AXA car insurance and Chartis car insurance are 2 very popular products in the market. In fact, when you buy a new car it will most probably be insured with an insurance plan from either of these insurance companies. As such car owners will definitely have heard of these names. But not many of them know which insurer they should choose after the first year of car ownership.
Here are some points that highlight the difference between AXA car insurance and Chartis car insurance. As you go through each point, decide whether it is really important for you. Then you can have an idea which insurer suits you best.
Windscreen Coverage
Quite often, specks of gravel can be dislodged from tyres of trucks in front of you. And as they hit your windscreen surface at great speed, the very top layer of the glass surface may weaken at the point of impact. Given time, internal fracture of the glass can happen. Eventually this can result in windscreen breakage.
With windscreen coverage, you can replace the damaged glass simply by visiting any AXA or Chartis appointed workshops. For Chartis, an excess of $100 + GST is required. For AXA, the excess is $0 and you can enjoy free reinstatement of coverage.
Loss of Use Benefit
In Singapore, cars are expensive and many families own only 1 car. In case your vehicle needs to be in the workshop for accident repair, transportation can become quite a problem for everybody.
For Chartis, a courtesy car is provided to ease this inconvenience. You have a maximum of 10 days to enjoy this benefit. For AXA, they give you a cash allowance of $50 per day. Thus you can have the flexibility to arrange for your preferred type of transportation. Nevertheless your vehicle needs to be in the workshop for at least 4 days and the maximum payout is $250.
Personal Accident Benefit
Personal accident benefit is now pretty much a standard coverage for any comprehensive car insurance policies. For Chartis, the payout is $50,000 for the insured and $10,000 for the passengers. Under AXA, the compensation is $30,000 for the insured only. And if you want to extend this benefit to your passengers, additional premium is required.
Towing Service
Towing service is a necessity. Sometimes vehicles become unsafe for operation after an accident. Under both AXA insurance and Chartis insurance, towing is free of charge. All you have to do is call up the accident hotline and get the officer-in-charge to arrange for you.
Medical Reimbursement Benefit
Even though medical reimbursement benefits may be small under any type of car insurance policies, they are certainly useful. If you have tons of accident-related bills to pay, you’ll be very thankful someone is paying for the medical related expenses. For Chartis, you can claim up to $300 for you & your passengers. With AXA, the maximum payout is $500 for you & your passengers.
Waiver of Excess
Having a waiver of excess benefit is like icing on the cake. In case you need to make a claim, the upfront amount you have to pay is reduced. Under Chartis, this benefit only applies when you carry out your repair at any of their authorized workshops. If you are a 50% NCD holder, your excess can be waived by $600. Otherwise your excess is reduced by $300.
For AXA, your basic excess is waived off totally as long as you are a 50% NCD holder. Otherwise half of your excess can be waived.
Distributor Workshop Benefit
If your car is still under the 3-year warranty, this may be something you want to pay attention to. Under Chartis, you are allowed to bring your vehicle back to any of the distributor workshops if your car is still under the 3-year warranty. (* This does not apply for parallel imported cars.)
With AXA, you have to visit any of their authorised workshops for accident repair. If you want to go back to your distributor workshop, then you may have to upgrade your policy to an any-workshop plan.
Payment
This is a small yet important detail. Chartis accepts cash, cheque and credit card. Installment payment is also accepted if you have a credit card with DBS, POSB or UOB. For AXA, you can likewise pay by cash, cheque or credit card. And their installment plan is similar – for DBS, POSB or UOB credit card holders only.
Adding Named Driver
You do not have to add your named drivers under Chartis. This is because authorised drivers are automatically considered named drivers. And they enjoy the same excess as you. If you want to add a named driver into your AXA car insurance policy, you may be required to pay additional premium.
Third Party Compensation
The above points list the benefits that you as the insured as enjoy. However there is also another aspect of motor insurance – to protect you from third party liabilities as a result of damage to other people’s vehicles or property, bodily injury or even death. Both AXA car insurance and Chartis car insurance cover these aspects. Moreover it is a legal requirement for any car owner in Singapore to have at least such insurance coverage.
Other Differences
AXA launched an MPV scheme that rewards MPV owners with additional discount. Likewise for off-peak car (OPC) owners, they can enjoy a special discounted rate. As for Chartis, you can customize your insurance policy a little by imposing an age condition. This can help to reduce the premium a little.
Reputation & Service Standard
AXA insurance and Chartis insurance are 2 of the largest insurers in Singapore. Their reputation and reliability are top-notch. Also, if you want to get anything done, their customer service is often helpful enough to guide you. Yet due to their size, you may find it a little difficult to get through their customer service hotlines during peak hours. Thus it is often easier to go through your car insurance specialist if you need any help.
And as far as their accident hotline is concerned, it is easy to get through and the person on duty is trained to lead you to the nearest reporting center and a relevant workshop.
With the above comparison between AXA car insurance and Chartis car insurance in mind, hopefully you have a clue as to which insurer you want to go for by now.