why is insurance more expensive for EU license holders

suicide_circus

https://bjp.ie/change-eu-eea-licence-irish-driving-licence/

so people with EU licenses (except uk) pay higher premiums. If they pay 55euro and get their license changed to an Irish one this discrepancy ends so its not about safety.

what is the justification (other than profit)?

L1011

It'll be based on actuarial risk. Less knowledge of driving on our side of the road than the average Irish or UK licence holder will be one

Alun

Just because you have an EU licence doesn't necessarily mean you passed your test in that same country. Some people like me have lived in multiple EU countries and have changed licence multiple times too. I passed my test in the UK, but came here with a Dutch licence.

suicide_circus

L1011 wrote: »

It'll be based on actuarial risk. Less knowledge of driving on our side of the road than the average Irish or UK licence holder will be one

but once you fork over the 55euro and exchange your licence for an irish one (no test involved) this risk evaporates?

magicbastarder

probably because it's no longer measurable/definable.

Carawaystick

L1011 wrote: »

It'll be based on actuarial risk. Less knowledge of driving on our side of the road than the average Irish or UK licence holder will be one

:rolleyes:

It'll be based on the usual price gouging by insurance companies.
They lied about the risk young drivers posed and an investigation showed they made most profit from young drivers
They were raided by the EU anti-cartel people in 2017

They are gangsters

L1011

suicide_circus wrote: »

but once you fork over the 55euro and exchange your licence for an irish one (no test involved) this risk evaporates?

You are now part of a different block for calculation of an average.

Credit Checker Moose

It gets even better. Some insurance companies ask which country issued the licence and lets say that certain EU countries cause a refusal to quote.

Isambard

L1011 gave the answer in post 2. A driver not used to right hand driven cars will be a measurable extra risk.

bigar

That is a (c)rude generalisation on their part and does not reflect reality in all cases.
In my case it is just plain ridiculous. I have a Belgian driving licence since 1988 and never had an accident. I drove there until I moved to Scotland in 2002.

I moved here 14 years ago and came here by car from Scotland. I drove there for three years and then here for 11 years so I am well used to driving on the left. In the years I did not have a car I rented cars instead and did at least 10000 km a year (admittedly not all in Ireland).

I sold my car three years ago as I lived and worked in Dublin so had no need for a car. I wanted to buy a new one recently and was quoted over 4000 EUR for multiple insurers as my No Claims Discount expired after two years ago.

I gave my old insurer a call, which I was with for 8 years when I had a car and currently have my motorcycle insurance with. Despite this, they could not help me as they can only look at the last two years for the same type of vehicle.

I find it very peculiar that I cannot get a reasonable quote despite me driving 31 years accident free, eight of which can be easily proved in Ireland.

Before you ask, I chose not to exchange my driving licence to an Irish one as NDLS seems to be unable to recognise my C driving licence and its validity for B and A as well due to it predating the regular EU format. I apparently would have to choose which one I want, which I am unwilling to do. I even obtained a letter from the Belgian Driving Licence Office stating its validity.

Isambard

yes it's a generalisation, it's a statistic based across the board, not on individual cases.

theguzman

Because it is a well known fact that driving culture differs greatly across the continent, German Drivers are highly skilled, courteous and mannerly, cross the eastern border into Border and further head East and the drivers are just downright suicidal maniacs.

Credit Checker Moose

Generalise much? :mad:

suicide_circus

Isambard wrote: »

L1011 gave the answer in post 2. A driver not used to right hand driven cars will be a measurable extra risk.

but once they pay 55euro they know how to drive on the left

magicbastarder

there's a difference between disagreeing with the concept and wilfully misunderstanding it.
a driver in a higher risk category paying a higher premium does not make them a safer driver. that's why they pay the higher premium.

Cookie_Monster

is the fee reciprocated in any one the continental EU countries or is it solely an Irish invention?

Yurt2

theguzman wrote: »

Because it is a well known fact that driving culture differs greatly across the continent, German Drivers are highly skilled, courteous and mannerly, cross the eastern border into Border and further head East and the drivers are just downright suicidal maniacs.

What about the Jews, how do the Jews drive?

Ian OB

Yurt! wrote: »

What about the Jews, how do the Jews drive?

They don't. They have chauffeurs.

Alun

What some people are missing here is that this supposed extra risk appears to be solely related to what driving licence you currently hold, not on your nationality, where you passed your test or where your years of driving experience have been.

In this mobile world, with free movement within the EU, someone with a non-Irish EU licence could very well be Irish, have passed their test in Ireland and had years of experience driving both in Ireland and the UK, yet still fall foul of this rule because they had the cheek to live in, say, Germany for 10 years before moving here.

It's a very lazy, and wholly inaccurate, method of assessing risk much like most of the other methods like driving a car more than 10 years old for example.

magicbastarder

Alun wrote: »

It's a very lazy

most of the methods for calculating insurance premiums would probably be described as lazy.
they're looking at population level effects, not doing an individual assessment on each driver.