Getting Under the Hood of Australians’ Understanding of Car Insurance and Claims

Nearly 80% of Australians have some sort of motor vehicle insurance beyond compulsory third party (CTP).¹ But how many Aussies actually understand their policy, the process of making a claim and what to do if involved in an incident? 

During February 2025, we surveyed more than 2,000 Australians aged 18 and over across the country to get ‘under the hood’ of Aussies’ understanding of car insurance and claims. 

Read on to explore a breakdown of Australians’ understanding of their car insurance policies and product disclosure statements (PDS), confidence and experience with the claims process, insurance purchasing habits and how Australian states and territories stack up against one another.

2025 Under the Hood Report – key insights

Understanding insurance

The research uncovered that Australians feel confident about their understanding of their policies despite not having thoroughly read the policy's PDS. 88% of Aussies with car insurance believe they are adequately covered by their insurance policy, with 83% feeling confident in understanding their policy. Despite this, only 58% of respondents have read their insurance policy’s PDS in full or part, and 12% have not read their PDS at all.

When looking at the generations, Gen Zs lead the way in PDS understanding, with 31% having read it in full – well above other generational cohorts. Despite this, Pre-Boomers/Boomers (85%) are the most confident cohort in understanding the details of their insurance.

Incidents and claiming

Australians are overwhelmingly confident when it comes to knowing what to do in the event of an incident, according to 82% of survey respondents.

The data found that males are generally more confident in both knowing what to do in an incident and handling incidents and claims. Almost 90% of males say they know what to do when involved in an incident compared to 77% of females. Further, 54% of males say they know the claims process very well, compared to less than half of Aussie females (41%).

We found that Aussies are also confident in their ability to act quickly at the scene of an incident, but there’s a staggering gap in understanding and confidence when it comes to the claims process. To address this gap, Youi has developed a Car Accident Checklist to support Aussies who have been involved in a car incident as well as steps to lodge a claim.

Experience with insurance

Nationally, more than half of Australians (55%) have made at least one claim in their lifetime and most (81%) find the process extremely or quite easy. In fact, almost 80% of Australians state they’ve had only positive experiences with the claims process.

The data shows Pre-Boomers/Boomers are the most likely to have made a car insurance claim (69%), as well as the most likely to have made two to five claims (51%). This could be due to older generations having had more time and experience on the road and therefore with lodging car insurance claims. Similarly, males outnumbered females significantly when it came to having lodged two to five claims (51% to 37%) indicating potentially riskier driving behaviour by males.

Insurance purchasing habits

Those with a car valued at $70,000 or more (61%) were twice as likely to state ‘financial security’ as a deciding factor for their insurance coverage compared to those with a car valued at less than $30,000 (30%), pointing to a correlation between car value and choices in coverage.

It was found that those with a higher-value car had more confidence and knowledge about their policy.

Those who own a car valued at more than $70,000 were twice as likely to feel confident in their understanding of the details of their car insurance policy than those with a car valued under $30,000 (43% confident vs 20% confident). They were also twice as likely to have read their policy’s PDS in full (45%) compared to only 17% of those with a car valued at $30,000 or less.

The insights don’t stop there. Want to find out what else the data revealed, including how your state or territory stacks up? Download the report below.

¹ Canstar, As cost of living pressures bite, Aussies prioritise car insurance over health cover, 2024