A guide to motor insurance & FAQ's

JamesFitz

I was getting insurance quotes there and was on 123.ie. I've had my licence for a year and a half now so I put in 1 year when it asked how long I've had my full licence for.

Anyway, I got quoted 4000 for an 08 Focus (as if that isn't laughable enough). I changed my details to say that I had my licence for 2 years instead just to see how much it would come down by out of interest.

They then quoted me 4700. No other details altered. I think this proves that they just pick numbers out of their holes tbh.

shietpilot

Similar story with 123.ie for me. I've tried many cars on that site and it's always been 5-7k. No idea what I've done wrong to deserve that!

FrankGrimes

Saul T Nutzz wrote: »

Yes.

I was getting quotes for my wife's motor insurance in May. She had a non fault claim last year.

I mentioned this to all the companies I contacted incl Aviva, AIG, Allianz, AXA, Zurich, Liberty and to Chill.

They all told me that it has no bearing as it went through the other persons insurer.

When I was going through training when I started out in insurance 7 years ago we were all told that non fault claims do not have a bearing on a persons quote.

The only instance when a non fault claim may cause issues with a new company would be if the claim is still open.

In that instance then most insurers will decline to quote until the claim is closed.

Thankfully, I'm not in the situation of having any claims in recent years, but just in case (and as I have a family member who had a no-fault crash), what's the advised procedure: should they select 'Yes/1' for crashes in recent years and then do they get to explain it was no-fault, so they will not be hit with a loading? I had assumed, possibly incorrectly, that the online sites would not differentiate and would hit you with the loading as soon as you indicated there was a crash (and failing to do so would not be disclosing the full truth). The idea of someone getting loaded due to a no-fault crash would seem unfair to me, so would be good to confirm the workings of how to avoid it should the need arise.

Liam McPoyle

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Thankfully, I'm not in the situation of having any claims in recent years, but just in case (and as I have a family member who had a no-fault crash), what's the advised procedure: should they select 'Yes/1' for crashes in recent years and then do they get to explain it was no-fault, so they will not be hit with a loading? I had assumed, possibly incorrectly, that the online sites would not differentiate and would hit you with the loading as soon as you indicated there was a crash (and failing to do so would not be disclosing the full truth). The idea of someone getting loaded due to a no-fault crash would seem unfair to me, so would be good to confirm the workings of how to avoid it should the need arise.

If you have had a claim, even a non fault one, its better to ring rather than try and do quotes online.

Most online quote engines that I have seen in recent times do not have an option to differentiate between at fault and non fault claims.

If you enter that you have had a claim its likely you will not get a quote online so its a bit of a waste of time.

I would always advise prospective insurers of any previous claims, be they at fault or non fault.

As soon as a claim is notified the first thing that a claims department will do is check insurance link for your details.

If it shows up you had a claim, even a non fault one, it raises automatic alarm bells so full disclosure is the only way to go.

LovelySpuds

Just a quick question, my father is after purchasing a second runaround car which he hopes to get both him and myself insured on whilst I am learning to drive but he's worried that the insurance company will suspect fronting and blacklist him altogether, do companies do that?

Liam McPoyle

madforthebike wrote: »

Just a quick question, my father is after purchasing a second runaround car which he hopes to get both him and myself insured on whilst I am learning to drive but he's worried that the insurance company will suspect fronting and blacklist him altogether, do companies do that?

They won't "blacklist" him but they will unlikely quote him with you as a named driver.

Even if he can get a quote most companies will rate you as the main driver anyway so the price difference would be marginal.

The cheapest option would be get him to add you to his existing policy for 12 months, get yourself some lessons, hopefully pass the test within the year and then this time next year you will have a full licence and one years named driving experience and you can go about getting a policy yourself.

Insurers are completely wide to the practice you queried (second car with no bonus and a child named) and simply won't do it.

realdanbreen

My car is a 02 passat. Last years insurance €320, this years quote €503? What's going on?
No claims ever.

cplwhisper

madforthebike wrote: »

Just a quick question, my father is after purchasing a second runaround car which he hopes to get both him and myself insured on whilst I am learning to drive but he's worried that the insurance company will suspect fronting and blacklist him altogether, do companies do that?

