Irish insurance, and driving obove recommended speed limit abroad?

CiniO

As most of you here know, there are plenty of sections with no speed limit on German motorways.
However - there is still a recommended speed limit of 130km/h.
I just found out recently, that most (if not all) German insurers will refuse to pay for the claim, if accident occurs at speed in excess of recommended speed (130km/h).

Here's few sources:

http://drive55.org/content/view/21/6/

Accidents occurring at speeds of over 130 kph on the autobahns can result in insurance payment claims being annulled regardless of who was at fault.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advisory_speed_limit

Exceeding the advised speed is neither a felony nor a misdemeanour. However, an increased liability in the case of an accident may result from driving faster than the recommended speed, due to an increased danger of operating the vehicle. For instance, travelling above the Richtgeschwindigkeit can cause insurance companies to withhold payments of claims.

Now - my question is what's the point of view of Irish insurers.
If I drive my Irish registered car insured with Irish insurer in Germany and do above 130km/h, what will happen if there is accident.
Will Irish insurer pay for the claim?

I can't really see any reason why they wouldn't, as there is no paragraph in my policy stating that I'm not insured if driving above recommended speed limit, but I just wanted to make sure, as maybe someone here knows something I don't.

Eoin

I think it would be extremely worrying if they didn't pay out (to 3rd parties) if the driver at fault was breaking the law at the time.

MugMugs

They're obliged to cover Third Party loss.

The refusal to compensate would most likely be to your loss. ie: Your car

CiniO

MugMugs wrote: »

They're obliged to cover Third Party loss.

The refusal to compensate would most likely be to your loss. ie: Your car

But the question is would they have any ground to refuse to pay for my own loss, if I was going faster than recommended speed and crashed?

AugustusMinimus

Do German insurers have this specifically in the small print ?

CiniO

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Do German insurers have this specifically in the small print ?

I suppose they do.
Maybe someone can confirm.

Del2005

CiniO wrote: »

Now - my question is what's the point of view of Irish insurers.
If I drive my Irish registered car insured with Irish insurer in Germany and do above 130km/h, what will happen if there is accident.
Will Irish insurer pay for the claim?

Since they will pay out for unaccompanied permit holders, motorcyclists on restricted licences not ridding restricted bikes and people exceeding the posted speed limit I can't see them not paying out for doing something legal.

But since insurance companies make up their own rules there's no way to know until it's too late

Anan1

CiniO wrote: »

I suppose they do.
Maybe someone can confirm.

They did in the mid 90s, when I lived there - from memory only the comprehensive part was affected. I think it may have been the same thing for bald tyres. I can't see how an Irish ins co could enforce such an exclusion without including it in the policy document.

Del2005 wrote: »

But since insurance companies make up their own rules there's no way to know until it's too late

Sure there is, it's all in your policy.

savagecabbages

Eoin wrote: »

I think it would be extremely worrying if they didn't pay out (to 3rd parties) if the driver at fault was breaking the law at the time.

Breaking what law? You could easily be involved in an accident without breaking any laws....

I'd say Irish companies certainly wouldn't have clauses for different countries, that would lead to a veritable minefield of one-off clauses in the small print.
Unless there is a general EU directive that all companies are signed up to??

Stinicker

I thought alot of Irish insurers only provided third party when outside Ireland even if you had comprehensive coverage at home.

L1011

Stinicker wrote: »

I thought alot of Irish insurers only provided third party when outside Ireland even if you had comprehensive coverage at home.

Its not uncommon for there to be 30 days FC coverage these days, Quinn provided 180 days (and unlimited within the CTA, e.g UK/IOM/CI) at one point but I'm not sure they still do.

Our man in Havana

It won't be the Irish insurance company making the decision in any event. It will be the Motor Insurance Bureau of Germany that will be handling any claim on a foreign car in Germany. They will appoint a German insurance company to handle the claim and this is then recouped from the Irish insurance via the MIBI.

Wolverine_1999

Eoin wrote: »

I think it would be extremely worrying if they didn't pay out (to 3rd parties) if the driver at fault was breaking the law at the time.

He might be at fault, but he's not breaking the law. Another insurance loophole piss take as usual.

If the word "recommended" changed to "enforced" limit in Germany.. they would not buy German cars anymore.

heate

I regularly drive in Germany at high speed because I live beside it do a lot of business there and have a powerful car.

It's actually when you are deemed driving wreckleslly and above the recommended speed limit that you can find yourself in an insurance quagmire.

For example if I was doing 210km/h over taking and someone pulled out on top of me and I hit them they should have been paying attention and thus it will be deemed not my fault.

If I'm travelling at 210km/h and I cause a pileup by hitig someone it would e my fault for not paying attention to road conditions.
Your insurance isn't stripped from you - it's just that liability is not a presumption.

You could read up on German law but you may never find the violation - German has one of the most complex and thorough legal systems in Europe with more laws than you could shake a stick at.
Germans are quite fastidious about things do you really think they would exceed 130km/h if they weren't insured to do so

CiniO

Stinicker wrote: »

I thought alot of Irish insurers only provided third party when outside Ireland even if you had comprehensive coverage at home.

Most of them would provide comprehensive cover for limited period, usually between 1 and 3 months abroad.