Couple of Questions About Insurance and Driving Abroad

MadMardegan

I'm looking to drive to Bulgaria in the summer and have a couple of questions.

Will FBD cover me while in Europe? I'll be driving through France/Germany/Austria/Croatia/Serbia/Bulgaria/Greece.

Is it true that you can contact your insurance company to give you a letter that wavers any required vignettes? Heard it from a guy in work, doesn't sound plausibly but can't hurt to ask.

If I contact my insurance company will they give me a copy of my policy? Lost it a while ago. I have the policy number in the dash but lost the sheet with all the information and details.

Any help or tips anyone can give me would be great.

Also, I plan on purchasing break down assistance from the AA, but pricey but seems worth it. Any recommendations or thoughts?

bazz26

I think insurance companies will cover you for upto 30 days abroad once you notify them. But the best thing to do is just ring them and ask. They won't bite.

Also they will issue you a new certificate if you request one but some companies charge an admin fee of €15/20 for it.

K.Flyer

MadMardegan wrote: »

I'm looking to drive to Bulgaria in the summer and have a couple of questions.

Will FBD cover me while in Europe? I'll be driving through France/Germany/Austria/Croatia/Serbia/Bulgaria/Greece.

Is it true that you can contact your insurance company to give you a letter that wavers any required vignettes? Heard it from a guy in work, doesn't sound plausibly but can't hurt to ask.

If I contact my insurance company will they give me a copy of my policy? Lost it a while ago. I have the policy number in the dash but lost the sheet with all the information and details.

Any help or tips anyone can give me would be great.

Also, I plan on purchasing break down assistance from the AA, but pricey but seems worth it. Any recommendations or thoughts?

If you are insured with FBD then they are the only people who can answer your insurance questions, so give them a call.

Depending on your cars age and make, if it is still within warranty most makers will have full european cover in the event of breakdown.
If its fairly old and cant be started at the side of the road, AA will drag it to a garage but you pay for the repairs. But you would have to check which countries they cover. Again only the AA can give you the correct answers, so give them a call as well.

bbam

What age is the car.
As far as I remember AA will only cover up to ten year old cars.

Marcusm

Your insurance must by law cover you 3rd party throughout EU which covers most (but not all) of your journey. Anything else is discretionary and potentially subject to a charge. Many insurers include varying levels of comprehensive cover, such as 30, 90 or more days, automatically although you may be required to notify your trip. Remember also high vis jackets, warning triangles and now breathylisers as standard equipment for some countries. Theaa.com is generally a good source of info for individual country requirements.

CiniO

MadMardegan wrote: »

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Will FBD cover me while in Europe? I'll be driving through France/Germany/Austria/Croatia/Serbia/Bulgaria/Greece.

As far as I remember FBD was offering full cover within Europe without any limits. (that was on the ad).
If you have standard policy just take a look at policy booklet
Here's the quotation from their policy document:

Territorial Limits
In respect of events occurring anywhere within:-
(a) Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands
(b) Other European Union Member States
(c) Designated Areas [The Countries that the E.U. Commission is satisfied that
arrangements have been made to meet the requirements of Article 7(2) of the
E.E.C. Directive on insurance of civil liabilities arising from the use of motor
vehicles (No. 72/166/CEE)]
the full indemnity in force under the Policy as specified under “Cover Operative” on the
Schedule applies.

I strongly believe that Croatian and Serbia fulfil the condition from point c, but you might better google that directive.

Is it true that you can contact your insurance company to give you a letter that wavers any required vignettes? Heard it from a guy in work, doesn't sound plausibly but can't hurt to ask.

It doesn't make any sense.

If I contact my insurance company will they give me a copy of my policy? Lost it a while ago. I have the policy number in the dash but lost the sheet with all the information and details.

Yes, you definitely need your insurance certificate so apply for a copy.
Also you will need to apply for a green card, as some countries you are travelling through, are outside of EU. Your insurer will give you one.

Also, I plan on purchasing break down assistance from the AA, but pricey but seems worth it. Any recommendations or thoughts?

My only thought about it, is that is too pricey. They asked for nearly 200 euro to give me EU breakdown assistance cover for 2 months. I got the same kind of breakdown cover from Polish insurer for about 15 euros for 2 months.
Shop around abroad for brakedown cover. I recall ADAC (german automobile organization) was offering Europe wide breakdown cover for about 40 quid a year).

CiniO

Marcusm wrote: »

Your insurance must by law cover you 3rd party throughout EU which covers most (but not all) of your journey. Anything else is discretionary and potentially subject to a charge.

But I though it was EU and countries which EU commision was satisfied that fulfil some condition which is actually most countries on the continent of Europe. Anyway - FBD does that as I quoted post above, but I strongly believe it's obligatory for all insurers.

Many insurers include varying levels of comprehensive cover, such as 30, 90 or more days, automatically although you may be required to notify your trip.

According to FBD policy document, there isn't any time limits even for comprehensive cover.
However it's all bit grey area, as I remember asking my own insurer (Allianz) about it, as they are also providing unlimited cover for the continent of Europe, so I asked to make sure that I can drive abroad with full cover for the whole period of policy.
Their replay was that even though there isn't any time limits in their policy, that my cover would be void after 3 months, as if I was gone for that long I wouldn't be resident in Ireland anymore, and they wouldn't be able to provide a cover for nonresident (and the applied also to third party cover).
In general I think this answer is incorrect, as it's not my insurer who decides about residency, and surely if I was away from Ireland for 5 months, I could still be considered resident in Ireland. I'm also not sure if they can void the policy because someone change residency but that's possible - one would have to go through regulations about it.

Remember also high vis jackets, warning triangles and now breathylisers as standard equipment for some countries. Theaa.com is generally a good source of info for individual country requirements.

I recall reading about those brethylisers in France that it comes in only in July this year, but no one was able to confirm if it will apply to foreign drivers in foreign registered car or not.

Marcusm

'twas supposed to apply from April 1, I see you're correct that changed toJuly 1 for breathalyser due to lack of stock. I'd rather have one (at €1.50 supposedly) than fight with a gendarme!!