More than 35 thousand people had an accident by car last year, and 18 thousand people filed for car insurance claims in New Zealand last year, which were caused by driver distraction, poor weather conditions, and reckless/dangerous driving.
Those 18 thousand people are safe, and they filed a claim, and things will be sorted out soon. But imagine what would happen with the rest of the 17 thousand people who don’t have insurance.
Let’s make it a little bit more personalized for you and for me as well.
Have you ever thought that if the same happened to you, then what’s going to happen? Who would take care of your family in such a time?
I don’t know your answer, but let me tell you what I would do in such a condition. I definitely would use my savings and pay compensation for what I have damaged. And we both know very well that compensation would take our lifetime savings.
No, no, I don’t want such things for you. But yes, I want you to be prepared for any such situation.
And here is our car insurance, which can help us to settle things quickly. Today, I have AA Car Insurance with me, and here I am going to present you with a detailed AA Car Insurance review covering AA insurance benefits, cost, discount options, pros & cons, and much more.
Introduction to AA Car Insurance
AA Insurance has been serving the New Zealander’s people for the last 30 years since 1994. AA develops all its products in New Zealand with Kiwis in mind. AA offers different types of competitive and flexible coverage with excellent customer service.
AA Insurance is a joint venture between the New Zealand Automobile Association Limited (NZAA) and Vero Insurance New Zealand Limited (VINZL) and is independently operated.
AA itself is the underwriter for its policies and sells directly to New Zealanders with 1000+ employees. It has 500,000 customers and 1,000,000 policies in effect.
AA has insured around 660,000 vehicles in New Zealand. And there are many reasons to consider AA as your car insurer in New Zealand.
AA also has partnered with Variety New Zealand Children’s Charity (as the lead partner of its Beds for Kids program) and the Student Volunteer Army. It supports grassroots school sports via our Big Little Sponsorship sports grant in partnership with Eden Park.
AA Insurance has an AA- (Very Strong) Insurer Financial Strength Rating given by Standard and Poor’s (Australia) Pty Ltd.
AA has been voted as the Most Trusted General Insurer by New Zealanders for 13 years, running in the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey. It also shows that Kiwis trust the AA. AA has won the quality service award for the tenth year in the Reader’s Digest Quality Service Awards for Car Insurance.
AA Car Insurance Policy Types and Coverage Options
AA offers One event, one excess (It is a benefit where policyholders only pay one excess when claiming on more than one policy if the claim is related to one event), and a Lifetime Repair Guarantee (When we repair the Damage to your car through our Quality Repairer Network, we guarantee the repairs for the life of your vehicle, even if you sell it) exclusively for their car insurance holders.
AA offers three types of insurance policies: comprehensive, third-party, fire & Theft, and third-party coverage only. Here are the dedicated details about each policy:
AA car insurance comprehensive cover:
As it is clearly understood as per the insurance plan name, it is the highest level of insurance coverage, which you can take from the AA insurance. And over 538,000 Kiwis have chosen this car insurance plan. It covers a wide range of things like Damage to your car, as well as Damage you might cause to someone else’s car or property, Damage caused by an uninsured third party, Excess-free keys & locks, Towing, storage, and transport, Agreed value, and Theft of your vehicle.
This plan also has an Excess-free glass cover and a Rental cover as an optional cover.
Third Party, Fire & Theft cover:
This plan only covers the Damage caused by fire, Theft of your vehicle, Damage caused by an uninsured third party, Damage to someone else’s property, and Agreed value (Agreed value is the amount agreed between you and AA, which AA will pay if you have an accident or your vehicle is stolen) as benefits and Excess-free glass cover as an optional cover.
Third-Party:
It is a minimal coverage insurance plan that covers the Damage caused by an uninsured third party, such as Damage to someone else’s property only. This plan doesn’t have any additional benefits and optional add-on covers.
Comparison table between AA car insurance plans:
To make a clear decision and make a better comparison between all plans and their features, we need a table. So, here we have a table where you can find which plan best suits you.
| Features | Comprehensive | Third Party Fire & Theft | Third-Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| Damage to your car | ✔ | – | – |
| Damage caused by fire | ✔ | ✔ | – |
| Theft of your vehicle | ✔ | ✔ | – |
| Damage caused by an uninsured third party | ✔ | up to $4,000 | up to $4,000 |
| Damage to someone else’s property | ✔ | up to $20 million | up to $20 million |
| Excess-free keys & locks | ✔ | – | – |
| Towing, storage and transport | ✔ | – | – |
| Agreed value | ✔ | ✔ | – |
| Excess-free glass cover | ✔ | ✔ | – |
| Rental cover | ✔ | ||
| One event, one excess | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Lifetime Repair Guarantee | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Child Seat | ✔ | – | – |
AA Car Insurance Costs
AA car insurance cost depends on many factors like what type of car insurance policy you have selected for you, your age, your eligible discounts, your excess amount, any Optional cover if you choose, your car make & model year, and your claim history.
These factors vary from person to person, so whatever price you receive will be your customized price only.
Also, AA offers many discount options; if you choose them, then you can save extra money on your insurance premium. Here are the discounts which you get:
Multipolicy discount:
AA offers insurance for different segments like car, house, business, travel, health, and more. If you bundle up with two or more insurance policies or renew an existing eligible policy, then you will be eligible to get an extra 10% off the premium.
Your multipolicy discount will be applied at the start date of a new policy or at the time of renewal of an existing policy within a grace period of 21 days after the new term commences.
But remember, your name and mailing address should match both policies; only then will you get this discount.
