A guide to motor insurance & FAQ's

Liam McPoyle

Jason 5pu45 wrote: »

My partner can get her insurance 200e cheaper despite the fact that I am driving 5 years longer

If you are doing quotes online and every single detail is the same as in

Date of birth
Occupation
Car reg
Licence and how long you have had it
Number of years driving experience
Claims experience
Years NCB
Address
Class of use
Annual mileage
Cover levels ie comp/TPFT
Optional extras eg full bonus protection etc

And then when you put in one of you as male and one of you as female and you are getting charged more as a male then id urge you to take note of the quote reference numbers and report the insurer in question to the FSO.

There should be no premium difference when everything other than gender is the same so if a company is doing this then they are in breach of regulations and should be pulled up on it.

_Tombstone_

Dont forget to use a formfiller.

Maybeline56

Recently hit by another car on a roundabout. Damage to my car on drivers door and back door. Op doesn't accept responsibility. I made a claim against op insurance. Assessor for op insurance checked the damage to my car. Today op insurance phoned to say they weren't going to cover the claim and I should claim against my own insurance. I don't intend to. Where does this leave me now? Options? Sorry if this isn't posted in the right place.

Liam McPoyle

Maybeline56 wrote: »

Recently hit by another car on a roundabout. Damage to my car on drivers door and back door. Op doesn't accept responsibility. I made a claim against op insurance. Assessor for op insurance checked the damage to my car. Today op insurance phoned to say they weren't going to cover the claim and I should claim against my own insurance. I don't intend to. Where does this leave me now? Options? Sorry if this isn't posted in the right place.

Ring your insurer, tell them whats happened and let them investigate.

Do not discuss the accident further with anyone, either the third party or their insurer.

Your insurer have trained professionals to deal with this kind of thing so let them deal with it.

Sue Pa Key Pa

The 3rd party is denying liability for the accident, so you have 2 options

1) Pursue your claim directly against the 3rd party with the aid of a solicitor. You will not get any further trying it on your own. There are specialist solicitors for this scenario.
2) Put an own damage claim through your insurance and have them pursue a recovery from the 3rd party.

With option 1, you either have to fund your own repairs while this goes on, or wait until you are successful. It can take time

With option 2, it remains as a claim on your record until it is recovered from the 3rd party. You will also have to pay the policy excess (recoverable from the 3rd party)

Your insurance company will not pursue the 3rd party on your behalf without 1st paying out under your own policy.

Maybeline56

Thank you Saul T Nutzz and Sue Pa Key Pa

acronym Chilli

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

The 3rd party is denying liability for the accident, so you have 2 options

1) Pursue your claim directly against the 3rd party with the aid of a solicitor. You will not get any further trying it on your own. There are specialist solicitors for this scenario.
2) Put an own damage claim through your insurance and have them pursue a recovery from the 3rd party.

With option 1, you either have to fund your own repairs while this goes on, or wait until you are successful. It can take time

With option 2, it remains as a claim on your record until it is recovered from the 3rd party. You will also have to pay the policy excess (recoverable from the 3rd party)

Your insurance company will not pursue the 3rd party on your behalf without 1st paying out under your own policy.

And also work on the assumption, unless you can verify otherwise, that you really need to let your insurance company know about this even if there's no claim. For all you know, the other driver will try to claim against you in the future, and one way or another you'll be on firmer ground if you've followed through on the conditions of your policy.

Maybeline56

Thank you. Yes I told my insurance right away.

acronym Chilli

Maybeline56 wrote: »

Thank you. Yes I told my insurance right away.

Did the same the one time I had a small tip.
I was a bit worried that they'd then load me on renewal (even though there was no claim, so no-claims bonus was confirmed to be preserved), however the renewal was basically unchanged.
Your Mileage May Vary, but at least you're within the rules and T&Cs of your policy.

theoldbreed

Hi all,

Sorry to hijack this thread. I can't find the answer anywhere else. How long after a minor claim against you does it stop affecting your insurance? Hope that makes sense

Thank you

cplwhisper

Takes 5yrs to earn full NCB so in some cases to be clear of same. Depending on claim type it could be irrelevant after even 3yrs

josefguner

Hi everyone.

Long story short, I claimed from my own insurance in an accident where I was not at fault in April 2015. (Foreign driver/insurance that hit me and couldn't be without car and couldn't afford the bill). Hoping all would have been settled by renewal in Feb 2016 but unfortunately it wasn't and I was hit with a big increase as expected at the time.

Good news is that all is sorted as of this week and I will be getting my NCB reinstated and the excess I paid back. I have heard (and read in the OP) that I am entitled to some refund of premiums paid based on the reinstatement of my NCB. Is this correct?

Also, going forward do I have to declare this as a claim, and will that affect my premium?

Thanks!

