Thu, 23 Mar 2006
Car insurance
I have got an invoice from the insurance company which provides damage liability for my car - they want me to pay the damage liability insurance for the next year. The invoice was for approx. CZK 5700. I am not sure how much it was last year, but I think it was less. So I visited the web pages of the insurance company, they have an on-line calculator there.
When I entered the data about my car, age, and location there, the computed price was about the same as the one on the invoice (CZK 1 less, in fact :-). However, they have 7% discount for on-line arranged contracts. So it seems it is around CZK 400 cheaper for me to withdraw from the previous contract and arrange a new one.
And what is even more interesting, the difference is even bigger for the car insurance than for the damage liability - the price of the car insurance is computed from the "common price" of the car at the time of the contract arrangement. Even with bonuses and discounts it it still more expensive than a new contract, because the "common price" lowers faster than the bonus. And if you damage the car, they will not refund more than the current "common price" anyway. It seems that they are betting that the customer will not bother to re-check the prices, and will simply renew the old contract.
I think I will withdraw from the car insurance contract anyway - it is by definition more expensive than to pay the repairs yourself. It is good when you are very short of money (such as immediately after buying a new car :-), but nothing more.