Tower: the traps in its car policy wording.

The first-dollar amount you pay on any claim. It's the number people forget until claim time — and it's often higher than they think.

Know your standard excess; a higher voluntary excess can cut your premium.

If a driver under 25 (or an inexperienced/unlisted driver) is at the wheel, a big EXTRA excess stacks on top of your standard one.

If anyone under 25 drives your car, find out this excess — it can be $1,000+.

A separate (often reduced) excess for windscreen/glass claims — but still a cost, and some policies don't reduce it.

Check your windscreen excess and whether glass-only claims affect your no-claims bonus.

Getting the car towed and recovered after an incident — usually capped.

Note the towing limit, especially if you drive rurally.

Re-keying and lock replacement after lost or stolen keys — capped, and modern smart keys are expensive.

Know the cap if your car has proximity/smart keys.

You have a legal duty to disclose everything a 'prudent insurer' would want to know. Breach it — even innocently — and insurers can treat the policy as if it never existed and refuse all claims.

Over-disclose: tell the insurer about every driver, modification, conviction and change of circumstances, and keep a written record of what you told them and when.

Several insurers say they won't pay — or even contribute — if the same loss is covered 'to any extent' under any other insurance policy, potentially leaving you fighting between two insurers.

Tell your insurer about any overlapping cover and ask in writing how competing policies are handled. Avoid duplicating cover that triggers these clauses.

Unless you have an agreed value policy, a write-off is settled at the depreciated 'market value' of your car just before the crash — often far less than you'd need to buy a comparable replacement, and capped at your sum insured if that's lower.

Ask whether your policy is market value or agreed value, and consider paying for agreed value so the payout figure is fixed in advance. Check the sum insured is high enough to actually replace the car.

Standard car policies cover only social, domestic and private use. Using the car for any business, courier, delivery, hire or fare-paying passenger work suspends or removes cover.

If you ever use your car for paid work, tell your insurer and arrange business or commercial cover; don't assume a private policy stretches to it.

Excesses are charged per event and can be cumulative, and additional excesses apply for young, inexperienced or international-licence drivers — so what you actually pay can be several excesses added together.

Ask for the full list of excesses that could apply to each driver before a claim, and check who is driving before lending your car.

If your car has modifications that weren't disclosed and agreed in writing, insurers can refuse to cover the car at all — not just the modified part.

Declare every modification (including ones done before you bought the car) and get them noted on your certificate of insurance in writing.

When you first take out a policy there is a waiting period — 48 or 72 hours — during which loss from storm, flood, wildfire, landslip or other natural hazards is not covered, and any already-named cyclone is excluded entirely.

Arrange cover well before any forecast weather event and don't rely on a same-day policy to cover an approaching storm or named cyclone.

Car policies exclude personal effects, household contents and business or professional tools left in the vehicle — these need a separate contents policy.

Insure valuable items and work tools under a contents or specified-items policy, and don't leave belongings in the car assuming the car policy covers them.

Claims are declined if you or any driver are judged reckless, grossly irresponsible or grossly negligent — a subjective test the insurer applies after the event.

Take obvious precautions — lock the car, activate alarms, don't leave keys in it — and document that you took reasonable care.

Cover for damage to your own car caused by an uninsured driver, or under third-party policies, is capped at low fixed amounts — often $3,000–$5,000 or market value, whichever is less.

Understand the difference between comprehensive and third-party cover, and check the dollar cap on any 'uninsured motorist' or third-party benefit before relying on it.

Add-on benefits like emergency accommodation, alternative transport and rental cars carry small sub-limits — sometimes as little as $40 a day or $500 total — far below real costs if you're stranded.

Check the exact dollar and daily limits on accommodation, transport and rental benefits, and top up with travel or additional cover if you travel far from home.

You must get the insurer's permission and let them assess the car before any repairs begin — arrange repairs yourself first and the claim can be declined.

Report the claim and wait for assessment and written approval before authorising any repairs beyond emergency temporary work.