Most insurers will spot immed that the learner driver is the expected main driver..
Simply we ask you dad in this case," would he be buying the 2nd car if he wasn't getting cover for u as cheaper - normal answer is NO. "
Best just to get cover in learners name and name your dad free.

realdanbreen

realdanbreen wrote: »

My car is a 02 passat. Last years insurance €320, this years quote €503? What's going on?
No claims ever.

Can I take this up with consumer affairs or somebody. A 52% increase !!

realdanbreen

realdanbreen wrote: »

My car is a 02 passat. Last years insurance €320, this years quote €503? What's going on?
No claims ever.

Another crowd have quoted 690! FFS! Surely this is bordering on illegal if they are all in cahoots and charging so much?

cplwhisper

realdanbreen wrote: »

My car is a 02 passat. Last years insurance 320, this years quote 503? What's going on?
No claims ever.

How much was last years original renewal before you bargained down to 320.

Example - If 400 less 20% = 320 (Aviva rates roughly last year)
then a lot of their renewals in '16 have no discounts available as gross rates up 25%+
( 400 plus 25% = 500 + levy = 525 !!

realdanbreen

cplwhisper wrote: »

How much was last years original renewal before you bargained down to 320.

Example - If 400 less 20% = 320 (Aviva rates roughly last year)
then a lot of their renewals in '16 have no discounts available as gross rates up 25%+
( 400 plus 25% = 500 + levy = 525 !!

I couldn't care less what factors they use or what so called discounts they use it still is daylight robbery.
One lady told me I was lucky that I rang her that day as they had a €150 discount on offer and she proceeded to quote me €595 for the car! I meet all the requirements, full licence, no points, no claims, nothing and still they try to fleece me.

realdanbreen

realdanbreen wrote: »

My car is a 02 passat. Last years insurance €320, this years quote €503? What's going on?
No claims ever.

Just got quoted €1890.00 third party fire & theft for this car by FBD, FFS! What's going on?

Special Circumstances

realdanbreen wrote: »

Just got quoted €1890.00 third party fire & theft for this car by FBD, FFS! What's going on?

Try Liberty if you really want to see off the wall numbers! 3k for a 40year old engineer with a 07 1.4 Focus.

Before NCB protection or 23% APR for monthly payments!

They have all the papers spreading their side of the story big time this week - we're all dirty scammers apparently, it's nothing to do with poor investments and huge step change in reserve requirements if you read the papers.

realdanbreen

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Try Liberty if you really want to see off the wall numbers! 3k for a 40year old engineer with a 07 1.4 Focus.

Before NCB protection or 23% APR for monthly payments!

They have all the papers spreading their side of the story big time this week - we're all dirty scammers apparently, it's nothing to do with poor investments and huge step change in reserve requirements if you read the papers.

Agreed, One guy told me that it's to do with fraudelent claims. When I asked why would they pay ou on a fraudelent claim he went quiet.
Fact is they pay out because they can get the ordinary joes loke ourselves to carry the can, but no more. I took a walk yesterday and spotted 5 cars with out of date insurance discs. I guess they figure it's worth the risk.

cplwhisper

Heads up if Boardsie's here are paying the insurance monthly( known as PBI ( Paying by instalments)

Subject that you are credit union member or employed by a scheme member like Co.council, musgrave or even Halfords (lists of 50+ schemes) -

then Axa don't charge interest on the premium but a once off handling charge of 25.

Eg - 1000 ( 150 (15%) + 25 = 175 deposit and 9 monthly payments from bank of 94.44 so total paid is 1025...

Some companies have low premium if paid in full ,but when you start adding deposit , set up charge for new policy & then bank interest on loan 340 could end up costing 540's very quickly... Always check the T&C tab before setting up a policy

If anyone wants check employer is on scheme, name it here & I'll assist

adox

Just a quick question, putting it in here rather than starting a new thread.

I changed cars on August 13th and informed my insurance company to change over the insurance which was done.

I had a bit of trouble getting the disc in the post. Didn't arrive after a week so I rang them again and they said they would resend it. Still didn't arrive after three days so I sent in a written complaint about the difficulty getting the disc from them(each phone call had a wait time of approx 20 minutes). So they rang me yesterday afternoon and told me the house number was missing from my address so after clarifying, they said they would post it straight away.

