Insurable interest

Break all ties

I had a car that was on Irish plates and insured in Ireland. I took the car to Bulgaria and registered it there and got BG plates and I have it on BG insurance.

I take it the Irish insurance company ceased to have an insurable interest as soon as BG plates and insurance was taken out?

oxysept

Insurable interest is that of the person taking out the policy not the company providing the cover. .... but aside from that in most standard Irish motor insurance policies coverage is restricted to geographic areas or time limits in other areas & also you are required to notify the insurance company of significant factors.... I'd be pretty certain they would view taking a car to Bulgaria as a significant factor & its probably outside the geographic coverage as well ... details should be in your policy documentation / handbook.

Our man in Havana

Irish insurance is valid in Bulgaria and the entire EU for the full duration of the policy.

I am sure that registering a car and insuring it in Bulgaria would void the Irish insurance.

coylemj

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Irish insurance is valid in Bulgaria and the entire EU for the full duration of the policy.

Usually with stated restrictions, you would need to read the policy. Axa for example restrict cover to a continuous period of 30 days or less i.e. you can't have the car outside GB/IRL for more than 30 consecutive days or cover will cease.

Our man in Havana

3rd party cover would operate for the full duration under EU law.

Break all ties

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Irish insurance is valid in Bulgaria and the entire EU for the full duration of the policy.

I am sure that registering a car and insuring it in Bulgaria would void the Irish insurance.

Well, I am trying to argue this fact with the clueless Irish company.

I am looking for a refund on the policy and I want it dated from the date of registration in Bulgaria. I am arguing that they have no interest in the vehicle once a Bulgarian company is providing cover under Bulgarian plates.

The Irish plates and log book have been surrendered to the Bulgarian police.

coylemj

Did you surrender the cert. and disc? That's normally how you terminate a policy and get a refund, when you registered it in another country is really a red herring.

Break all ties

Yes, I did.

oxysept

Ah... well its down to the policy details, generally registration is not a matter / not necessary for insurance.
Not saying who is right or who is not here, but most insurance policies will have termination notification clause, until you officially notify the company you no longer need the insurance the policy it is in force and you pay (to that date), but this could be heads you lose tails they win - if you had an incident in Bulgaria they may not pay if you failed to notify them of the fact its in a different jurisdiction - so essentially the benefit of the policy may have been lost earlier. But they will use the notification clause - check the full policy cert clauses & handbook.

coylemj

I really don't see what the registration in Bulgaria has to do with the situation. If you surrender the cert and disc and ask them to cancel the policy they will terminate the policy and issue a pro rata refund, usually less an admin. charge.

They really don't give a sh1te what you do with the car after that so I can't understand where the problem lies. I was executor of the estate of an aunt of mine a few years ago, I sent the insurance company the cert and disc, told them the policyholder had died and I was the executor, they sent me a cheque by return, nobody asked me what I did with the car.

Is the problem that there was a considerable gap in time between when you registered the car in Bulgaria and when you sent back the cert and disc? If this is the case then the insurance company are within their rights in only giving you a refund based on the policy being cancelled when the cert and disc were returned, read the policy.