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Is your car insurance premium too high?

Most people find out their premium is too high by accident, years later, usually when somebody mentions what they pay. There is no published average to measure yourself against in South Africa, and anyone showing you one is quoting their own book. What you can do is check the handful of things that actually set the number, work out which of them you can change, and go into the call knowing what to ask for.

Pocket Nerd editorial · Checked 14 October 2026 · 7 min read

You cannot benchmark it, so stop trying

The question people ask is whether they are paying more than they should. There is no number to answer that with, and the ones you will find are marketing.

Two people in the same suburb, driving the same car, can legitimately pay very different premiums because of their age, their claim history, where the car sleeps and who else drives it. An average across all of that tells you nothing about either of them.

So the useful version of the question is different: what is in my premium that I could change? That is answerable, it takes one phone call, and it is what the rest of this page is about.

Six things that set the number

In rough order of how much they move it. The column that matters is whether you can do anything about it.

  • Where the car sleeps

    Sometimes

    A locked garage behind a gate prices very differently to a street in a high theft suburb. Usually the biggest single factor after the car itself. If you moved, or you built a carport, or you now park at work instead of on the road, tell them. People update their address and never mention the parking.

  • Who is on the policy

    Sometimes

    The regular driver's age and licence history move the price more than almost anything. If a young driver was added years ago and no longer drives the car, or has since built a claim free history, that is a conversation worth having.

  • Your excess

    You can change this

    The most direct lever you have. Agreeing to carry more of a claim lowers the monthly figure, and the honest test is whether you could produce that amount within a week.

  • Security

    You can change this

    An approved, active tracker can earn a reduction, and on some vehicles it is a condition rather than an option. The saving is usually smaller than people expect because it comes off the theft portion rather than the whole premium.

  • The level of cover

    You can change this

    Comprehensive, third party fire and theft, or third party only. On an older car you could replace out of pocket, dropping down can be reasonable. On a financed car your bank will not allow it.

  • What you drive

    Not really

    Repair cost and theft rate, not the sticker price. Some modest cars are expensive to insure because they are stolen often or parts are scarce, which is worth knowing before you buy the next one rather than after.

What to say when you phone

Insurers do not reprice a policy because you are unhappy. They reprice it because something changed, or because you asked a specific question.

  1. 1Ask for a breakdown of the premium. What is the theft portion, what is the accident portion? It tells you which levers are even worth pulling.
  2. 2Tell them what has changed since you took it out. Address, parking, who drives it, your claim history, mileage if you now work from home.
  3. 3Ask what the premium would be at a higher excess. Get both numbers, then do the sum rather than trusting the feeling.
  4. 4Ask what a tracker would do to it, and whether one is already required on your vehicle.
  5. 5Ask whether you still need the extras. Car hire, tyre cover, scratch and dent. Some of these are useful and some are pure margin.
  6. 6Then get a competing quote and tell them you have it. A renewal premium and a new customer premium are frequently different numbers.

Before you drop your cover to save money

Cutting the premium by moving to a lower level of cover or a much higher excess is only a saving if the cover still works when you need it. Check what your policy would actually pay on a write-off first, because the valuation basis changes that by tens of thousands and most people have never looked at theirs.

Work the two numbers that matter

Both of these are arithmetic on your own figures, and both take about a minute.

And if you are about to accept a new quote rather than renegotiate an old one, there are five questions worth asking first.

Questions people ask

What is the average car insurance premium in South Africa?
Nobody publishes a credible one. Every figure you will find comes from an insurer or a broker describing their own customers, which tells you nothing about your car, your suburb or your record. A more useful question is which parts of your own premium you can change.
How can I lower my car insurance premium?
The levers you actually control are your excess, your security, the level of cover, and keeping your details current. Tell your insurer if your address, parking, mileage or regular driver has changed. Then get a competing quote, because a renewal premium and a new customer premium are often different numbers.
Does my premium go down if I do not claim?
Often, through a no claim bonus that builds over time, though it varies by insurer and is usually lost when you do claim. It is worth asking what yours is worth before lodging a very small claim, because the bonus you lose can exceed what you recover after the excess.
Is it worth switching car insurers to save money?
Sometimes, but compare what you are actually getting rather than just the monthly figure. Check the valuation basis, every excess that could apply, who is covered to drive, and what is excluded. A cheaper policy that pays trade value where your old one paid retail is not cheaper.

Now go and check what you are paying

Knowing how the cover works is most of it. The rest is not overpaying for it. You choose which insurers get your details, and nobody else does.

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Where this comes from

There is no premium figure anywhere on this page, on purpose. No credible South African average is published. Every number you will find is an insurer or a broker quoting their own book, which tells you about their customers rather than about you.

What decides your premium is specific to your car, your address and your record, so the useful question is not whether you are above some average. It is which of the things below you can actually change.

Your policy schedule and a written answer from your insurer are the only authority on your own cover.