A guide to motor insurance & FAQ's

Liam McPoyle · 28-06-2015 4:44pm

SeaFields wrote: »

I just got a decent quote from 25plus.ie. I've a few more weeks to shop around. Can someone tell me though, as I wasn't immediately obvious on their site, is driving other cars covered on their comprehensive policies?

You will need to check with them directly but every private motor policy Ive ever seen covers DoC on a third party only basis as standard. The standard criteria is that the driver must be over 25 with a full clean licence and the cars you would be driving would be comparable to your own.

Apart from that though its generally a given.

gaiscioch · 01-07-2015 1:10am

If somebody has been a named driver on my car, at some stage do they lose their own no claims bonus (NCB) by virtue of not being the main driver? If so, how many successive years as named driver will it take before they lose their NCB?

To Elland Back · 01-07-2015 9:00am

gaiscioch wrote: »

If somebody has been a named driver on my car, at some stage do they lose their own no claims bonus (NCB) by virtue of not being the main driver? If so, how many successive years as named driver will it take before they lose their NCB?

A named driver never gets a No Claim Bonus. However, some insurers will give introductory discounts for consecutive years named driving experience

gaiscioch · 01-07-2015 2:04pm

To Elland Back wrote: »

A named driver never gets a No Claim Bonus. However, some insurers will give introductory discounts for consecutive years named driving experience

I should have been clearer there. The named driver on my policy was insured as the main driver on their own car for years. They are now only a named driver on my policy. They have been told that if they do not become a main driver again within a certain period they will lose the NCB they accrued from when they were main driver on their own car. I'm wondering how long can they go as a named driver on my policy before they lose that NCB.

markc1184 · 01-07-2015 3:18pm

gaiscioch wrote: »

I should have been clearer there. The named driver on my policy was insured as the main driver on their own car for years. They are now only a named driver on my policy. They have been told that if they do not become a main driver again within a certain period they will lose the NCB they accrued from when they were main driver on their own car. I'm wondering how long can they go as a named driver on my policy before they lose that NCB.

I was in a similar situation before and I was told that my NCB became null after 2 years.

gaiscioch · 02-07-2015 1:54pm

No Nonsense wants to charge me €5.25 to cover up to €200 worth of property which could be stolen from the car. Further down the page, it wants to charge €13.93 for bringing my excess down to €250 - i.e. I'll have to pay the first €250 of any claim.

Am I missing something here?

gaiscioch · 02-07-2015 1:59pm

From NoNonsense:

"Direct debit is available as a payment method on the Pay Securely screen.

Direct debit is a rating factor, similar to engine size, driving experience and vehicle location and will have an impact on the amount you pay."

Wtf? Does that mean if I prefer to pay them up front I'll be penalised?

NATLOR · 02-07-2015 2:20pm

gaiscioch wrote: »

No Nonsense wants to charge me €5.25 to cover up to €200 worth of property which could be stolen from the car. Further down the page, it wants to charge €13.93 for bringing my excess down to €250 - i.e. I'll have to pay the first €250 of any claim.

Am I missing something here?

No nonsence wiil quote you for a bare bones policy any optional extra is an added cost.

Regarding the direct debit question if you chose to pay by that method it will cost quite a bit more. I was quoted 30% extra from Aviva, so best to pay upfront if you can manage it

To Elland Back · 02-07-2015 2:21pm

gaiscioch wrote: »

From NoNonsense:

"Direct debit is available as a payment method on the Pay Securely screen.

Direct debit is a rating factor, similar to engine size, driving experience and vehicle location and will have an impact on the amount you pay."

Wtf? Does that mean if I prefer to pay them up front I'll be penalised?

The opposite more than likely, you'll pay more for DD. Some insurers, like Aviva declare DD to be a rating factor which allows them load the premium by whatever percentage they choose. This is separate to them having a DD service charge

gaiscioch · 02-07-2015 2:29pm

NATLOR wrote: »

No nonsence wiil quote you for a bare bones policy any optional extra is an added cost.

Regarding the direct debit question if you chose to pay by that method it will cost quite a bit more. I was quoted 30% extra from Aviva, so best to pay upfront if you can manage it

But is there any point in paying a premium for stolen property up to the value of €200 if the excess you'll have to pay in the event of any claim is €250?

gaiscioch · 02-07-2015 2:41pm

To Elland Back wrote: »

The opposite more than likely, you'll pay more for DD. Some insurers, like Aviva declare DD to be a rating factor which allows them load the premium by whatever percentage they choose. This is separate to them having a DD service charge

I would have thought that but recently Energia in effect penalised me for not doing direct debit with them, by putting a "direct debit" discount. I signed up for the discount, but wanting to control my account, I ring them up to pay with my debit card each time I submit the reading (and before they set the dd in process).

jimgoose · 02-07-2015 3:06pm

gaiscioch wrote: »

I would have thought that but recently Energia in effect penalised me for not doing direct debit with them, by putting a "direct debit" discount. I signed up for the discount, but wanting to control my account, I ring them up to pay with my debit card each time I submit the reading (and before they set the dd in process).

