How Much Comprehensive Car Insurance Costs in the Philippines

4 min read By eCompareMo on

Comprehensive car insurance in the Philippines is priced as a percentage of the sum insured, inside a band the Insurance Commission has published since 2015. Where a quote lands in that band is the insurer’s judgment of the car and the repair cost. A lower number is not the cheaper policy if the deductible or the flood cover is different.

CTPL, the policy the LTO requires, is a separate ₱560 a year for a private car. It is not inside this percentage. CTPL and comprehensive cover pay for different things.

The band

For a private car, own damage and theft is rated from 1.25 percent to 3.75 percent of the sum insured. Theft only is 1.00 percent. Fire only is 0.50 percent. The standard deductible is the higher of ₱2,000 or 0.50 percent of the sum insured. The tariff allows a discount of 6 percent if you accept a deductible of 0.75 percent of the sum insured, at least ₱3,000, and 12 percent at 1.00 percent, at least ₱4,000. Take the discount only if you can write that check.

A worked example

Take a car insured for ₱1,200,000. Own damage and theft at the bottom of the band is ₱15,000. At the top it is ₱45,000. That is before taxes, and before voluntary third-party liability, personal accident, or acts of nature. The standard deductible is 0.50 percent of ₱1,200,000, which is ₱6,000, and that is higher than the ₱2,000 floor, so the deductible is ₱6,000.

Two quotes for the same car can differ because the rate differs, not because one company forgot a zero. The sum insured is also the ceiling on a total loss. A figure far above the market means you pay rate on money the insurer will not pay out. A figure far below it means a total loss settles short of the next car.

On the Toyota, Honda, and Mitsubishi pages, the quote uses the catalog value for the year and model you choose.

What the percentage is paying for

Inside that band, the Commission’s 2022 template for a private-car policy pays for collision or overturning, fire, lightning, self-ignition, carnapping and theft, and malicious act. It also pays reasonable towing to the nearest repairer if the car cannot be driven. It does not pay for wear and tear, for a mechanical or electrical failure with no accident behind it, or for damage outside the Philippines. Racing is out unless the insurer agrees to cover it and you pay the extra premium, 20 percent on the template. Carrying passengers for hire or reward is out altogether. The Commission suspended the rollout of the template in March 2023, so check your insurer’s own wording.

A quote at 1.25 percent and a quote at 3 percent are both “comprehensive” only when the schedule lists the same perils. Check collision, theft, and flood before you treat the lower percentage as the better price.

What else moves the amount you pay

  • Acts of nature. Flood, typhoon, and earthquake are an optional section. Street parking, or a route that disappears every habagat, is a reason to buy it. Removing it is a real saving only when the exposure is small and the lender allows it.
  • Taxes. Documentary stamp tax, VAT, and local tax sit on top of the basic premium. Compare the total you will pay, not the percentage alone.
  • Parts after year three. Depreciation does not change the rate. It changes a repair. Your share of a replacement part steps up with the age of the car, and batteries, tires, and shock absorbers go to 45 percent once the car is over three years old. On a total loss, settlement follows the value of the car.
  • The repair network. A lower premium that sends the car to a shop the manufacturer will not honor can cost more than the discount.

What to line up before you compare

Use one make, one model year, the same sum insured, the same deductible, and the same yes or no on flood. For a hybrid or a battery car, add the battery questions: whether the pack is inside the sum insured, and whether flood damage to it is covered. Those questions are listed in the CTPL guide.

Then compare car insurance quotes on that one car. The useful difference is the own-damage rate, the deductible, and whether flood is on the schedule.

Sources

  1. Insurance Commission, schedule of motor car rates, including the deductible and the deductible discount, as of January 1, 2015. insurance.gov.ph
  2. Insurance Commission, template Private Car Policy, Annex A to Circular No. 2022-02, on what is covered, what is refused, and the depreciation schedule (insurance.gov.ph), and Circular Letter No. 2023-07, March 1, 2023, which suspended its rollout (insurance.gov.ph).