car insurance
the most switched, and still the most overpaid.
Car insurance has the highest switching rate of any general insurance product in Australia. It also has the widest spread between what a loyal customer and a new one pay for the same cover.
Those figures come from different researchers using different methods, so they are not directly comparable with each other. We show them side by side because the disagreement is itself informative — anyone quoting a single precise national average is overstating what the data supports.
what actually moves your premium
- Your excess. The fastest single lever, and the most commonly left at a low default. Only raise it to a figure you could pay tomorrow.
- Agreed vs market value. Agreed value costs more. Know which you have before comparing two quotes — otherwise you are comparing different products.
- Where it sleeps. Garaged versus on the street changes the risk materially, and the postcode you nominate must be where the car is actually kept overnight.
- Listed drivers. Restricting to drivers over 25 usually cuts the premium. Listing someone who does not drive the car does not help.
- Annual kilometres. Many insurers price on it. If your driving dropped and you never updated it, you are paying for kilometres you are not doing.
CTP is a separate thing
Compulsory Third Party — a Green Slip in New South Wales — covers injury to people and is compulsory. It covers no vehicle or property damage at all. In NSW the state regulator publishes an official price comparison across every licensed CTP insurer, which makes it the one line where genuinely official pricing is available.
common questions
- How much is car insurance in Australia?
- Published averages for comprehensive cover disagree, because they sample differently: roughly $1,560 a year on one methodology and up to $2,900 on another. Age, driving history, vehicle value, where the car is parked overnight and your state all move it substantially.
- Which state has the most expensive car insurance?
- Victoria currently has the highest average comprehensive premium at about $3,293 a year and saw the largest dollar increase over the prior twelve months, on Canstar's numbers.
- Is agreed value or market value better?
- Neither is universally better. Agreed value fixes the payout and usually costs more; market value pays what the car is worth at the time of the claim, which falls as the car ages. Agreed value matters most for a car you could not easily replace at the market figure. What matters more is knowing which one you actually have — many people do not.
- What is CTP and is it the same as comprehensive?
- No. CTP (a Green Slip in NSW) is compulsory and covers injury to people. It does not cover damage to any vehicle or property. Comprehensive, third party property, and fire and theft are separate optional products that cover damage.