3 Must Know Tips to Buying Car Insurance Online in Malaysia

Buying car insurance in Malaysia has never been this easy. As of today, in July 2018, 9 Malaysian insurance companies offer car insurance online. Many more are developing their own systems and will be doing the same by the end of this year.

We have taken a look at those insurance companies and showed how easy (or hard) it is to buy car insurance online in our Ultimate Guide to Buying Car Insurance Online. In this article, we offer 3 Must Know Tips, so that you are able to get the most when you buy car insurance online.

Tip 1: Make sure you use the right website to get the 10% discount

Even though you buy your car insurance online, you might not always get the 10% discount that you are expecting. So when you check the price quotation, make sure that it clearly shows that you are getting the 10% discount. Below is an example from MSIG. The webpages look almost the same, but the price is different at the end.

With 10% discount

No 10% discount

Tip 2: Make sure you select the vehicle details

The two most important information that you need to get right when buying online is Vehicle Model and the Vehicle Variant of your car. You can find the information either on your vehicle registration card or on the renewal notice that you received from your previous insurance company. If you still cannot find the right information, you can ask the car dealer or the person who you bought your car from.

If you do not know, ask for help

Getting this information is important so that when you get into an accident or your car is stolen, you will not have any difficulty in getting paid by the insurance company. Providing the wrong information will also give you the wrong price for your insurance. So make sure when you buy online you have the correct information. Here an insurance agent can be helpful because not only do they have the experience, but are able to help you with the paperwork when you have an accident.

Selecting the right Vehicle Model

Select the right Vehicle Variant

Tip 3: Adjust the Sum Insured to match your car loan

The last important tip is to adjust the Sum Insured of your vehicle to match your needs. The Sum Insured is the estimated value of your car by the insurance company. When you have selected the right vehicle model and vehicle variant, the insurance company website will propose a Sum Insured to you that in most cases is the one you want to choose. Most insurance companies give you the flexibility to change the Sum Insured slightly. The higher the Sum Insured, the more expensive the insurance. The lower the Sum Insured, the cheaper the car insurance.

When you lower the sum insured, just make sure that you do not fall into the trap of Under-Insurance. Read our article on “Hidden Dangers of Under-Insurance” if you want to know more.

In many cases your car loan is higher than the proposed Sum Insured by the insurance company. You can find out how much your car loan is by contacting the bank with your name and vehicle number. The bank will inform you and you can adjust the Sum Insured accordingly.

Why is it important to match your car loan?

Let’s say your car loan is RM 20,000, but you bought insurance with a sum insured of RM 18,000. If your car is stolen or totally crashed, you would still owe the bank RM 2,000. Even though you have not under-insured your car, you are still left with debt that you owe to the bank.