Insure a car in Ireland without living there?

Pauley2

I've seen this asked a few times but couldn't find a clear answer.

Is it possible/legal/does it make sense (moneywise) to insure a car for use (only) in Ireland (with an Irish driver licence) while NOT living there? - the idea being to use it only on trips back and not have to go to the expense of renting a car? it would be parked up the rest of the time...

Cheers!

Alanstrainor

Who owns the car? Surely keeping a car taxed/nct'd and petrol in the tank + insurance will mean this plan makes little sense.

delahuntv

I did it in the nineties - kept it at the parent's house and used their address for insurance details.

Car rental was very expensive and i was over every couple of weeks (lived beside Stansted) and work encompassed the Irish market.

Another alternative is to look at doing a deal with a car hire co or if you are city based when you are over, check out car sharing

Staph

A lot of insurance companies ask if you are a resident in Ireland, you may not fit this criteria.

naughtysmurf

I'd consider doing it in order to preserve my full NCB, which you could lose, if going to be out of the country for two years or more, maybe cheaper in the long run

737max

You can get international insurance with the likes of Clements but Irish insurers won't insure you. International insurance isn't particularly cheap but not excessively expensive either.
I'd guess if you complained to the IIF they'd force one of the insurers to insure you but they'd spite you with a high quote.

I actually have a car(2 but I don't want to complicate matters) off the road for the last few years as I live abroad.
I return every few weeks.

I use hire cars.
I have annual car hire excess insurance as it is cheaper.
At the end of next week I'm back for 4 days and my hire car: vw up! or similar will cost me 37 euro in total for the four days.
I pick up the car from the airport and leave it back to the airport; that is a lot more convenient than getting public transport from airport to home and back again.

I actually love those little up!s/citigos/miis/i10 so I don't feel like I'm slumming.

I travel home outside of holiday weeks so my flight is costing 53 euro return.
I don't travel home on holiday weeks as friends or family might be away travelling and I'm coming home to see them.

I am also insured as a named driver year round on a family member's car which I will have access to as I need it at the xmas holiday when car hire prices are crazy for those two weeks.

I have toyed with the idea of insuring the car I own and I can well afford it but my big issue is the car tax not the insurance. I just don't want to give the government the obscene amount of car tax for a car which is idle and then have the hassle of NCT'ing it every year. I have thought about bringing it over to this country and registering it here then returning it to Ireland but it is just too much hassle when I can hire a car for small change directly from the airport each trip.

tip: kayak.com for car hire.

Pauley2

Thanks for all the replies - especially 737 - lots of ideas there. I wasnt aware of annual "car hire excess" insurance. That would go a long way towards reducing the 20eur/day the car hire companies charge...

Basically I have a free "hand-me-down" car so there's no cost to that and I have at this point a 60% NCB that I'm very reluctant to loose for when I eventually return... I'd only tax it when needed and even though that's for a 3 month min, it could still work out... Another factor driving this was the last time I got a quote for hiring a car (over christmas) it was for 1400eur for a week!!!

The problem with the NCB and giving up my policy is that insurance companies in Ireland are VERY reluctant to take into consideration even a perfect overseas driving record and will basically bill me as a beginner when I get back. I know this from experience last time it happened. I'll contact a few companies just to see if anything's changed, but I thought I'd check here first...

(I just thought - Maybe putting myself as a name driver on someones policy might help with keeping my NCB..)

Yes the NCT is a pain - mainly the scheduling problems (where I am you just drive to a local garage - no appointment necessary...)

Tx for all the responses...