No Claims Bonus Benefit:
A no-claim bonus means if you didn’t file any insurance claim on your last policy, then you can avail yourself of this facility. Here, you will be able to prevent your direct increase in your insurance premium up to 5 to 20%.
AA Member Discount:
If you have an AA membership, then you can save $5 to $50 per annual term on getting a new AA car insurance policy or at the time of renewal. But to get this discount, you need to inform AA about your membership.
In this discount, your membership years play an important role in deciding your insurance premium discount. So, we advise you to hold an AA membership for a long term to get a better discount.
In the table below, you can see how much you will save with your AA membership.
| Year | Comprehensive | Third-Party Fire & Theft Car | Third-Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | $10 | $5 | $5 |
| 5 to 9 | $25 | $5 | $5 |
| 10 to 14 | $35 | $10 | $10 |
| 15+ | $50 | $10 | $10 |
Here, you can see how your membership impacts and the highest discount is available for the AA comprehensive car insurance plan.
AA also comes up with different types of discounts from time to time, such as Easter offers and much more. You can also take advantage of their benefits.
And I advised you to choose a higher amount of the excess amount to lower your monthly insurance premium. Also, select your optional coverage very carefully. Once you decide on your optional rental car and excess complimentary glass cover, your monthly premium will increase by $10.
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How to get an AA car insurance quote
Obtaining an AA car insurance quote is a straightforward and straight process. You can have your personalized aa car insurance NZ quote in 2 minutes just by providing your personal and car information. Here are the steps that you need to follow for a smooth experience:
- First, visit the AA insurance website.
- Then click on our insurance menu and choose the car & vehicle option.
- Then, select your perfect insurance plan.
- Then, it will open a new page where you need to click on the get a quote button. It will open in a new tab.
- Now, you need to choose your Policy start date, provide your membership information, and enter your car registration number; it will fetch your car information.
- Now click on the car features button.
- Then, provide information about any aftermarket accessories or modifications your car has.
- Then you need to tell if you purchased your car on finance and the use of your car.
- Then, Provide your address details.
- Now you have to enter your driver’s date of birth, gender, and your last car insurer and then click on the get a quote button.
This is how your screen will look like with your personalized quote.
AA Car Insurance Pros and Cons
Like every other insurance product, every product is not the best fit for everyone. In the same way, AA also has some pros and cons. Here is a list below with detailed pros & cons. And I hope this will help you make an informed decision about AA insurance.
AA car insurance pros:
- One event, one excess benefit,
- Cover your car if you use it for Rideshare or Uber,
- Offers fortnightly, monthly and yearly payment
AA car insurance cons:
- They don’t have an app
- AA membership doesn’t cover your car
- Bad reviews on Trustpilot, and people don’t recommend it to others
- 88% of people have bad experiences with them for claim procedure
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AA Car Insurance Reviews
There are many third-party websites where we can find legitimate AA car insurance reviews, like Trustpilot. There are more than 96 reviews with bad ratings and 1.4 stars on Trustpilot. 88% of people have a bad experience with AA car insurance NZ and don’t recommend this insurer to others.
However, AA Insurance has an AA- (Very Strong) Financial Strength Rating from Standard and Poor’s (Australia) Pty Ltd.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Making AA Car Insurance Claims
The claim procedure is a very crucial step to make. Here, we have listed it in a very soft manner to help you understand how to claim with AA if you need to.
First, go to the AA insurance website.
Click on the claim menu, choose Start a Claim, and go for your insurance policy.
It will open up in a new window where you will be asked about your name, date of birth, address, policy number, and date of incident. After filling in all the information, click on the claim online button.
After you have reported your claim, you will be allocated a separate claim number, and the AA insurance staff will connect to you within 2 business days.
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AA Car Insurance Customer Service
AA Insurance offers excellent customer service, and to facilitate this, they have a chat, email, address, and phone number. You can choose any way to connect with the AA insurance staff in New Zealand.
You can call AA car insurance phone number 0800 500 231 8 am – 8 pm Monday to Friday and 8 am – 6 pm on weekends and public holidays. You can send your query to their AA Insurance, P. O. Box 992, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 address.
You can also take the Ask Aria help, which is their chatbot with readymade quick solutions to your queries, or you can chat with them live.
AA Car Insurance Alternative Options in New Zealand
AA Car Insurance NZ offers three different insurance policies in New Zealand, which may or may not be suitable for you. There are other good car insurance providers available that you can consider. In the table below, we have some suggestions for you to feel as per your needs.
Company name | Benefits | BEST FOR |
AMI |
| Best for young drivers less then 25 years old to save excess by $250 with AMI Safe Driver online course. |
COVE |
| Best for young drivers above 25 years old |
TOWER |
| Best for for your EV, PHEV or Hybrid |
AA |
| Best for every car Driver |
STATE |
| Best for every driver |
Conclusion: Securing Your Peace of Mind with AA Car Insurance
Yes, as with other insurers, AA insurance offers three types of car insurance policies: comprehensive, third-party, fire & theft, and third-party cover only. They do have discounts and offers that you can avail yourself of to lower your insurance premium.
And in our opinion, you can consider AA insurance as your car insurance if you are looking for a change. If this doesn’t suit you or doesn’t provide the best value at a lower price, then go for another as well. We have different guides about other insurers as well; you can look for them.
What does aa comprehensive car insurance cover?
AA comprehensive car insurance is the highest coverage you can get from AA in New Zealand. It covers damages which occurred from your car to someone’s car or property, along with rental car benefits and much more.