Insurance - Can I use agent in another EU state?

bharr

Hi
Wondering if I could insure my campervan in another EU state while living in Ireland.
I currently pay Dolman €875 pa which I think is excessive
Thanks

Itineoman

bharr wrote: »

Hi
Wondering if I could insure my campervan in another EU state while living in Ireland.
I currently pay Dolman €875 pa which I think is excessive
Thanks

That seems excessive. I pay €330 for dolmen ( standard deal with car policy and full NCB) which has not changed in the past fifteen years.

Del2005

bharr wrote: »

Hi
Wondering if I could insure my campervan in another EU state while living in Ireland.
I currently pay Dolman €875 pa which I think is excessive
Thanks

No because the company needs to be Irish based, IIRC by being registered with the department of finance. What makes people think that getting a quote from a different country will impact the rates for Ireland? Irish rates are based on Irish claims, French rates are based on French claims. So getting a quote from a French company won't get you French prices it'll still get you Irish prices.

Is the van converted to a camper on the VLC? As most campers are less that €400 for insurance. The only time it's that high is if you don't have full time use of another vehicle.

Shoog

Del2005 wrote: »

No because the company needs to be Irish based, IIRC by being registered with the department of finance. What makes people think that getting a quote from a different country will impact the rates for Ireland? Irish rates are based on Irish claims, French rates are based on French claims. So getting a quote from a French company won't get you French prices it'll still get you Irish prices.

Is the van converted to a camper on the VLC? As most campers are less that €400 for insurance. The only time it's that high is if you don't have full time use of another vehicle.

Ireland insurance industry is a closed shop cartel and they fix prices in Ireland for their cartel members. The EU has just declared this to be so and as a consequence the market will have to change bringing prices down for all insurance products in Ireland. Pearce Doherty has demonstrated that the rate and size of claims is actually lower in Ireland than in comparable EU jurisdictions.

So there is good reason to ask this question.


Shoog

JustAThought

Shoog wrote: »

Ireland is a closed shop cartel and they fix prices in Ireland for their cartel members. The EU has just declared this to be so and as a consequence the market will have to change bring prices down for all insurance products in Ireland. Pearce Doherty has demonstrated that the rate and size of claims is actually lower in Ireland than in comparable EU jurisdictions.

So there is good reason to ask this question.


Shoog

For the past 3 years my car (only) insurance was offered by a broker who got me some kind of underwriting from a combination of companies in Gibraltar, Lichtenstein and Belgium (I think). I thought this was a bit iffy and so rang the central bank and they told me it was legit - that the companies had registered addresses in Ireland. I asked the CB for these addresses and they gave a PO Box number and a ‘suite number’ for a derelict industrial eatate in Galway. When I queried this with the central bank they said it was what was registered with them and so therefore was legit.

I ran into an issue last year when my Irish reg & 100% Irish owned and driven car was insured in Iteland via an Irish broker to a British company. Britexit kept me on my toes all year as the company had to go to court in the UK to be able to sell all of their european portfolio to an Italian insurance company - which after months of rumbling through an anti-competitive case it was eventually allowed - and heypresto I now had Italian insurance through an Irish broker (Kavanaghs - who also have another name for trade/company insurance but its the same number and call centre girls) for my Irish car on Irish roads.

Maybe the central bank who I have little faith in could give you a list of registered offshore and european companies registered with them for the purpose of providing campervan insurance to the market in Ireland. And if they can’t or won’t maybe the Competition Authority can advise.

Maybe a google of english speaking brokers somewhere like Luxemberg or Estonia (where I also had insurance through once bizzarely I don’t even know where this IS) or somewhere where they have a high rate of campervan use like Germany might help. It is the whole point of the EU free market economy after all.

Shoog

JustAThought wrote: »

For the past 3 years my car (only) insurance was offered by a broker who got me some kind of underwriting from a combination of companies in Gibraltar, Lichtenstein and Belgium (I think). I thought this was a bit iffy and so rang the central bank and they told me it was legit - that the companies had registered addresses in Ireland. I asked the CB for these addresses and they gave a PO Box number and a ‘suite number’ for a derelict industrial eatate in Galway. When I queried this with the central bank they said it was what was registered with them and so therefore was legit. I ran into an issue last year when my Itish reg & 100% Irish owned and driven car was insured in Iteland via a British company. Britexit kept me on my toes all year as the company had to go to court in the UK to be able to see all of their european portfolio to an Italian insurance company - which after months of rumbling through an anti-competitive case was eventually allowed - and heypresto I now had Italian insurance.

Maybe the central bank who I have little faith in could give you a list of registered offshore and european companies registered with them for the purpose of providing campervan insurance to the market in Ireland. And if they can’t or won’t maybe the Competition Authority can advise.

Maybe a google of english speaking brokers somewhere like Luxerberg or Eatonia or somewhere where they have a high rate of campervan use like Germany might help. It is the whole point of the EU free market economy after all.

The EU inforcement notice has only just been issued and will be subject to appeal by the "cartel" before a final decision on measures is issued. Been a private body its unlikely that they will be able to take the "irish path" of accepting the fines rather than addressing the issue itself, so expect this to rumble on for at least a few more years before the cartel releases their strangle hold. A Sinn Fein government is likely the only thing which will accelerate the process.
Its nice to know their are other options, but its hard living in such a grey area.

What annoys me more than the cost is the unreasonable restrictions they place on what campers they will insure, a completely different situation to the UK where there are multiple options from simple day vans up to professional motorhomes.


Shoog

JustAThought

I don’t know where you’re coming from with your sinn fein enforcement - I have for several years already shopped overseas for my insurance and been able to use it (100% legally) on Irish roads.

I’m not saying the insurance companies arn’t a cartel and should have been addressed and slapped down years ago - but shopping internationally in european markets for car insurance is already a thing.

GG66

JustAThought wrote: »

I don’t know where you’re coming from with your sinn fein enforcement - I have for several years already shopped overseas for my insurance and been able to use it (100% legally) on Irish roads.

I’m not saying the insurance companies arn’t a cartel and should have been addressed and slapped down years ago - but shopping internationally in european markets for car insurance is already a thing.

I didn't know this. can you advise how you went about this? Any broker or website links appreciated.

OlandTurist

Hello, this is my firast post.

Here in Sweden, Scandinavia the car must be insured in the same country as the car and the car owner is registred.

autumnalcore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117585181#Comment_117585181

Whats the price difference? Is breakdown, glass etc cover included as normal?

Rket4000

Under EU rules, an insurance broker who is authorised in one EU Member State can passport their services into other EU Member States and some do provide services in Ireland. I suspect a lot of those brokers who used to provide these services are in the UK and can't do it anymore. So if you manage to get a quote from an EU based broker it can be legitimate even if they have no office in Ireland. It's just a matter of trying to find one that will quote you. It may not suit the narrative of a number of very loud voices, but many EU firms don't provide services in Ireland because it isn't profitable for them.