WE’RE CHANGING THE TYPICAL INSURANCE MODEL

Our Frequently Asked Questions

Pay as You Drive isn’t a new concept, but it’s one we’re looking to pioneer here in Australia because we know that lower kilometre drivers are paying too much for their insurance.

KOBA uses real-time driving data, connecting the vehicle’s on-board computer to a smartphone app which records when and how far you drive and then charges a consistent per-kilometre rate for comprehensive insurance coverage.

This is entirely different from existing so-called ‘pay-as-you-drive’ policies which offer reduced annual fees if you nominate to drive less than a predetermined distance each year.

While those companies will charge more if you happen to exceed that figure, they typically won’t provide a refund if you drive less.

KOBA, on the other hand, charges for the actual distance you drive.

At KOBA, we want to be transparent with our customers about how our insurance costs are broken down so we have very clear pricing that genuinely rewards lower K’s.

Every KOBA customer has two calculations:

  1. A upfront fixed cost – this covers your car while it’s parked from incidents such as fire, theft, hail or 3rd party damage. The fixed cost includes the KOBA Admin fee which helps to cover the costs of collecting, transmitting and storing your vehicle data. This fee is always payable upfront. 
  2. A per-km-rate – the cost per kilometre you drive, covering the incidents that can occur while you’re driving. This cost is calculated at the end of each month and is your per-km-rate x the number of km you’ve driven. (as measured through your KOBA Rider or Uber Carshare Instant Keys GPS device). 
 

What is a KOBA Rider or Uber Carshare Instant Keys GPS device?

KOBA uses a special Onboard Device (OBD-II) that plugs directly into your onboard computer and syncs with our KOBA App. This measures your KM driven and powers our App.

KOBA offers the same type of comprehensive car insurance you’re used to, just with transparent pricing. Comprehensive insurance means we cover loss or damage to your car (up to the Agreed Value) as well as your liability for damage you might cause to other people’s property (up to $20m).

There’s loads of additional benefits included, such as:

/ Baby capsules + child seats

/ Emergency repairs

/ Emergency travel + accommodation

/ Hire car or Alternative transport after theft

/ Locks + keys

/ New replacement car

/ Personal items

/ Towing + storage

/ Trailer cover

KOBA also offers some additional features, but these will cost extra if you want them included in your coverage:

/ Hire car or Alternative transport cover

/ Excess-free glass claim

Of course, there are terms, limits, conditions & exclusions that apply so you should always read the PDS & FSG to understand the details of our cover.

KOBA Insurance is proud to be underwritten by Pacific International Insurance.

Car insurance sold by KOBA Insurance before July 4th, 2023 was previously underwritten by Eric Insurance Ltd.

KOBA Insurance customers pay for their insurance differently vs. traditional car insurance brands.

To make sure you only pay for what you use, every KOBA customer has two calculations:

1. An Upfront Fixed cost: this covers your car while it’s parked from incidents like fire, theft, and hail for example. This upfront fixed cost also includes the KOBA admin fee which helps to cover our costs of collecting, transmitting and storing your vehicle data.

2. A per-km-rate: the cost per kilometre you drive which is the basis of your Driving premium. This cost is calculated at the end of each month and is your per-km-rate multiplied by the number of km you’ve driven in that month (as measured through your KOBA Rider, or Uber Carshare Instant Keys GPS device).

Nope!

Once you download the app, you can get accounts of the number of km driven almost instantly, so no need to manually record anything. The KOBA Rider automatically creates a ledger of every trip, location, distance, time, and date.

In the app, you can scroll through each days trips and see the aggregated totals every month through the App.

It’s easy to plug in through your car’s OBD-II port (all car’s manufactured after 2006 have one), just follow the steps below, or see our video here.

/ To plug in your Rider:

  • Put your car in park. Handbrake on + ignition off
  • Look under your car’s dashboard for the OBD-II connector port + plug in your KOBA Rider. This measures your km driven and powers our app in real-time
  • Your OBD-II port is likely in 1 of the 3 locations (see below), but almost always under the steering wheel on the drivers side

dashboard.png

Once you’ve found the OBD-II port, the KOBA Rider works like a plug. Line up the pins and push it into the socket like you would a normal plug in the wall. A light should appear (it could be green, amber or red) which means you’re connected!

 

/ Why did I receive an optional extension cord in the post?

When we send you the KOBA Rider in the mail, we also include an optional extension cable.

For most customers, the KOBA Rider can plug directly into the OBD-II port. For a small number of customers, the OBD-II port may be behind a panel, so the extension cable will come in handy to help them plug it in. 

