HL Assurance Car Protect360 (Review): Budget-friendly Auto Insurance Plan with Flexible Workshop Policy

Many car insurers force you to choose between using their list affiliated workshops, or pay extra to visit one of your own choosing. Why must it be one or the other? 

Thankfully, for drivers who’d rather not be bound by such arbitrary workshop policies, a viable alternative exists. 

HL Assurance’s Car Protect360 takes a more customer-friendly approach, providing incentives for you to visit its partner workshops, while supporting your right to use a workshop of your own choosing - completely at your own discretion.

Think this could be the ideal auto insurance plan for you? Let’s find out with a closer look at HL Assurance Car Protect360.

Pros and cons of HL Assurance Car Protect360

Key features of HL Assurance Car Protect360 

#1: Affordable auto insurance plan with flexible workshop policy  

HL Assurance Car Protect360 allows you to freely choose between using your own workshop - or visiting any one of their affiliated ones - for the duration of your policy. 

You may recognise this as different from some other car insurance policies, which force you to choose one or the other (and increasing your premiums if you want to use your own workshop!)

Choosing an authorised workshop comes with some nice incentives: a 50% discount on your excess, and a nine-month warranty on parts and repairs. However, if you should decide to go with your own unaffiliated workshop, you can freely do so without any penalties or disadvantages. 

And to top it off, HL Assurance Car Protect360 is one of the lowest-priced auto insurance plans around.

#2: Broader-than-most coverage for your car

Car insurance policies can be rather narrow in their coverage, focused only on accidents, fire or theft. So if your car happens to be crushed by a fallen tree, you’ll have to bear the repairs cost on your own. 

This is not the case with HL Assurance’s Car Protect360. In fact, the policy extends a wider umbrella of coverage than most, allowing you to claim for damage or loss to your car arising from extreme weather or other Acts of God, as well as strikes, riots, fallen objects and more. 

#3: Low windshield excess, flexible own-damage excess

Another notable feature of HL Assurance Car Protect360 is the low excess you can enjoy for windshield claims. The policy offers unlimited coverage, with a S$100 excess per claim. This keeps windshield repairs and replacements affordable for policyholders. 

Another favourable feature is the ability to choose the level of excess for own-damage, which ranges from S$0 to S$1,000. The higher your excess, the lower your premium, as the excess is paid when you make a claim for damage or loss of your car.

Hence, you can set a high excess (in return for a lower premium), with the understanding that any accidents will be that much costlier for you. 

Depending on how you look at it, you may or may not choose to do this. 

Important exclusions to note

Take note of these exclusions if you’re considering signing up for HL Assurance Car Protect360. For the full list of exclusions and other important information, read the policy document here.

HL Assurance is not liable to pay for:

• loss of use of vehicle, or any consequential loss (arising from covered events) 
• damage to tires or rims, unless damage is caused to other parts of the insured vehicle in the same accident
• damage or loss arising from criminal breach of trust
• damage to property belonging to, in the custody or control, or held in trust by the insured, insured authorised drivers, or members of the family 
• loss, damage, liability or expense arising from the use of the insured vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• personal accident benefits for death or bodily injury occurring more than three months after the accident 

For whom is HL Assurance Car Protect360 best suited?

HL Assurance Car Protect360 is a low-priced car insurance policy that has two strong points. 

Firstly, it offers a broader-than-most range of coverage for your vehicle, covering not only accidents, thefts and fire, but also Acts of God, riots, strikes, falling objects, etc. This is comparatively rare, as many auto policies do not cover the latter categories. 

Secondly, it stands out for its flexible workshop policy. Instead of forcing you to choose between a list of authorised workshops, or to use your own unaffiliated workshop, this policy lets you do both. 

Hence, you can go to an authorised workshop, or visit your own unaffiliated one at your discretion.  

But do note that you’ll get a 50% discount on your excess, and a nine-month warranty, if you use one of their partner workshops.

The one drawback is that the plan itself doesn’t have particularly high benefits for personal accident and medical expenses, and there are no options for add-ons too.  

Plan tiers, premiums and latest promotions

What plan tiers are available for HL Assurance Car Protect360?

The following table contains a summary of HL Assurance Car Protect360. The policy only comes in one tier. 

For the full plan details, please refer to the policy documents.

How much does HL Assurance Car Protect360 cost? 

We were quoted a yearly premium of S$1,690.05 (or around S$140 per month) for an HL Assure Car Protect360 policy. This was for a 27-year-old, single, male driver - i.e., purposely skewed towards a high-risk profile.

This pricing falls somewhere in the mid-range, not too expensive, but not the cheapest either. 

Do note that you’ll be able to set your own excess level for own-damage, ranging from S$0 to S$1,000. 

The excess amount you choose will affect your yearly premiums (the lower the excess, the higher your premiums), so if you’re confident that you won’t get into any accidents (none that can be proved to be your fault anyway), you maximise your excess, betting that you’ll never need to pay it. 

Another factor to consider when choosing your excess is the amount you’ll pay if you need repairs. 

HL Assurance grants a 50% discount on your excess if you use one of their authorised workshops (and also gives you a nine-month warranty on repairs and parts).  

This means that you may not need to lower your excess by too much (and pay a high premium as a result), if you’re okay with using one of their authorised workshops.

What promotions are there for HL Assurance Car Protect360? 

There are no promotions currently running for this auto insurance policy. We’ll update this section once we hear of any new promotions, so check back soon!

How to claim? 

If you need to make a claim against your policy, follow these steps.

• Call the HL Assurance emergency assistance hotline at 6702 0202. You may request for a towing service if required.
• Collect as much information as possible (photos, contact information, etc)
• File a police report regarding the accident
• Bring your damaged vehicle to any of HL Assurance authorised workshops within 24 hours or by the next working day. Failure to do so may jeopardise your No-claims Discount. 
• After gathering the necessary documents, submit your claims by post to HL Assurance
  • Accident report
  • Police report (if applicable)
  • Particulars of witness (if any)
  • Medical report
  • Bills and expense reports 
  • Any other supporting documents

Note: The content of this article is presented for information purposes only. Always speak to a certified financial adviser or qualified person before buying the product. If you choose not to seek advice from a qualified adviser, you should consider whether the product is suitable for you. Buying an insurance product that is not suitable for you may impact your ability to finance your future needs.

If you decide that the policy is not suitable after purchasing the policy, you may terminate the policy in accordance with the free-look provision, if any, and the insurer may recover from you any expense incurred by the insurer in underwriting the policy.

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