Long story short it arrived today(yay)but there is one slight discrepancy on it. It has a commencement date of yesterday, not August 13th. Expiry date is fine - May next year. So my question is, is having the commencement date not covering back to when it should have been anything to be concerned about and should I pursue it to get it reissued?(reluctant to considering it took nearly two weeks and three phone calls to get it in the first place!)

Liam McPoyle

adox wrote: »

Just a quick question, putting it in here rather than starting a new thread.

I changed cars on August 13th and informed my insurance company to change over the insurance which was done.

I had a bit of trouble getting the disc in the post. Didn't arrive after a week so I rang them again and they said they would resend it. Still didn't arrive after three days so I sent in a written complaint about the difficulty getting the disc from them(each phone call had a wait time of approx 20 minutes). So they rang me yesterday afternoon and told me the house number was missing from my address so after clarifying, they said they would post it straight away.

Long story short it arrived today(yay)but there is one slight discrepancy on it. It has a commencement date of yesterday, not August 13th. Expiry date is fine - May next year. So my question is, is having the commencement date not covering back to when it should have been anything to be concerned about and should I pursue it to get it reissued?(reluctant to considering it took nearly two weeks and three phone calls to get it in the first place!)

Tbh I'd be asking for it to be reissued with the correct dates.

Without it having the actual date the insurance was transferred from, ie two weeks or so before the date on the disc, you have no way of actually proving it should you need to.

You also need to make sure that on their system the correct dates are noted and that the transfer was in place from when it was supposed to be.

Chances are it wouldn't make any difference whatsoever but as the customer, you are obliged to inform your company of any discrepancies if and when you become aware of them.

For the sake of good order I'd be requesting correct documents anyway.


**this is my opinion based on my experience in case there are any ambiguities**

Chickenoregg

From an insurance company perspective, what is the take on being in an accident whilst performing a U-Turn? Driver sees that there is no traffic approaching, leaves room between car in front, signals with indicator, car behind does not see indicator and drives into car.

Liam McPoyle

Chickenoregg wrote: »

From an insurance company perspective, what is the take on being in an accident whilst performing a U-Turn? Driver sees that there is no traffic approaching, leaves room between car in front, signals with indicator, car behind does not see indicator and drives into car.

It could depend on where it occurred ie was it in an area that had signage forbidding u turns, was it in a town with slow moving traffic (arguably safe to do a uturn) or was it on a major road with fast moving traffic (arguably dangerous to perform the manoeuvre)

The rules of the road state that the driver should always try to anticipate what the person in front will do and to keep a safe distance from them to allow for unseen hazards.

There could be independent witnesses that state in their opinion the driver that performed the manoeuvre was not driving with due care and attention.

In short, there is no set way it would be looked it.

**this is my opinion based on my experience in case there are any ambiguities**

acronym Chilli

Chickenoregg wrote: »

From an insurance company perspective, what is the take on being in an accident whilst performing a U-Turn? Driver sees that there is no traffic approaching, leaves room between car in front, signals with indicator, car behind does not see indicator and drives into car.

It sounds like it's the fault of the car making the UTurn. Putting on the indicator doesn't establish any right of way (assuming you got hit from the side while executing the maneuver). If car making the maneuver had only slowed down/stopped and got rear-ended, then might be other driver's fault (but I'm pretty sure that's not the point give the reference to "seeing the indicator").

In any case, it's not the insurance company's perspective that matters. It ultimately comes down to rules of the road and settling it in court if necessary (every insurance company will want to take the view that it's not their customer's fault as they don't want to pay any damages).

Chickenoregg

I see your point and understand that yes the liability lies with the U-Turn person

acronym Chilli

Chickenoregg wrote: »

I see your point and understand that yes the liability lies with the U-Turn person

OK, one final but very important point, that IS insurance related:

From an insurance company point of view, the driver performing the U-Turn can never say what you just typed. Never admit liability unless (don't know if this ever happens) instructed by your insurance company.

If it's very open-and-shut (e.g. rear-ending) the other driver will be certain they are in the clear and you're to blame. You need to avoid taking responsibility without antagonising the other driver by seeming to deny reality. All very hard to do with the adrenaline and shock of even a very small collision/tip.

