DiscoMick
31st December 2011, 08:14 AM
I sense there's an opening for more independent finance/insurance brokerages in this country, but I don't know enough about it to know if it would be viable.
The English mags are full of finance/insurance ads., but here there's rarely many. There's TCIS and one finance operator regularly advertising.
How many people out there just take whatever their existing insurer is offering, without doing much comparison, which is time-consuming.
Finance is also problematic, with some people just going with their bank or dealer finance or a motoring organisation. Comparing finance details is not only time-consuming but very difficult to get a proper comparison, with deals described in various ways that make it difficult to properly compare them.
Another issue is finance for casual workers. About 40% of the workforce is casual now, I read, and they often have trouble getting finance. Tradies would know about this, sometimes being made to produce two years of income before they can get a loan. People on pensions, student support or similar also have many finance issues.
The big operators also have rules which may not fit the needs of people who actually USE their vehicles. For example, its often not worth insuring a clunker worth say $5000, so many only are covered by third party. Another example is mods and accessories. For example, AAIME only lets you cover accessories to 85% of the value of the vehicle. When I made a list of every accessory and mod. they were worth more than my Disco, and its only a tourer, so imagine how difficult it could be for a vehicle with major mods!
Accessories may also have to be permanently mounted to come under vehicle insurance. So, a UHF may be covered if its permanently mounted, but not if its a hand-held in the glovebox. Think of the value of GPSs, computers, radios etc in many 4WDs. I tried to get a diff locker covered and the operator didn't know what it was and it wasn't on her pull-down menu, so no coverage.
Coverage for going off gazetted public roads is also an issue with some insurers.
So, I sense there's an opportunity there for more independent insurers/financiers. Independent housing mortgage brokers seem to do well, and it could also be done with vehicles I think, but I'm not an expert in this field, so what do you think? Could it be a goer?
The English mags are full of finance/insurance ads., but here there's rarely many. There's TCIS and one finance operator regularly advertising.
How many people out there just take whatever their existing insurer is offering, without doing much comparison, which is time-consuming.
Finance is also problematic, with some people just going with their bank or dealer finance or a motoring organisation. Comparing finance details is not only time-consuming but very difficult to get a proper comparison, with deals described in various ways that make it difficult to properly compare them.
Another issue is finance for casual workers. About 40% of the workforce is casual now, I read, and they often have trouble getting finance. Tradies would know about this, sometimes being made to produce two years of income before they can get a loan. People on pensions, student support or similar also have many finance issues.
The big operators also have rules which may not fit the needs of people who actually USE their vehicles. For example, its often not worth insuring a clunker worth say $5000, so many only are covered by third party. Another example is mods and accessories. For example, AAIME only lets you cover accessories to 85% of the value of the vehicle. When I made a list of every accessory and mod. they were worth more than my Disco, and its only a tourer, so imagine how difficult it could be for a vehicle with major mods!
Accessories may also have to be permanently mounted to come under vehicle insurance. So, a UHF may be covered if its permanently mounted, but not if its a hand-held in the glovebox. Think of the value of GPSs, computers, radios etc in many 4WDs. I tried to get a diff locker covered and the operator didn't know what it was and it wasn't on her pull-down menu, so no coverage.
Coverage for going off gazetted public roads is also an issue with some insurers.
So, I sense there's an opportunity there for more independent insurers/financiers. Independent housing mortgage brokers seem to do well, and it could also be done with vehicles I think, but I'm not an expert in this field, so what do you think? Could it be a goer?