Buy Motor Insurance & Renew Road Tax Online
The COVID-19 pandemic that is currently raging the world has disrupted our lives in more ways than one. Nevertheless, amidst all the negativities, there are still positives emerging from this episode.
For one, due to the infectious nature of this Coronavirus, our movement has been restricted, and many industries are severely impacted. However, as a company, if you have yet to consider moving your business online, shifting to the cloud or adopting cashless transactions, now is the ideal time to do so for long term benefits.
On the personal front, the majority of us are compelled to go digital, from online shopping to ordering a meal via mobile app. Although this procedure is second nature to me, due to the Movement Control Order (MCO), also known as Restriction of Movement Order (RMO), I, too, am forced to get more things done over the internet.
One of the necessities that I recently settled online was buy car insurance and renew road tax. Huaaaa….all these years, I did both transactions at the post office due to convenience and shorter queue, but not without paying commission to Pos Malaysia.
With MCO in place, there’s no use going to the nearest post office. The post office is open during selected hours of the day but JPJ (Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan / Road Transport Department) system is offline.
So, what I did was to purchase car insurance from Pos Malaysia online and then renew my road tax at MyEG.
All these were new to me, so I had to learn everything from scratch.
Buying my vehicle insurance was not an easy task as I had to compare what was offered by the different companies. Takaful or Conventional? HHmm, so many choices. Quite tricky as some would not insure an older vehicle or a car that is not registered in Peninsular Malaysia.
Anyway, after spending some time making a comparison, I went with Zurich Insurance. The cover note is only emailed to subscribers 24 hours after purchase.
Even without the cover note, the electronic system knows that the car insurance is valid. At MyEG, I had to register for a new account, then renew my road tax. Renewal of road tax is easier than shopping for motor insurance.
I also paid for delivery fee of road tax sticker to my home. I didn’t expect it to arrive during MCO but it did. MyEG has their own printer to print the road tax and a delivery team to distribute the road tax stickers to customers.
According to my research, only the road tax of private vehicles can be renewed through MyEG. Renewal of road tax for motorcycles or commercial vehicles are only available at JPJ itself.
Although the Transport Ministry has stated that it is not necessary to renew our road tax during MCO, having a valid car insurance would suffice, I decided to go ahead with my renewal and not procrastinate, in case I forget when the MCO is lifted.
All in all, I would pay less if I were to buy car insurance and renew road tax at the post office or JPJ. Regardless, conducting these transactions online is practical and time saving.
As mentioned, this MCO episode has impelled us to change our lifestyle, including increasing digital adoption among consumers. Hopefully, my experience can help those who are new to buying their car insurance plus renewing road tax online.