So, to modify my original post: looks to me like it's fault of the u-turn-driver; it might end up that a court decides finally who's at fault; insurance company wants to make sure their customer never accepts liability.

Akrasia

I have had my own insurance for about 10 years and I've never had any accidents of claims so I should have a 10 year NCB, but my current insurer gave me a certificate of NCB stating 5 years plus because the maximum NCB they give is for 5 years. (Aviva)

I'm on 25+ and I have a quote that's a lot cheaper if I have a 8 year NCB compared with a 5 year one.

My previous NCB was with quinn insurance who aren't answering their phones these days.

Am I stuck with the information on the NCB cert that doesn't bother to give me credit for my real driving record?

acronym Chilli

Akrasia wrote: »

I have had my own insurance for about 10 years and I've never had any accidents of claims so I should have a 10 year NCB, but my current insurer gave me a certificate of NCB stating 5 years plus because the maximum NCB they give is for 5 years. (Aviva)

I'm on 25+ and I have a quote that's a lot cheaper if I have a 8 year NCB compared with a 5 year one.

My previous NCB was with quinn insurance who aren't answering their phones these days.

Am I stuck with the information on the NCB cert that doesn't bother to give me credit for my real driving record?

Does the document say "years since last claim"?
My own docs (Axa) say how many years NCB I have (7 I think), then they list years since last claim which is "2", and the the claim is listed (windscreen/glass-repair). So there's redundant information there (equally if I'd NCB protection, I could have full NCB with only 1 year since last (proper) claim/accident). I don't know if in years to come it might say (hopefully) "7 years NCB, 10 years since last claim".

If you've old information from previous insurers, that could also allow you to document a longer claims-free history. The key thing is the claims-free history not the NCB that the insurer calculates with. If you'd 5 years of documentation, showing in each case "5 years NCB, no accidents in last 5 years", then by now you'd have 10 years of documented claims-free driving to show to new insurer.

cplwhisper

If you supplied 5yrs ncb at inception to Aviva then their renewal to you will probably say 50% ncb on their scale = 5yrs+

If you require full itemisation of 10yrs then you call them, inform them of your request, return the 'wrong' list and they should have to you within 5 working days.

Be cautious of company that needs 8yrs ncb to give better rate as normally 5yrs ncb is sufficient for Irish ins company T&C. Ask whom is the underwriter so you can clarify if safe insurer. Setanta and enterprise (both now gone from Irish insurance market) had those T&C so you need to avoid that risk to ur premium.

Akrasia

cplwhisper wrote: »

If you supplied 5yrs ncb at inception to Aviva then their renewal to you will probably say 50% ncb on their scale = 5yrs+

If you require full itemisation of 10yrs then you call them, inform them of your request, return the 'wrong' list and they should have to you within 5 working days.

Be cautious of company that needs 8yrs ncb to give better rate as normally 5yrs ncb is sufficient for Irish ins company T&C. Ask whom is the underwriter so you can clarify if safe insurer. Setanta and enterprise (both now gone from Irish insurance market) had those T&C so you need to avoid that risk to ur premium.

I called them and they said that they'll accept the certificate stating 5 years plus as evidence of 10 years NCB so that's grand

It was with 25 plus who are underwritten by AIG so I presume they're above board.

_Tombstone_

I was watching a "car Insurance investigates" type program on ITV there and some woman (useless driver) reverses straight into a car parked behind her in carpark. Reversed at speed!!

No one in the car, the owner had just got out but he stuck in claim for whiplash and got 5 grand!

The woman went back down to carpark to see if their was camera, their was, got the footage, gave to guards, guards just caution your man!!!!

Shure their all gangsters, driver testers (you have to see her driving), insurance company not investigating, guards, courts.

The Wagster

Hi,

Someone bashed into our car in a car park and caused a bit of damage. Fortunately we were with the car at the time and able to get all their details. Called our insurers who said if we claim we would have to pay the excess. I thought our insurer would pay the repairs and recover the expenses from the other insurer and we wouldn't have to pay excess, increased premium or lose no claims bonus.

Our insurer suggested calling the other side's insurer directly and claiming through them. Is that the normal way to do things?

Ta

Craig

_Tombstone_

Oh yea, its their insurance you claim off.