Change to Car Insurance Model Could Result in Big Savings

Basing the cost of automobile insurance on how far you can drive, you can save people money and help the environment, the study says.

The analysis by the Institute of Actuaries of Australia to discover the potential savings of 3.2 billion dollars a year if the cost of the vehicle is closely related to the number of kilometers.

One way of doing this was through a pay-as-you-drive (payd) insurance, if the costs of this policy was based not only on the usual factors - the driver age, sex, place and type of vehicle - but also about how very The car was used.

Payd sole supplier of car insurance in Australia is Real insurance that have been on the market for about 12 months, and sells insurance in the 5000-kilometer blocks.

Real Insurance chief executive Roger Grobler says more than half of policy holders purchased at least 5000-kilometer option.

"If you are not using a car, you can not get involved in an accident," Mr Grobler said on Friday.

"The more you drive, the more is expected of you is involved in an accident insurance should cost more.

"Traditional insurance simply does not work this way."

Institute of Actuaries of Australia said that 3.2 billion U.S. dollars of annual savings - which is approximately equal to 304 U.S. dollars per vehicle - not only for the flow of drivers in the form of lower insurance costs.

Cities and governments also benefited as less cars on the road mean fewer accidents, less congestion and reduced demand for maintenance of roads and cleaner air through the lower levels of pollution.

These findings were presented at the Institute's biennial convention in April of this year.

"Australians drive too much, because a large part of the costs of driving are not paid directly by the driver or owner Colin Priest Institute said in a presentation to the convention.

"We estimate the Australians will be seven percent less disk km if included in the Australia payd.

Mr Grobler said a very small decrease in the extent to which people used their cars would be "an enormous impact both on individuals and society."

Financial analyst in Canstar Cannex, Joshua Zenas said payd those with insurance have to keep track of how many kilometers have been logged.

"We need to be aware of where exactly you can afford and how many kilometers you are on the left side," said Mr. Zenas from Brisbane on Friday.

"This is not an additional burden to the driver."

Mr. Zenas said those who were not heavy the driver could potentially benefit financially from payd method.

"There is a significant level of savings, depending on the type of driving I do," said Zenas.

Some overseas suppliers used payd yearly odometer checks or a device installed in a vehicle to track the course, but Mr. Grobler said Real Insurance did none of those things.

"This is a principle based on trust, there is no monitoring," said Mr Grobler.

Payd Mr Grobler said the insurance was available in the U.S., Canada, Japan, South Africa, India and parts of Europe.

The average driver drives 14,600 km per year, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.