Liam McPoyle

josefguner wrote: »

Hi everyone.

Long story short, I claimed from my own insurance in an accident where I was not at fault in April 2015. (Foreign driver/insurance that hit me and couldn't be without car and couldn't afford the bill). Hoping all would have been settled by renewal in Feb 2016 but unfortunately it wasn't and I was hit with a big increase as expected at the time.

Good news is that all is sorted as of this week and I will be getting my NCB reinstated and the excess I paid back. I have heard (and read in the OP) that I am entitled to some refund of premiums paid based on the reinstatement of my NCB. Is this correct?

Also, going forward do I have to declare this as a claim, and will that affect my premium?

Thanks!

If your bonus was deleted because of the claim but has since been reinstated then yes, you would be entitled to a refund.

In relation to disclosing the claim, yes, if you are moving insurer you will need to disclose it but it shouldn't have any impact on the premium.

When asked about it all you need to tell them is that it was a non fault claim that the other persons insurance covered.

ash23

My Licence has expired, am I now uninsured?

No. Generally, Whilst you should have a valid licence letting it lapse isn't a big deal from an Insurance perspective. It is generally said that if you can hold a licence and have held a licence and there is nothing stopping you from holding a licence (and you're in the ten years renewal stage) then not having a valid licence does not invalidate your insurance.

Not sure about this advice and think it should be updated.

A close family member had a comp claim recently and realised her licence had expired.
The insurer refused to pay the claim and cancelled her insurance. She is now having terrible trouble getting insurance as her insurance has been cancelled and has to get three refusal letters from three companies and the Insurance Federation will then get her a quote but she's going to be blacklisted for a few years.

I would imagine an expired licence won't affect a third party claim but it does invalidate your insurance for own damage and can also lead to cancellation of policy and major headaches around insurance afterwards.

Check your licence folks!

Special Circumstances

I find it hard to believe any insurer in Ireland is after giving up the "holds a valid licence, or has ever held and is not disqualified etc" stance.
Can you give us any clues which insurer this is?

AXA example:
General exceptions
1 This policy does not apply when your car:
– is being driven by you and you have not got a licence, or if you have had a licence,
are disqualified from driving or getting a licence;

So, if you had a licence but it expired (but you are not disqualified or otherwise prohibited, medically etc from getting a renewal) then you're fine with them.

I thought this was the standard stance?

ash23

Wasn't sure if I could name so Mods remove if necessary but it was Liberty.

Their policy doc states under General Conditions

"3.
We will not cover the driver unless;
a
they hold a valid licence to drive the vehicle; and
b
they meet the conditions and any limits of the driving licence"

No longer standard practice so check your licence and your policy documents.

Special Circumstances

Wow, for something that is pretty a paperwork formality there are some very nasty repercussions for Liberty customers who don't renew their licence before the 10 years are up.

They don't seem to be as proactive at all flagging these changes to established stances as they are with signalling 20% premium rises to other companies?

ash23

I know it's led to a pretty big mess.
There was only a month to go to the renewal and the person involved had decided to not claim in the end. The initial quote for the car meant it was an economic writeoff but she found parts and labour elsewhere for about 500 and the excess was 300 so she wasn't going to bother claiming and was going to ring and tell them but before she did they'd written refusing the claim and cancelling her policy.

She's now been unable to drive for a couple of months waiting to get refusal letters from other insurers and it's with the Insurance Federation to get her a quote. God knows how long that will take or how much she'll end up paying.

I know when she initially realised the licence was out of date I told her not to worry about it thinking it wouldn't be a big deal. My mistake!

Sue Pa Key Pa

The 'holds a licence, or having held a licence and is not disqualified....' etc. is taken from the insurance certificate, which only refers to the 3rd party aspect of your cover. The policy document and schedule is what you should consult. If you have declared you have a full current licence when you don't, there's the problem

As for not flagging these changes, they're not new. They will have been notified to you in your policy documents or advised to you in your renewal terms if it was changed from the original conditions

Sue Pa Key Pa

Special Circumstances wrote: »

I find it hard to believe any insurer in Ireland is after giving up the "holds a valid licence, or has ever held and is not disqualified etc" stance.
Can you give us any clues which insurer this is?

AXA example:
General exceptions
1 This policy does not apply when your car:
– is being driven by you and you have not got a licence, or if you have had a licence,
are disqualified from driving or getting a licence;

So, if you had a licence but it expired (but you are not disqualified or otherwise prohibited, medically etc from getting a renewal) then you're fine with them.

I thought this was the standard stance?

You're reading that wrong. No licence and you've no cover

Special Circumstances

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

You're reading that wrong. No licence and you've no cover

It's poorly worded considering AXA's "plain english" attempts, but I'm pretty sure* they are trying to say the same as FBD

These drivers are covered provided they
1. hold a licence to drive the insured car
or
having held such a licence are not disqualified from holding a licence

*edit - I'm basing that on the fact that the "OR" condition in the AXA version is completely redundant if the ONLY ever insure people with a fully valid licence.