  1. Assess if you need to use the cable. You will likely need it if the OBD port is behind a panel.
  2. Open the panel.
  3. Plug the male end of the cord into the OBD Port.
  4. Plug the female end the KOBA Rider.
  5. You should now be able to close the panel.
  6. Use the velcro strips to attach the cord to the car so it is safely out of the driver’s way. 

I’ve connected my Rider, what next?

Download our mobile app and securely access your trips, costs + policy docs almost instantly.

Please read our PDS & FSG and Terms of Business for Conditions of Use.

Making a claim should be easy. If you need to make a claim just follow these simple steps:

  1. Make sure Your Car is safe and secure so it will not be damaged further. This may mean having it towed, where it is reasonable and safe to do so.
  2. If the Incident involves anyone else, make sure you write down their:
    • Full name
    • Address
    • Phone number
    • Vehicle registration number if applicable
  3. Let us know as soon as possible by notifying us:

 

Our Car Sharing Owner-use cover is uniquely designed to work with Uber Carshare’s Instant Keys GPS device.

Our cover is not available if you are using Car Sharing platforms other than Uber Carshare.

Our KOBA crew is available for any new policy, or insurance-related enquiries, weekdays between 9am-5pm AEST.

Please contact us using the following methods:

Email us: For any non-urgent enquiries, please email us.

Phone: For more urgent enquiries, please call our Australia-based team on +61 3 6159 2000

Did you know that traditional insurers might not cover your car if you share it?

When your car is on an Uber Carshare booking, it’s covered for damage and loss. But what about cost-effective insurance cover for your own driving, and to protect your car while it’s parked? That’s where KOBA comes in.

Uniquely designed with Uber Carshare, KOBA offers car share owners pay-per-km insurance when they’re using their car.

Owners get comprehensive coverage which covers their car while it’s parked between bookings, and a unique per-KM rate for insurance while driving.

Synced with Instant Keys technology.

KOBA works with Uber Carshare’s Instant Keys GPS device^.

By automatically switching between KOBA and Uber Carshare, our integrated tech distinguishes when your car is used for personal use and measures the KM you drive so you only pay for the insurance you use.

Pay for the insurance you use.

As a KOBA customer, you pay a few cents per KM you drive, and an upfront cost to cover your car while parked for incidents like theft, fire, hail etc.

Uniquely designed with Uber Carshare, KOBA’s car share owner-use comprehensive product offers car share owners pay-per-km insurance when they’re using their car.

What is the Uber Carshare device?

KOBA works with Uber Carshare’s Instant Keys GPS device. Synced with Uber Carshare’s Instant Keys technology, the GPS device automatically switches between KOBA and Uber Carshare. Our integrated tech distinguishes when your car is used for personal use and measures the KM you drive so you only pay for the insurance you use.

Uber Carshare will send the Instant Keys GPS device to you when you become a Uber Carshare member and order the “Instant Keys” option. This may take 5-7 days to arrive. Learn more.

Can I start driving without it?

If your policy cover has started and you haven’t yet received your Instant Keys kit from Uber Carshare, you can keep driving per usual. We’ve got you covered from your policy start-date.

How do you charge my per-km rate without my GPS device?

While you’re waiting for your GPS device to arrive and to activate your vehicle data, we use the estimated annual usage you told us when you took out your policy to charge your Driving premium. This estimated usage is charged from your cover start-date and will appear in the ‘your trips’ section of the app while you wait for your GPS device from Uber Carshare to arrive.

Once your GPS device is plugged in, your own trips will appear and you’ll start paying for actual KM used.

What if I already have my GPS device plugged in when I take out my KOBA policy?

Great! If you’re already a Uber Carshare member and have your GPS device plugged in when you take out your KOBA policy, you’re all set. The GPS device will automatically distinguish when the car is used for personal use and start charging you your unique per-KM rate. Log onto the KOBA app to start seeing your trips and costs daily.

Heads-up //

/ When you first sign up to KOBA, you have 14 days to receive and plug in your Instant Keys GPS device so it begins transmitting a signal. If we don’t receive a connection from your device, within 14 days by default, your policy will charge you the maximum daily amount (250 km/day). Please make sure you have the GPS device plugged in and connected by the 21st day; otherwise you may be at risk for automatic cancellation.

Absolutely.

KOBA Insurance customers pay for their insurance differently vs. traditional car insurance brands. We  charge for the insurance you use.

Every KOBA customer has two calculations on their total insurance premium; a driving premium that gives you a unique per-km rate and covers you while driving, and a fixed premium that covers your car while parked. This fixed premium covers your parked car from things like fire, theft, hail and damage caused by someone else.

We see a low usage driver as someone who drives under the National average of 12,600KM per year, which we source from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

This likely means you work close to home, WFH, live in cities or have a car but don’t use it everyday. Our policies are perfect for low usage drivers because we only charge you for what you use; the less you drive, the less you pay.

