Car Insurance
Choosing Your Cover
Some policies cost more because they provide better coverage. The usual types of cover available in the Bahamas are:
Act
This is the minimum policy required by the Road Traffic Act. It covers your liability toward third parties in respect of death or injury resulting from your operation of a vehicle.
Third Party
This covers your liability to third parties in respect of death or injury, as well as damage to third party property.
Third Party, Fire & Theft
This adds cover for the risks of fire or theft to the insured's own vehicle.
Comprehensive
This covers all of the risks described above, as well as accidental damage to the insured's own vehicle. It is the broadest cover available, but some policies may exclude damage to your vehicle from a hurricane.
Points to Consider
Use of vehicle
The policy will specify the purposes for which your vehicle may be driven. For example. If you want to use your vehicle for work, make sure that your policy covers this. Most policies also have driver restrictions, so check to see who is allowed to drive your vehicle.
No Claims Discounts
This rewards policyholders who have a claim-free (not blame-free) record with lower premiums. The right to a discount will probably be lost if the insurer has to pay a claim, even when the accident was not your fault.
The scale of discounts varies, but a policyholder who has earned a no claim discount with one company and changes insurers will usually be given a discount by the new insurer; provided they can produce proof of entitlement.
Each vehicle must earn its own discount, although if you are changing vehicles insurers will usually transfer the discount from your old vehicle to the new one.
Accurate Information
The details on your proposal form - address, occupation, type of vehicle, motoring convictions - must be accurate or your policy could be invalidated. It is also a legal offence to make a false statement, or to withhold information, for the purposes of obtaining a certificate of insurance.
