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Are You Rego-Ready?

May 14th, 2019

It creeps up every 6 or 12 months and you never expect it too. It’s one of those things that we should have planned for but life got in the way. You’re not alone. Here at Nimble, we know that lots of our customers need to borrow money around the time of renewing rego because they simply didn’t remember or didn’t plan for it at that time. It can often feel like you just paid it and all of sudden, it’s due again.

So, let’s talk about it. What are you actually paying for and how can you make sure you’ve got it covered.

Rego – The lowdown

In Australia, every vehicle that drives on the roads is required by law to be registered. Getting your car registered proves it’s roadworthy, that it belongs to you and allows the car to be identified quickly. Another requirement by law is that your vehicle must be covered by Compulsory Third Party (CTP) Insurance.

In most states and territories there is only one approved provider of CTP insurance, however, NSW and QLD give car owners a choice in this department. Premiums depend on the type of vehicle and who will be driving it.

The exact fees that cover the above differ pretty substantially from state to state, but generally, it is broken down into:

• A standard registration fee (this is your contribution to helping keep the road maintenance underway)
• A fee for your CTP insurance
• An admin fee
• Extra charges can depend on if you have a specialised number plate or if you have a heavy or specialised vehicle.

Check out the info provided by your State or Territory Government for more facts and figures.

How to be Rego ready

1. Rego alarm ⏰

You probably set an alarm to get up every morning, so why not set an alarm when your rego is almost due? Set it for one month out so you have time to plan and save. This way, you’re eliminating the element of surprise and you’re doing your best to save those dollars along the way meaning a big payout isn’t required.

2. Serious about saving? ?

If you’re serious about saving, it’s time to knuckle down. You can create a sub-account that is called “Rego Savings”. Or “Sneaky Rego Bill”. Most banks allow you to open a sub-account to your main account. It’s not a whole new account with a whole new set of fees – it’s just an area where you can set aside money for things like, you know, your rego. Give your bank a call and organise that sub-account today.

3. Monthly saving ?

Like all things, it’s not that hard when it’s split up into tiny pieces. Most of us will pay around $800 a year for a rego. Yikes! That sounds pretty awful. But here’s the good news. $800 a year, divided by 52 weeks in the year is $15.38 x 4 weeks in a month is just $61.54. So that’s a few less Uber Eats or shopping trips a month that you can definitely set aside to make sure you are rego ready.

Top Tips for paying your Rego

Planning aside, there are a few other tips you can consider when paying for your rego. Here is some food for thought.

1. Have a question about your rego but hate speaking to humans? You’re not alone. Try the FAQ’s section on your relevant state page or take to Facebook/Twitter and send a DM. All the answers you need with none of the elevator music while you wait.
2. Make things as easy as possible. Ensure your online banking account is working and accessible. You can use your account to BPAY or direct debit. it’s easy to forget your logins or get locked out for security reasons and that would be a pretty awful thing to happen when rego is due.
3. If you simply can’t make it work, a Nimble loan could help you. Apply now for a flexible loan on your terms and make sure you are Rego ready.

Information current as at May 2019.

The information in this blog post is not intended to imply any recommendation, endorsement or opinion by Nimble about any financial or non-financial product. Nimble does not recommend or advise on the suitability of a product or suggest or imply a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a particular product. This blog post is for information purposes only.

Brigid Davey