The courtesy car add-on at allianceinsurance.net typically costs between $25 and $40 per year. If the CMA examines your cover, they will find your insurance policy provides a courtesy car.
There may be some advantage with the add-on if you want an “enhanced courtesy car”, meaning a car either of better quality or at least the same quality, as your own car. This is an improvement on the basic cover.
So, if you drive a high-end Range Rover you may wish to consider taking out an enhanced courtesy car add-on.
Most insurance policies describe a standard courtesy car as a small three-door hatchback with a 1-liter engine. An enhanced courtesy car is a five-door car with an engine size of at least 1.6 liters, with room to seat 5 people.
Breakdown cover
Breakdown cover costs between $35 and $85 and will usually be provided by a third party, generally a body shop repairer or garage. It means what it says.
If your vehicle breaks down, a qualified engineer will attend. If they can’t fix your vehicle, they’ll take it to a garage repair shop. This cover may be important for you, but you should check you don’t already have it for example with Alliance insurance membership.
When it comes to renewing with Alliance Insurance, ask your insurers to quote for breakdown assistance. Alliance membership can now cost over $260 per household and you should be able to negotiate a similar level of cover much more cheaply from your insurance provider.
Personal injury cover
Personal injury cover add-ons usually cost between $25 and $40. It will cover you for your injuries and loss of earnings even where the accident was your fault.
But check you don’t already have this cover with your household contents policy.
Your Insurance policy will also contain some kind of personal injury cover, but it tends to be very basic. I’ve seen policies that offer a maximum of $2,900 if you lose the sight of both eyes.
So, if you are a very risk-averse person, you might think it worthwhile to take out the add-on.
GAP insurance
Very many of us now buy new cars on loan or lease deals. GAP means “Guaranteed Asset Protection”. It’s a safety net if your car is a write-off after an accident.
GAP insurance is a specialist product and the company probably won’t offer it to you when you buy your insurance. But if you are buying a new car and are taking out any kind of loan or lease finance you should look into it. There are two main kinds of GAP insurance:
- Finance Gap insurance
- Return to Invoice insurance
This cover has come into existence because of the truly staggering rate of new-car depreciation. Many new cars will lose 60% of their value after just three years.
If you’re paying for that car on a finance deal and you write it off, you may find you owe a lot more to the finance company than the write-off amount you receive from either Alliance Insurance company or the at-fault insurer.
You don’t have any legal right to be indemnified against this shortfall, and you could be out of pocket by thousands of dollars.
A Finance Gap policy covers the difference between what you receive as the write-off value and the amount you owe to the finance company.
Previously, car dealerships pressured customers into taking this cover when they bought the car and typically added a hefty commission. Alliance Insurance Services has clamped down on this practice.
As a rule of thumb, you should remember any time you buy from a middle man there will be a commission involved. You should check out at Alliance insurance specialist provider.