Most car owners spend weeks and months researching their options when buying a new car. But when buying car insurance, most of us simply choose the first option that we come across. In general, car insurance is often ignored and treated as a mundane task on our annual to-do list. Because little to no homework goes towards buying car insurance, many car owners easily fall for car insurance myths that keep circulating around.
However, with hundreds of your precious Dinars on the line, it pays to know fact from fiction. In this article, we aim to shed some light on the most common myths about car insurance that simply aren’t true.
It’s always cheaper to go the third party route
A lot of people tend to believe this, under the prevailing assumption that a third party liability (TPL) policy is always less expensive than a comprehensive policy. However, this is not true in all cases. Many countries have elevated the price for TPL policies, given that a growing number of high-risk drivers were opting for third-party cover.
If your friend crashes your car, his insurer is going to pay
That might seem like the logical conclusion, but it really comes down to what the insurance policy says. The insurance policy is tagged to the car, not the driver. Therefore, as the owner of the vehicle, no matter who has been behind the wheel, you’re going to be the one paying for damages. So, unfortunately, if someone else drives your car and gets involved in an accident, you’ll be the one managing the claim with your insurer. Now you’ll probably think twice before letting your friends into the driver’s seat!
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If the car is covered, your belongings inside it are covered too
You’re not alone if you fell for this myth. In case of accidental damage or theft, many car owners often try to have the items inside of their car also reimbursed through the car insurance provider, only to realize the hard way that these are not covered under the policy. However, you can opt for an additional personal belongings cover with your next car insurance policy to insure high-end items like laptops and golf clubs kept inside the car.
The premium I pay depends on the color of the car
There are rumors about how a flashy and vibrant red colored car would attract a higher insurance premium. This is not true at all. The car’s color has no impact on the premium fixed on your car insurance policy. There are many other intricacies, car features and driver details that certainly have an influence over the price that’s set, but a car’s color has nothing to do with it.
A cheaper car means a lower insurance premium
The value of a car is definitely a factor in its insurance premium calculation, but it doesn’t mean that a cheaper car will always be cheaper to insure than a more expensive one. An insurance company also takes into account the history of loss and risk factors attached to a specific car model. So a sports vehicle or muscle car priced at BHD 20,000 may cost higher in insurance premiums than a family car or SUV worth BHD 30,000, primarily because the sports car has a history of higher losses.