Sue Pa Key Pa

This policy does not apply when ...........

And the next line reads as one sentence. BOTH scenarios are excluded

Special Circumstances

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

This policy does not apply when ...........

And the next line reads as one sentence. BOTH scenarios are excluded

On re-reading the AXA one, yes I picked a bad example there.

The "traditional" industry stance on licences was always as described by FBD in my subsequent post. Or was there always a strict "tough sh1t" on customers whose licence was not renewed on time?

The second part of the AXA one seems pointless to me - is there any situation, where "having had a licence but being currently disqualified etc", that you would still have a valid licence for that class of vehicle?

The AXA one is kinda "we wont cover you if you are A) a citrus fruit, or an orange" .... the second one is redundant surely - if you are disqualified or otherwise preventing from holding or obtaining a licence, then you don't actually have a valid licence either do you?

Not contradicting you like, just saying that the AXA one (especially with the seemingly redundant reference to having had a licence) if you read it quickly sounds like an alternative way of saying what FBD and many others say.

BTW, you're not saying that FBD also exclude "expired but not disqualified etc" drivers are you?

Special Circumstances

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

The 'holds a licence, or having held a licence and is not disqualified....' etc. is taken from the insurance certificate, which only refers to the 3rd party aspect of your cover. The policy document and schedule is what you should consult. If you have declared you have a full current licence when you don't, there's the problem

For the sake of clarity rather than badgering, take the example of the Allianz wording:

Applicable to all Sections of the Policy
This Policy does not cover, except so far as
is necessary to meet the requirement of
the road traffic legislation:
1. Any injury, loss or damage occurring
while Your Car is being:
...
b. Driven by You, unless You hold a
licence to drive the Car.
..
Exceptions (b) and (c) do not apply if
the person has previously held, and is
not disqualified from, holding or
obtaining such a licence.


Again, there's double negatives and all sorts going on there - but is that saying that ONLY current valid full licence drivers are insured comp/TP?

Or is it saying that you're ok if currently expired, as long as you have had a licence, but only covered for TP?

Or is it all irrelevant, because even if you firmly believed that your licence was valid, or if it expired after taking out the policy, you're in deeeeep sh1t if you're licence expires?

Sue Pa Key Pa

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Applicable to all Sections of the Policy
This Policy does not cover, except so far as
is necessary to meet the requirement of
the road traffic legislation:
1. Any injury, loss or damage occurring
while Your Car is being:
...
b. Driven by You, unless You hold a
licence to drive the Car.
..
Exceptions (b) and (c) do not apply if
the person has previously held, and is
not disqualified from, holding or
obtaining such a licence.
QUOTE]

I appreciate that you have abbreviated the wording, but I would need to see the wording in it's full context to confirm their position. I'm on the run today but if you post a link, I'll look at it later

Special Circumstances

Yerrah "caveat emptor, read the fine print before you hand over any money for a policy and if in any doubt seek clarification" probably covers it all.
You might come back with a perfectly good answer after investing some time in it and it could all change again next week!

Doesn't seem like you can take anything for granted in insurance land these days - if they are punishing people with 11 years put up on a 10 year full licence this harshly for what is a paperwork exercise, you'd expect to see unaccompanied learners being publicly flogged as an example fairly shortly!

Sue Pa Key Pa

Special Circumstances wrote: »

..... if they are punishing people with 11 years put up on a 10 year full licence this harshly for what is a paperwork exercise, you'd expect to see unaccompanied learners being publicly flogged as an example fairly shortly!

Ah, you're OK, you needn't post the Allianz policy link for further discussion

Special Circumstances

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

Ah, you're OK, you needn't post the Allianz policy link for further discussion

Tis easily found if you want a look. They have only one version AFAIK.

Fbd seems like a clear "no hassle you're grand as long as you passed the test and you aren't disqualified/banned/whatever", liberty seem to be a clear "nope, current valid licences only"... anything in between is torturous.

What's the worry here for insurers, that people's photo's would be showing them looking younger than they are? That the magic voodoo power of a rubber stamp exercise equipment every ten years would cause mayhem if allowed slide to 11 years? :pac:

cplwhisper

I'll try get the Axa clarification for ye later

cplwhisper

AXA

Ok, if a drivers full licence expires mid year, after their last renewal was paid and then they unfortunately have a claim.

Subject that there is no medical reason why insured can't renew licence then the claim will be honoured.

So if your licence is expired more than 1yr then you risk RTA offence and penalty points/conviction &/or risk of claim rejection

At renewal time the onus is on all drivers not to renew a policy - without clarifying their licence is in-date at that time.