I'd give them the gate quare lively.

bagsy · 02-07-2015 4:01pm

Hey guys,

Just got a quote from 25plus which is better than all of the other companies by
at least a €100 . I have not heard of them before so am a little apprehensive.

Any advice?

Cheers

Paul.k.b.90 · 02-07-2015 7:32pm

renewal came today for €1310..Quote for €700 within 10 mins form a different company. Do they not do any research before sending out renewals? haha

Liam McPoyle · 02-07-2015 9:05pm

gaiscioch wrote: »

No Nonsense wants to charge me €5.25 to cover up to €200 worth of property which could be stolen from the car. Further down the page, it wants to charge €13.93 for bringing my excess down to €250 - i.e. I'll have to pay the first €250 of any claim.

Am I missing something here?

Id say if you look closer you will find that the excess does not apply to fire or theft claims.

Danger781 · 04-07-2015 2:55pm

I assume this thread is as good a place to ask as any..

I was involved in a minor accident a few months ago (Primarily paintwork dmg). I admitted liability and the claim was recently settled for €1200. I got my insurance renewal letter in the post yesterday and the claim has added an extra €750 to my premium.

I do not have a NCB yet as this was my first year on my own. I was under my father's policy for the previous 2-3 years as a named driver.

When I purchased the policy last year my premium was just over €1000. My premium minus the additional cost of the claim has increased by €300 despite earning my full license.

From what I can see this leaves me with two options:
1. Stick with Liberty and pay the €2000 premium. Do not gain a NCB this year.
2. Pay off the settlement fee, have the ability to shop around, get my 1 year NCB.

Am I missing anything here? Anything else to consider?

To Elland Back · 04-07-2015 3:04pm

Danger781 wrote: »

I assume this thread is as good a place to ask as any..

I was involved in a minor accident a few months ago (Primarily paintwork dmg). I admitted liability and the claim was recently settled for €1200. I got my insurance renewal letter in the post yesterday and the claim has added an extra €750 to my premium.

I do not have a NCB yet as this was my first year on my own. I was under my father's policy for the previous 2-3 years as a named driver.

When I purchased the policy last year my premium was just over €1000. My premium minus the additional cost of the claim has increased by €300 despite earning my full license.

From what I can see this leaves me with two options:
1. Stick with Liberty and pay the €2000 premium. Do not gain a NCB this year.
2. Pay off the settlement fee, have the ability to shop around, get my 1 year NCB.

Am I missing anything here? Anything else to consider?

You can repay the claim to recover your year's no claim bonus but you still have to declare that you had an accident to prospective insurers and they may not offer a quote

Danger781 · 04-07-2015 3:26pm

To Elland Back wrote: »

You can repay the claim to recover your year's no claim bonus but you still have to declare that you had an accident to prospective insurers and they may not offer a quote

Surely having some declaration from Liberty saying that I covered the cost of the claim would help with that? I guess that rules out online quotes as I would have to explain that..

To Elland Back · 04-07-2015 3:50pm

Danger781 wrote: »

Surely having some declaration from Liberty saying that I covered the cost of the claim would help with that? I guess that rules out online quotes as I would have to explain that..

A lot of insurers will accept you with a small previous accident like that but you must declare it, even if you repay it. Check the 'Assumptions' with the online lads, they might have something along the lines of Must not have had an accident exceeding €X in the last 3 years. You might be OK. Try a good broker

dasa29 · 07-07-2015 3:56pm

hi guys just got my renewal from fbd last year It cost me €457.93 while this years with same car a 01 Yaris the quote is €615.03( or 584.28 if renewed online) just had a look at a few companies and only got one quote from 4 companies it was from 123.ie for €499 the rest said they could not quote me online.

Liam McPoyle · 07-07-2015 7:53pm

dasa29 wrote: »

hi guys just got my renewal from fbd last year It cost me €457.93 while this years with same car a 01 Yaris the quote is €615.03( or 584.28 if renewed online) just had a look at a few companies and only got one quote from 4 companies it was from 123.ie for €499 the rest said they could not quote me online.

Aside from the general premiums increasing it sounds like you are getting stuck with the age of the car. Alot of insurers used to have an age of vehicle loading for cars over 15 years old, Ive heard a number of them will now no longer quote for cars more than 12 years old.

Best bet is to get onto a couple of brokers - Chill, Quote Devil and the like and see what they can come up with.

Staph · 08-07-2015 7:50pm

Just wondering what the typically imposed limitations of 'open drive' are?
Usually the driver has to be between 25-70 and have a full EU license.
But what about the limitations of the car? What insurance group is the cut-off? I couldn't get open drive as my grouping is 31/50. Is there also a limit on engine size?

