Wednesday 28 August 2013

How to Get Cheaper Insurance Premium for Cars Over 10 years old

My car is over the 10-year-mark and with all the extra loading charges it just isn't feasible for me to keep paying a high insurance premium for my car which has depreciated in value. 

Last year when my greenie (my car) was 13 years old my dad suggested I change to a third party insurance as my car value is already below RM10k. National car loses value fast. If your car is an imported brand please don't switch to third party coverage so fast, check the value of your car first.

MMIP (Malaysian Motor Insurance Pool) administered by MMIP Services Sdn Bhd is actually a pool of different insurance companies who 'share' the insurance of people opting for insurance for their older cars. It is for people whose car could not get the coverage from the usual insurance anymore or the premium is too high and not worth paying for a first party coverage anymore.

I had it done at the post office without a hassle in 2012 along with my vehicle road tax renewal. However in August 2013 it is a different story. 

I went to two different post offices for many times in a week and only to be told my NCD (non claim bonus) is zero whereas my last year's printed NCD is 55%, the maximum. 

I was baffled and I was told to come back another day when the system is online as it appears to be offline. I got this 'offline' excuse for a whole week from Aug 20-26, including on Saturday where the lady on Friday asked me to come early Sat morning to try my luck as 'the system may be open by then'. No such luck.

With my road tax and insurance expiring on Aug 26, I panicked when I was told again that MMIP is still offline and I decided to use the next lowest premium insurance, Multipurpose Insurans... Which is 2.5 times MORE in premium. 

However when they checked my NCD it is still zero. I was like 'No Way I am gonna lose my NCD for something I never claimed!' They said I need to wait for the email if post office is to email them to enquire as they do not entertain phone calls. My road tax would have expired long by then and I will have a perfectly working car with no legal right to drive it as it has no road tax. 

I had long known Uni Asia agents nearby is of no use to renew MMIP motor insurance. In Setapak Wangsa Maju area, there is one opposite KL Festival City on the same row as the new branch of Public Bank, about two blocks away, the post office lady told me about it on Aug 23 me asked me to renew my MMIP insurance at Uni Asia agent office opposite KL Festival City Shopping Mall. I parked legally by a busy road and walked up to the quiet shop lot and had to be doubly sure and walked back out to check out the signboard... There is no indication of Uni Asia at the steps. I knocked on the glass door or a very bare office and a young girl was hesitant to open the door for me. She was all alone and here isn't any signs of Uni Asia logo in that office. I asked if it was Uni Asia and she asked who specifically I was looking for. I said I wanted to renew my insurance and the post office asked me to do it here. They don't do general insurance so no renewal of motor insurance there, they only do life insurance and investment savings plans.

Then I drove to the Land Transport Authority (JPJ) and sought out the Uni Asia agent there. I was told they have no access to online system for MMiP and they need to do it manually by fax and it will take hours. That's it. HQ it is, since I am in the capital city anyway.

Hence I checked out the address for MMIP and got my dad to drive me there (thanks Pa) as my car is legally unmovable now.

Parking costs RM3 at Bangunan Malaysian RE for the first hour and RM3 for subsequent hours. Don't ask me why it is called Malaysian RE. It shares the building with MNRB and should come just before PNB building. Go up to 6th floor. 

The map captured on my phone is as below: 

HOWEVER NOTE THAT YOU CANNOT RENEW YOUR INSURANCE AT THEIR HQ. It is only a bodily claim department. You still need to travel to Uni Asia HQ or Multipurpose Insurance HQ to do it or at their respective agents nationwide. Sometimes due to the hassle people ended up paying double or more to save the hassle. Your call.

They could check my NCD though and it is still 55%. Pos Malaysia couldn't check the system after they upgraded their system with JPJ or something hence it always appear as zero for them.

The nice Malay personnel there said my Insurance is under Multipurpose Insurans and not Uni Asia. And they gave me a slip of the insurance HQ (I think many people must have thronged the MMIP HQ) they already cut out slips of printed papers of Uni Asia and Multipurpose Insurans HQ address. They even told me how to get there with specific landmarks and directions. Bless them.

So my dad and I went down to the city
and passed by Kompleks Wilayah, Oriental Daily HQ and got to CapSquare. I was told to go to 8th floor but when they saw it was third party I was directed to 10th floor. Got there by 4pm. All was done by 4.30pm.

Effective this year all insured need to fill up and sign a proposal form like this. 

The lady at the payment counter told me to only renew my insurance a day after as due to the system upgrading by JPJ, it doesn't seem to link well with the insurance companies. She said: "We already update here on our system but it is slow to appear on their side and they point the finger at us and customers call us up to scold us". So since it would be 5pm after I leave the area I decided to go straight to JPJ the next day. I won't even try Pos Malaysia anymore, not with their masalah sistem and system offline issues the past week.

Mission half accomplished.

Next day, I went to JPJ. Got a legal parking space after 5 minutes of hovering. Got a number. Squeeze through the standing crowd and got a nice seat and waited for about 30 minutes while I read my book. My number was called and it was all done within 60 seconds. Yup, that fast.  From red last year it is blue this year, the road tax sticker I mean.

Replaced my road tax on my wind screen and I am good for another year!
Premium has gone up by RM10 this year compared to the RM90plus last year but I don't mind. My car doesn't go further than 25km of my area anyway. I am a blissful housewife/mother again. :) 

Note: They kept saying on their websites to only opt for MMIP when you could no longer get any company to insure your car. It is 'high risk' insurance so to speak. So please do your research and decide for yourself if it is for you.

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