FAQ's
What is an Excess?
An excess is the amount you must contribute towards the cost of any claim under your insurance policy.
You may be required to pay more than one type of excess. Your certificate of insurance will show the amounts for different types of excesses.
The different types of excesses are:
- Basic Excess
- Imposed Excess
- Age Excess
- Inexperienced Driver Excess
You will not have to pay an excess if the driver or person in charge of your car was not at fault. For this to apply, you must be able to supply the name and address of the person at fault.
What is a No Claim Bonus?
No Claim Bonus (NCB) is a discount that is applied to Comprehensive Car Insurance. It is used to reward drivers for making no claims in a certain period of time. A certain percentage discount is given and this amount increases each renewal, providing no claims have been made in the previous period, until it reaches the maximum discount amount.
Will I lose my NCB if I have an accident?
If you are at fault for an accident or you are unable to identify the "at fault" party, your NCB will be reduced by one increment. e.g. If you are on a 60% NCB, it will reduced by one year to 50%
If you are not at fault for an accident and you can adequately identify the person responsible, you will not lose your NCB.
If you have a protected NCB, you are entitled to one "at fault" claim in each 12 month period of insurance without affecting you NCB entitlement.
Will I get a hire car if my car is stolen?
Yes, if you have Comprehensive or Third Party plus Fire and Theft coverage.
If your car is stolen and not recovered in the first three days following the theft, we will pay the cost of you hiring a car of a similar type to your own, up to $100 per day and $1000 in total. No cover applies after your vehicle has been located.
Do I have to use a TIO Accredited Repairer?
No, although there are advantages from doing so:
- TIO will arrange the repair process for you
- We will guarantee all repairs performed by our Accredited Repairers for as long as the vehicle is owned by you or a member of your family and is kept insured with us.
How do you determine if a car a "Total Loss"?
If your car is damaged to the extent that its fair salvage value, plus the cost of repairing the vehicle for use on a road would be more than the fair market value of the vehicle immediately before the event that caused the damage, we will declare the vehicle a Total Loss.
My windscreen is broken or cracked, what do I do?
When your certificate of insurance shows that you have comprehensive insurance for your car, you are entitled to:
- 2 windscreen repairs without any payment of any excess, and
- 1 windscreen replacement without any payment of excess
This benefit applies for each 12 month period of insurance and is limited to the front windscreen only.
To claim this benefit, contact our Claims Centre on 1300 301 833.
Got a question we haven't covered?
Send us a request for information, and one of our insurance experts will get back to you. Alternatively you can call us on 1300 301 833 during business hours or visit your nearest TIO branch.