, but not all companies do.
• Safety measures: Get an approved alarm or tracking device installed. This could not only lower your monthly premiums, but it could save you a lot of money and hassle in the future if your car is ever stolen – recovering your car is better than having to replace it.
• Credit score: Keep your credit score as well-balanced as possible. You may find you’re paying more on your premium if you have a lower credit score.

Every time you claim on your car insurance you’ll pay an excess. When you use our online car insurance calculator, you’ll see an excess quote along with the premium quote. We do this because we want you to know exactly what you’ll pay should you claim, so you can factor it into your budget.

The excess is there to prevent minor and unnecessary claims from being submitted, and fraud. This is because the more claims there are, the higher your premiums will be. So we have an excess in place to help keep your monthly payments as affordable as possible.

With Budget, you can choose how much excess you pay relative to how much your monthly premiums are. If you want to make your excess higher, your monthly payments will go down. If you lower your excess, your monthly premiums will go up. We offer you this choice so that you can find the car insurance solution that suits your budget. Just remember that accidents do happen, so be sure you can afford to pay the standard excess if you ever need to claim.

How much is enough? Signing up for insurance that covers nearly every possible situation is unrealistic for many South Africans. Although it’s not compulsory to have car insurance in South Africa, it puts you at a higher risk of totally breaking your budget if you ever do get into an accident.

We offer you affordable insurance. No matter your budget, we’ve got you covered! We have a plan for the smallest budgets too – Budget Lite.

Budget Lite Car Insurance offers you three packages to choose from for cars that are paid off and valued at less than R100 000:

• Budget Lite 1: Offers theft cover and up to R1 million third-party cover. It even covers you if you upgrade your car’s sound system.
• Budget Lite 2: Insures your car if it’s written-off after an accident, covers theft and hail damage, and provides up to R1 million for third-party damage. We’ll also throw in our Accident Assist benefit which includes towing and storing your car after an accident.
• Budget Lite 3: You get full cover if your car is written off after an accident, up to R1 million third-party cover, insurance for theft and hail damage, plus up to a R15 000 payout after an accident. We’ll also tow and store your car after an accident with our Accident Assist benefit. This option is now also available for financed cars.

It might seem unnecessary now but losing all your money because you didn’t have insurance isn’t worth a fancy new cellphone or fashionable clothing. Rather get an affordable quote using our online car insurance calculator.