Profile of the owner / driver
When comes to car insurance premium, usually the age and driving experience of the owner / driver, plays a big part. For most insurer in Singapore, premium are generally lower for age 26 & above. For some insurer, the premium may increase too, once the driver is age 65 & above.
As for driving experience, all insurers based on the date that you passed your driving licence. For foreigners, usually based on the date that the licence was converted to a Singapore driving licence.
AXA is one of the few insurer which accept foreigners based on the date that they obtain their driving licence in their home country.
Typically for driving licence, as long as it is more than 2 years, the premium will be lower.
Example :
For a person who are above age 26 but just passed their driving licence will be paying a higher premium as compared to someone who gotten their licence more than 2 years ago.
Tip : Do get your driving licence as soon as you can.
Make & Model of the car
Beside the profile of the driver, another key factor to car insurance premium is the Make / Brand & Model of the car. Some brand or model may have good premium rates due to their large population.
Generally, the car insurance premium for Performance cars, Turbocharged cars, Supercharge cars, Coupes, Cabriolets and Supercars are higher.
Claim history
This is the part which may cause HUGE increase in Motor Insurance Premium.
Claims record in Singapore stays with a person for 3 years. Therefore, to keep your premium low, careful driving without claims is one of the best way.
Due to the huge claims suffered by insurer in recent years, once a person has :
- 1 claim of > $30K in the last 3 years
- 2 claims of any amount in the last 3 years
That person will probably have to SELL their car if there is NO insurer that will be willing to offer coverage.
What is No Claim Discount (aka NCD) / No Claim Bonus (aka NCB)?
No Claim Discount / No Claim Bonus, both terms are use interchangeably. But most commonly use term will be No Claim Discount.
No Claim Discount are discount provided by insurance companies to offset against motor insurance premium. They are typically employed to reward policy holders for good driving records. This is being adopted by all motors insurance companies in Singapore.
When a person changed the insurer for their car insurance / motor insurance, No Claim Discount can also be transferred. For policy holders to continue to enjoy the No Claim Discount with the new insurer, insurance companies have to exchange information on policy holders’ No Claim Discount record.
When a person sell the car and cancelled the car insurance policy, typically their No Claim Discount will be still be valid for 12 months from the date of cancellation.