Cheaper car insurance could be the silver lining of the Coronavirus crisis.
Lockdowns designed to stop the spread of Coronavirus have wrought havoc in 2020, and significant restrictions on movement and the normalisation of work-from-home has seen cars usually driven daily consigned to short hops to the local supermarket.
The upshot? For some drivers, significantly lower mileage should make for significantly cheaper car insurance.
A survey from finder.com.au reveals almost 30 per cent of people aren’t driving as much because of Coronavirus, and four per cent aren’t driving at all – equivalent to 770,000 cars sitting idle.
In Victoria, navigation data reported by The Age shows traffic on heavily-trafficked Punt Road dipped 12 per cent compared to pre-COVID levels during the second stage three Victorian lockdown.
The introduction of strict stage four restrictions has driven traffic levels down further by limiting the distance people can travel, reducing the number of reasons to leave the house, and introducing an 8pm curfew.
Rather than paying upfront for insurance, the survey suggests taking advantage of the lockdown by switching to a month-to-month policy or choosing a new policy with lower premiums for low-mileage drivers.
“If you don’t use your car very often, or only drive short distances, you might be able to save money on your premium by finding an insurance policy that rewards low usage,” said Taylor Blackburn, insurance specialist at finder.
“The difference in a yearly premium for someone who drives 5000km versus someone who plans to drive 30,000km can be $200 or more.”
A number of insurance companies are also currently offering premium relief for customers affected by COVID-19.
