The Rising Costs of Car Insurance

October 15 - The cost of insurance premiums on cars in South Africa is constantly on the rise due to the higher costs of repairing vehicle damage.

This is the message from the Managing Director of Alexander Forbes Insurance, Gari Dombo who said: "When it comes to paying for repairs, a vehicle's value is irrelevant since the value of a vehicle is only a factor when total loss occurs."

According the statistics, 90% of all car insurance claims are for accidents, with only 10% of them for total loss.

With that in mind, it is understandable that a car's decreasing value is not taken into account when calculating the premiums.

Cars are becoming increasingly more expensive to repair due to technology and sophisticated new systems such as computers.

"These generally cannot be repaired and have to be replaced at considerable cost," said Dombo.

Contrary to what people believe, the rise in crime rates and theft are not the elements causing the insurance industry to push up the price of premiums.

Instead, the cost of repairs, which according to Dombo can increase at "10 - 15% per year", are driving premium prices up.

So what can be done?

For starters, consumers could choose car models that are generally cheaper to repair and have parts that are readily available.

In addition, one of the most obvious ways to keep insurance premiums down would be to avoid accidents at all costs by driving slower and taking advanced driving courses.