Yahoo Finance The surprising insurance claim costing Aussies $6 million per year
Insurance claims are costly – and annoying.
There’s one insurance claim in particular that’s become an increasingly large problem for Aussies – and it’s got nothing to do with travel or our homes.
According to Huddle Insurance’s latest research, kangaroo collisions are costing Aussie drivers on average a whopping $6 million per year in excess on insurance claims.
The research, aptly named the Roo Report, showed on average, over 7,000 Aussie drivers are involved in, and claim for, kangaroo collisions.
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As a result, a staggering 79 per cent of us feel concerned when driving out of town that our cars are at risk of hitting a roo.
On top of that, over a third of us are very concerned about the potential cost of the damage to our cars that could result from a kanga collision.
And it’s not surprising we’re worried about costs, with the report revealing the average cost of damage to a vehicle post-roo crash is a whopping $4,000.
That is, unless your vehicle is one of the 15 per cent (or over 1,000 per year) that are written off completely after a kangaroo collision.
Where are the roo crash hot spots?
In NSW, Mudgee, Queanbeyan and Cessnock West are hotspots for kangaroo collisions, with over 2,300 crashes recorded in the past year in those areas.
Roxburgh and Doreen in Victoria recorded over 3,000, but Tasmania was relatively safe.
I’m covered for kanga collisions, aren’t I?
Comprehensive car insurance covers the cost of the damage, but Aussie drivers are liable to pay an excess - and they generally don’t know about it.
According to Huddle, most Australians actually lack an understanding of what their insurance does and doesn’t cover.
While just under 60 per cent of drivers believe that in the event of a collision with a kangaroo their comprehensive car insurance will cover the cost of the damage, only 80 per cent of that group understand there’s an excess.
The other 20 per cent think they’ll be fully covered.
Another 29 per cent don’t actually know what their insurance covers, and 8 per cent don’t have comprehensive car insurance at all.
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