Find out about adding additional drivers to your car insurance policy and how it could affect costs with Savvy's useful guide.
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As a car owner in Australia, you may want or need to share your vehicle with other people. This can be convenient, but it’s essential to ensure that all drivers are properly covered by your car insurance policy. In this useful guide, we explore the important factors you should know when adding an additional driver to your car insurance policy.
Yes, most car insurance policies in Australia allow you to add another driver to your policy, giving them the same level of cover as the main policyholder. However, the extent of coverage and any additional costs can vary depending on the insurer and the driver’s profile.
Adding an additional driver to your car insurance policy, is usually a straightforward process. Depending on your policy, you will generally need to either contact your insurer or log in to your account online and provide certain details about the driver. These typically include:
Adding another driver to your car insurance policy may affect your premium. How much by will depend on factors such as the driver’s age, driving experience and claims history. For example, if the additional driver is under 25 or has limited driving experience, the premium might be higher.
Additionally, some insurers may apply an additional excess for certain drivers, which could lead to higher costs if a claim is made. For example, many insurers in Australia charge an unlisted driver excess or an age-based excess for drivers under 25 or with limited driving experience.
You should list all regular drivers of your car on your insurance policy. If someone regularly drives your car and is not listed on the policy, you risk potential coverage issues in the event of an accident. Some insurance providers may even refuse to cover a claim involving unlisted drivers, resulting in out-of-pocket expenses.
However, occasional drivers who rarely use your car may not need to be listed. Similarly, in many cases learner drivers do not need to be listed as additional drivers on your car insurance policy as they are typically covered automatically as long as they are driving with a supervising fully licensed driver. However, it is essential to check with your insurance provider or consult your product disclosure statement (PDS) to confirm the exact requirements and any restrictions.
Disclaimer:
Savvy (ABN 78 660 493 194, ACR 541 339) provides readers with a variety of car insurance policies to compare. Savvy earns a commission from our partnered insurers each time a customer buys a car insurance policy via our website. All purchases are conducted via our partners’ websites. The integrity of our comparison service is unaffected by our partnerships with those businesses and our effort remains to bring further brands that do not already use our comparison service onboard.
Savvy’s comparison service includes selected products from a panel of trusted insurers and does not compare all products in the market. Any advice presented above or on other pages is general in nature and doesn’t consider your personal or business objectives, needs or finances. It’s always important to consider whether advice is suitable for you before purchasing an insurance policy. We always recommend readers to consult the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) of different policies before purchasing your car insurance.
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