Australians overpaying $2,344 yearly on energy and insurance

With Christmas right around the corner, that usually means two big things: a busy social calendar and a present list to go along with it.

Unfortunately, the RBA left the cash rate on hold in November, which means there won’t be any savings on mortgage or loan repayments passed on until at least February. Even then, economists aren’t currently expecting further drops any time soon.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to reduce your expenses, though. Savvy has taken a look at insurance and utility bills as key ways to get money back in your pocket.

Between your energy bill, car insurance and health insurance policy, we’ve found that, on average, Australians could be saving an extra $2,344 per year. The biggest winners here are NSW residents, who stand to save the most of any state or territory at up to $3,031. Western Australians can still benefit, too, but the $1,731 in potential savings is the lowest of any part of the country, given they can’t pick up a cheaper electricity bill.

Whether it’s to boost your savings, pay down your loan or put the money towards something fun like a holiday or some Christmas presents, we want to help you do it.

Energy bills

Let's start off with your energy bill. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a homeowner or renting; everyone needs electricity. Your bill is fairly straightforward to compare, more so than any other bill, as the best one on offer is largely just the cheapest plan.

Unfortunately, if you live in WA or the NT, this tip doesn’t apply to you. Your respective electricity markets consist only of Synergy in WA and Jacana Energy or Rimfire Energy in the NT, with all having a standard pricing model.

To make matters worse, the Australian Government’s Energy Bill Relief fund is coming to a close at the end of this year. This means that, from January or whenever you get your next quarterly bill, you’ll have to fork out an extra $75 per quarter on top of what you’ve already been paying.

Given that we’re heading into summer, you’re likely to already cop a costlier bill, as you’ll be using more electricity to run your air conditioning. Acting now will ensure you aren’t in for a nasty surprise come the end of the next quarter.

Some plans provide incentives, such as free Netflix with AGL or Qantas Reward points with Red Energy, but you still have to decide whether it’s truly a reward or you’re paying a premium for it.

If you have solar panels, comparing your electricity plan isn’t as easy. You should always consider the solar feed-in tariff that comes with each plan, though, as that’s what’ll end up back in your pocket when the extra electricity you generate is fed back into the grid.

Car insurance

Let’s move on to vehicle insurance. We took a look at a range of different comprehensive policies for two of the most popular new vehicles in Australia, the Ford Ranger and Toyota RAV4, in each capital city:

Based on the quotes we obtained for comprehensive car insurance on a 2025 Ford Ranger, $1,016 is the national average difference between the cheapest and most expensive policies. That gap is even bigger on the RAV4 quotes, reaching $1,364.

If you allow your insurance to auto-renew every year, there’s a good chance you aren’t getting the best value for money. While some providers do apply a loyalty discount, many don’t. It’s once again new customers who are offered the biggest discounts.

While savings will differ depending on the year, make and model of your vehicle, you could be getting ripped off if you haven’t compared your car insurance recently. 

Health insurance premiums

Health insurance isn’t as straightforward to compare as your energy bill or car insurance. If you have different health issues you’re dealing with, or you’re planning to start a family, you may not want to decrease your cover or remove services like pregnancy.

Just as a refresher, hospital cover is split into four tiers: basic, bronze, silver and gold. You can choose to take out hospital cover on its own or include extras coverage as well, which usually includes things like dental, physio and optical.

Hospital and extras: single policy

Hospital and extras: family policy

If we only take lower cover like bronze, we can see that the difference between the cheapest and most expensive cover is $593 for singles and $1,625 for families per year. Downgrading from the most expensive silver cover to the most expensive bronze cover alone would save a single person $582 and a family a whopping $2,939. Health insurance is, unfortunately, getting more and more expensive, making it as crucial as ever to compare your options.

Remember that having hospital cover is necessary if you’re turning 31 and want to avoid Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading, which adds 2% onto the cost of your hospital cover for every year over 30 you go without a policy. If you’re earning over $101,000 this financial year, not having a hospital policy will also see you hit with extra tax through the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS).

What can you spend your $2,344 on?

If you were able to reduce your expenses by the entire $2,344, you could comfortably cover your Christmas present budget and then some. Moneysmart estimated that Australians spent nearly $800 each over last year's festive period, which would still leave you with a bit over $1,500 to spare. Black Friday sales are also fast approaching, so more money in your pocket could put you in a better position to capitalise on top deals.

If you have any higher-interest debts like credit cards, personal loans or BNPL accounts, it would be wise to pay them down as quickly as you’re able, which your new surplus of funds could be perfect for.

Of course, you don’t necessarily have to spend it at all. If you put that amount in a savings account and left it for 12 months, it would grow to $2,458.72 without contributing any extra money to it (based on a 4.75% p.a. savings account interest rate). Alternatively, you could put it into your offset account on a $500,000 mortgage and trim roughly three months off the life of your 30-year term.

Potential savings by state