- Vehicle insurance comes in two forms, compulsory car insurance (which primarily protects third parties) and additional optional insurance that covers injuries to yourself or third party injuries that extend beyond what the compulsory insurance provides.There are a number of different kinds of optional car insurance including collision coverage and comprehensive coverage which will pay for vandalism or if your vehicle is stolen.Compulsory and optional car insurance can be purchased online or offline from a variety of insurers (your car dealership can offer a variety of recommendations), and while in many cases service is only offered in Japanese (or limited English), there are a number of insurers that specialize in working with the foreign community. Japan Insurance (http://www.japaninsurance.net/index.html) is underwritten by AIU and provides a full service, Internet-based offering in English. Others include AXA Direct (http://www.axa-direct.co.jp/Listing/google.html) and Sony Sompo (http://www.sompo-japan.com/index.html).
While the cost of car insurance is heavily dependent on a large variety of factors (including make and model of the car, driving experience, driver’s age, etc.), it is possible to get car insurance for as little as a few hundred U.S. dollars per year.