As a new insurance company, our underwriter has taken a conservative approach to the drivers and vehicles we’re able to insure at launch. 

This approach affects a range of factors, including a drivers age, vehicle type, location and driving history. Examples of some underwriting criteria that we’re not currently supporting, include (but are not limited to):

  • All cars 2005 and younger
  • Any vehicles with a recommended market value >$80,000
  • Policyholders who are younger than 17 years old, or older than 75 years old
  • Additional Drivers who are older than 75 years old
  • Certain business usage cases
  • Powerful cars with a high torque-to-weight ratio

This narrowing in on our underwriting criteria will help us further refine our product as we’re in launch phase, and more importantly, better tailor our product in future.

If you fall in the category above, we’re sorry KOBA isn’t the right fit for now.

Please stay tuned though. We hope to open up our insurance requirements in the near future.

It’s easy to switch to KOBA.

  • If your existing policy is up for renewal, just make sure your new KOBA policy starts from the end date of your old policy so you don’t have a gap in cover
  • If you’re in the middle of your policy with another insurer, you can cancel a car insurance policy at any time by contacting your current provider.

Just double-check the start date with KOBA and the cancel date with your current insurer to make sure you’re always covered.

No, not at all.

The KOBA Rider links directly to our cloud server, which means we’ll automatically be able to link to it and have a clear reading of your car’s location and km driven.

When you next log into the App, the App ‘calls’ the cloud for the most recent information and keeps you up-to-date so you can track your costs and K’s.

When you buy a policy with us, you provide us with card details that we use to automatically deduct your monthly payments, also known as your driving premium.

Your monthly driving premium is calculated using the number of KM’s you’ve driven that month multiplied by the per-KM rate that’s applicable to your policy.

If you need to update your card details, you can log into your App to update the information.

If there is a problem with a monthly payment, there is a risk that your policy may eventually be cancelled but don’t worry, we’ll contact you as soon as there’s an issue.

Pay as You Drive (PAYD) insurance doesn’t quite work like that.

PAYD charges you a per kilometre rate while you drive, and therefore can reduce the overall cost of insurance for lower km drivers.

Don’t forget that unfortunately there is still a lot that can go wrong even when your car is parked whether that’s at home or somewhere else you’ve driven to. Your car can still suffer loss or damage from incidents like theft, fire, storm, hail, vandalism or just someone hitting your car in a car park. We charge an upfront fixed cost to cover your car while it’s parked, particularly for these reasons.

Thanks to our Capped Price Promise, KOBA has introduced daily and monthly km caps to protect you from paying much more than you planned to. This is to allow for occasional extended trips, or limited, high-usage driving periods.

We will only ever charge you for:

  • A maximum of 250 kilometres in one day, and;
  • A maximum of 1750 kilometres in one month.

Remember however that our insurance is designed for lower km drivers, so it you keep reaching our cap limits, we’ll need to talk about whether this product is right for you. We may not be able to renew your policy, but we’ll always make sure we contact you to talk about higher-than-expected k’s.

Yes, you are covered from your policy start date.

If your cover has started and you haven’t yet received your Instant Keys GPS device from Uber Carshare as yet, we use the estimated annual usage you told us when you took out your policy to charge your Driving premium until your vehicle data is activated.

When KOBA starts receiving data from your car, you’ll be swapped to the PAYD payment model automatically and start paying your km driven.

If you buy your policy in advance and plug in your Instant Keys GPS device before your cover has started, or you’ve been an Uber Carshare member for awhile, don’t worry, we won’t charge any KM until your cover actually starts.

Heads-up //

When you first start your KOBA policy, you have 14 days to receive and plug in your GPS device so it begins transmitting a signal. If we don’t receive a connection from your device, within 14 days by default, your policy will charge you the maximum daily amount (250 km/day). If you think this is a mistake, please get in touch and we’ll look to update these charges.

Please make sure you have the GPS device plugged in and connected by the 21st day; otherwise you may be at risk for automatic cancellation.

To update your payment details, log into your KOBA app and follow the instructions below.

Once your new credit card is added to your account, KOBA will use this as your nominated card to deduct any automatic payments from.

How to update payment details via the KOBA app:

1. Log into the app

2. Click on ‘Billing’ > ‘Update payment info’

KOBA Billing_Update payment screen

3. Click on ‘Add new card’ 

KOBA Billing_ payment screen

 4. Enter your new card details > save new card.

KOBA Billing_ card payment screen

Confirm your new card is selected and this will become your default payment method for KOBA.

Keen to learn more? Get in touch our friendly KOBA Crew.

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