To Elland Back · 08-07-2015 10:12pm

There is no specific cut off, just whatever individual insurers decide to offer

SeaFields · 12-07-2015 8:37pm

SeaFields wrote: »

I just got a decent quote from 25plus.ie. I've a few more weeks to shop around. Can someone tell me though, as I wasn't immediately obvious on their site, is driving other cars covered on their comprehensive policies?

Just said I'd answer this myself as checked it out in case it is handy to anyone else. Driving other cars is covered "in an emergency" along with the other usual conditions - owners permission, own car not off the road, etc.

I haven't seen driving other cars phrased in such a manner before and would be reluctant. AIG giving a similarly good quote so leaning towards them.

abff · 13-07-2015 5:15pm

Apologies if this has already been asked and answered, but I did a quick search on value and couldn't find the answer.

My question is this. How do I determine what value to insure my car for? My understanding is that if I place too high a value on it, I will pay extra for no extra benefit while if I place too low a value, any claims for damage to my car will be 'subject to average' (i.e. reduced pro-rata to reflect the level of under insurance).

Should I just base the value on the asking price on carzone.ie (or some other website) for a car of the same make, model and age (adjusted for mileage, etc.) or is there some better way of doing this?

Liam McPoyle · 13-07-2015 6:42pm

abff wrote: »

Apologies if this has already been asked and answered, but I did a quick search on value and couldn't find the answer.

My question is this. How do I determine what value to insure my car for? My understanding is that if I place too high a value on it, I will pay extra for no extra benefit while if I place too low a value, any claims for damage to my car will be 'subject to average' (i.e. reduced pro-rata to reflect the level of under insurance).

Should I just base the value on the asking price on carzone.ie (or some other website) for a car of the same make, model and age (adjusted for mileage, etc.) or is there some better way of doing this?

The charge some insurers put on premiums with respect to estimated value is generally quite small tbh.

Eg if your car is worth between €12k and €15k Id put it in for €15k, the price difference in the premium will be marginal (if any).

It only makes a significant difference if you are talking about luxury cars.

Also, alot of insurers have a system that auto calculates the vehicle value anyway.

Try tricking about online and adjusting the vehicle value and see how it effects the quotes, Id bet that there will be little to no difference unless your estimates are varying by €5k or more.

abff · 14-07-2015 2:37pm

Business Cat wrote: »

The charge some insurers put on premiums with respect to estimated value is generally quite small tbh.

Eg if your car is worth between €12k and €15k Id put it in for €15k, the price difference in the premium will be marginal (if any).

It only makes a significant difference if you are talking about luxury cars.

Also, alot of insurers have a system that auto calculates the vehicle value anyway.

Try tricking about online and adjusting the vehicle value and see how it effects the quotes, Id bet that there will be little to no difference unless your estimates are varying by €5k or more.

Thanks. We asked the insurer what difference it would make if we reduced the value of the car from €6k to €3k and they said it would make no difference whatever.

The main reason we are looking at this is that my wife wants to add our son as a named driver to her policy. We had asked about this before going on holidays and were quoted an additional €680 on top of a basic premium of €300. We decided to leave it until we got back and they are now quoting an additional €775 for just over 11 months cover. My wife queried the increase and was told that the pre renewal figure included a discount (which was not mentioned at the time).

It's a lot of extra money, but we don't know what other options we have. My car is a lot newer and more expensive and our son is currently learning to drive, so just has a provisional licence. He will be 25 in just under two months. Is it likely to make a significant difference to the extra premium if we wait until he's 25 before putting him onto the policy?

The option of changing insurer is problematic because my wife had a claim just over 3 years ago and has protected no claims bonus on her current policy.

katydid · 16-07-2015 3:52pm

A friend of mine is changing her insurer; she's been with Allianz for ten years. They sent her a "proof of no claims" which only states she has a bonus for four years. Because of this, her new insurers want to charge her more. She rang Allianz, and they refused to issue a letter reflecting her true status, until she lost her rag with them on the phone. Eventually they grudgingly issued one.

My question is, surely they are obliged by law to provide true and accuratue information about her no claims status?

MugMugs · 16-07-2015 3:55pm

katydid wrote: »

My question is, surely they are obliged by law to provide true and accuratue information about her no claims status?

Correct, they are.

katydid · 16-07-2015 7:03pm

MugMugs wrote: »

Correct, they are.

That's what I thought. Any idea what legislation she could cite them if she has any more hassle? They just stated point blank they only issue certs stating four years.

I reckon their idea is that if you don't appear to have a bonus of five or more years, your quotes from other insurers will be more expensive, and you won't bother changing.

A guide to motor insurance & FAQ's

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