Understanding your premium

Agreed value is the amount you and QBE agree to insure your car for one period of insurance. Your Certificate of Insurance (COI) states your agreed value. If you choose to insure your car for market value, we’ll determine the market value of your car right before the claimed incident. We use recognised industry guides to do this and consider things like its make, model, age, kilometres travelled, accessories, modifications fitted and general condition. Your premium reflects your choice of agreed value or market value.

Switching to annual payment could save you money compared to paying monthly. It's worth reviewing both options at renewal so you can choose the payment frequency that works best for you.

Your sum insured is the maximum amount your policy covers if you need to make a claim for a covered loss.

For home insurance, your sum insured should reflect what it would cost to rebuild, repair or replace your insured property. It’s one of the factors that can affect the cost of your premium. Generally, a higher sum insured means more cover is in place, which may result in a higher premium. These home and contents insurance calculators can help you estimate a replacement cost for your insurance.

For car insurance, your sum insured may be based on either an agreed value or a market value, depending on your policy. An agreed value is a fixed amount agreed between you and your insurer when the policy starts. A market value takes into account factors such as its age, condition and kilometres travelled.

It’s a good idea to review your sum insured regularly to make sure it still reflects the amount of cover you need.

We want to make it easy to see how your premium has changed from one year to the next. Your renewal notice includes a comparison showing last year’s premium alongside this year’s premium.

The amount shown for last year reflects everything you were charged during the policy period, including any changes made to your policy along the way. If you updated your cover during the year, we’ve adjusted the previous premium to show what it would have been over a full 12 months. This gives you a more accurate, like-for-like comparison between the two years.

Government taxes and charges may be included in your premium. Depending on where you live, these can include GST, stamp duty and government levies.

The types and amounts of these charges vary by state and territory. In New South Wales, certain insurance policies also include an Emergency Services Levy (ESL), which helps fund emergency services.

You can find more information about the ESL on the Revenue NSW website.

An insurance excess is the amount you agree to contribute towards a claim for a covered event before your insurance cover applies.

In many cases, you can choose the excess that best suits your needs. Generally, choosing a higher excess will reduce your premium, while choosing a lower excess will increase it. It’s about finding a balance between what you’re comfortable paying if you need to make a claim and the premium you pay for your cover.

For more information about premiums, excesses and claims, refer to the Additional Information Guide for your car or home insurance policy.

Reinsurance is often described as insurance for insurance companies.

Insurance companies purchase reinsurance to help manage the financial impact of large claims and major events such as floods, bushfires, cyclones and severe storms. It means insurers can continue to pay claims when many customers are affected by the same event.

The cost of reinsurance is one of the many factors that can affect insurance premiums. When major events become more frequent or costly, reinsurance costs can increase across the insurance industry. These costs may then influence the premiums customers pay, along with other factors such as claims costs, inflation, government charges and individual policy details.