Car insurance offers a financial cushion when you get into an accident or your car gets damaged, but did you know that you can accelerate your insurance cover? To get even more out of your policy, it’s worth exploring insurance optional benefits (like our Excess Buster) that can provide added protection and peace of mind.
In this article, we’ll guide you through the different types of optional benefits available from PD Insurance and why they’re well worth getting.
In this article
What is an insurance policy optional benefit?
Car insurance optional benefits are add-ons to your main policy. They give you extra coverage for specific situations that a standard policy might not cover. Think of them as custom options you can add to make your insurance better suited to your needs.
Why do I need optional benefits if I already have insurance?
Your car insurance policy is designed to cover the most common situations, like accidents, theft, and third-party damage. However, insurance companies have to limit what they cover to keep their policies affordable. They can’t include every possible risk or scenario without making the policy expensive for everyone.
Specific situations, like the contents inside your car being stolen or your windscreen being damaged often carry higher risks, and so are treated as “extras” and offered as add-ons or extensions.
It’s about keeping the basic insurance accessible while giving you the flexibility to add cover based on your lifestyle and needs. Different insurance companies have different optional benefits on offer. Below, we look at what PD Insurance offers.
Our most popular optional benefit – Excess Buster
With our Excess Buster add-on, instead of you having to pay your basic excess (your contribution) when you make a car insurance claim, PD covers you for up to your claim limit AND we’ll also pay your basic excess, once a year.
What’s an excess? It’s the amount you pay towards the cost of the claim. Your total excess will depend on your policy and must be paid before the claim is settled. More than one excess may be applicable to a claim.
To get this cover, you need to have an active Excess Buster for the car you’re claiming for. If PD isn’t your insurance provider, you’ll need to provide a certificate of insurance (COI) showing the excess and receipt of excess paid.
This applies to accepted claims whether you have Comprehensive, Third Party Fire and Theft, or Third Party Property Damage cover.
Vehicle Contents
With this insurance optional benefit, we’ll cover up to $750 for loss or damage to car seats for kids, clothing, personal belongings, and groceries in your car if it’s due to an incident.
What counts as an incident? Things like collisions, impact, fire, flood, vandalism, hail, storms, theft, or attempted theft. And the good news? No excess applies to these claims.
Keep in mind that you can only make one Vehicle Contents claim per cover period on your insurance certificate, and need to report theft to the police in the state or territory where it happened and give us the police incident number.
You can read more about vehicle contents and car insurance – here.
Windscreen & Window Glass
With our Windscreen & Window Glass insurance optional benefit, we’ll cover up to $1,000 for replacing your front or back windscreen if it’s damaged in an incident and can’t be repaired or if repairs aren’t cost-effective.
This includes replacing anything attached to the glass, like window tinting, demisters, or aerials. We’ll also cover any necessary recalibration for sensors or cameras affected by the new windscreen or window.
What’s not covered:
- Damage to sunroof glass or panoramic roofs
- Any glass that isn’t the front or rear windscreen or a window
You can only make a windscreen/window glass claim once every policy period.
Read more:
Hire Car
We get that you still need to get around, so if your car is stolen or needs to be repaired or replaced, our Hire Car insurance optional benefit will refund you for a hire car (up to $700 per incident). You can use two Hire Car After Incident claims per policy period. Here’s what we’ll cover:
- The daily base rate for an economy car
- Up to $50 per day
- For up to 14 days per incident
To get your hire car costs refunded, make sure to send us the receipts – don’t lose or misplace them!
Roadside Assistance
With our roadside assistance provided by Digicall Assist, you’re covered for those unexpected moments. Better yet, costs are as low as $89 per year. Here’s what’s included:
- Minor roadside repairs to get you moving
- Expert technical advice
- Battery and parts replacement
- Emergency fuel if you run out
- Help with lost keys and locksmith services
- Towing when you need it
So, whether it’s day or night, you’ve got peace of mind knowing help is just a call away.
In short, optional benefits give you targeted protection, more security and reduce out-of-pocket costs in specific situations. They allow you to customise your cover to handle potential risks or inconveniences that aren’t part of a basic policy, like roadside assistance or coverage for a rental car. Essentially, they offer peace of mind for the “what-ifs” that matter most in your daily life, making sure you’re not left unprotected in unexpected situations.
Insurance for the unexpected
At PD Insurance we care about our customers and want to build lasting relationships built on trust. When you take out a PD policy you’re joining community and family.
Read all about our different car insurance plans to decide which one suits you, your car and your pocket. From there, you can choose any of our above-listed add-ons to get even more out of your insurance.
And if you have a PD Insurance car policy already, simply log in to our online portal to add an optional benefit or give us a call on 1800 776 47.