Oldest car age for insurance purposes

fitzgese

Hi, just wondering what is the ballpark car age nowadays that insurance companies will decline/impose a loading/require a phone call to insure? 15 years? Trying to insurance an older car having been out of the country for almost two years and finding it very difficult to get qoutes?

Many thanks

Girl Geraldine

10 years gets loadings and further questions.

15 years or more won't be quoted, but if you insist on a quote they will give you a stupid high quote to get you go away.

patmahe

If its over 20 years old (depending on the car type) you could insure it as a classic but only if you have another car and are ok with a limit of 5000 miles per year.

Never heard of anyone using the below so I don't know how effective it is, but its good to know it exists, basically if you get 3 refusals or quotes so high they are pretty much refusals you can ask for a review.

https://www.insuranceireland.eu/consumer-information/general-non-life-insurance/declined-cases-agreement

BronsonTB

Also depends on the actual car if it is even insurable as a classic. Not all 20+ yr cars are deemded classics by all insurance companies.

But over the last 2 years, it is getting harder to insure older cars for new insurance business. (Renewals are easier).

Seve OB

My wifes car is 2003 Audi A3, sports trim or something. she has almost 50k miles on her so barely run in.. Mrs doesn't do much more than a few school runs and a bit of local shopping. has had the car maybe since 2005/6.

A couple of years ago she started getting hassle renewing the insurance but still gets it at a reasonably competitive price. ie she might get cheaper insurance by maybe €100 per year if she was in a newer machine, so its just not worth the upgrade with the amount she drives.

zg3409

There is a separate place for insurance questions and a thread dedicated to older cars

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2057675907/car-insurance-for-15-year-old-cars

That said if you want cheap insurance ideally you want 5+ years no claims bonus. A car with a very small engine not liked by boy racers and a car less than 10 years old to get as many quotes as possible.

If you were out of the country you may have no relevant recent history. It may make sense to get a vehicle that has low insurance than drive one that triggers high quotes and limited insurers. Some insurers specialise in older cars but jack up prices a little as they know you will only get one or two reasonable quotes.

fitzgese

Thanks all, I haven't been gone two full years (by a few days) so still have my old full NCB. I don't mind paying a bit of a premium if necessary to ensure the older car, but looks like it will be challenging to get any quotes at all for it as I haven't owned/being insured on it continuously as it aged. Will check out the insurance thread.

Montage of Feck

It really is outrageous that a perfectly roadworthy car, tested annually, is now uninsurable. My current car is 13 years old and I haven't died, yet!

Larbre34

Member of my family has a 19 year old 1.4 hatchback, passed the NCT last year without so much as a service, but is well maintained. Never questioned as to insurability, is insured now by Axa, fully comp, 380 quid.

Ring around.

mikeecho

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119512999#Comment_119512999

If you have a policy, and keep renewing it.. it's not a problem, the trouble arises if you let the policy lapse. And try and insure with a different company.

This country is obsessed with having new cars.

I think we have the newest fleet of cars in the EU.

Edit .. linky.

https://theworldnews.net/ie-news/irish-motorists-more-likely-to-drive-new-cars-than-other-eu-citizens

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119512999#Comment_119512999

Not servicing cars may be one reason insurers worry on older cars with valid NCT. The NCT checks certain easy safety things but does not check things like wheel alignment and other relatively important issues that are unlikely to be an issue on newer cars.

Often people don't maintain cars properly once they scrape pass NCT.

The other issue insurers worry about if those intending to make a false claim often but a banger, fill it with people and make multiple claims. One way they try not to take on these risky policies is to only quote newer cars or ask how long you have owned the car or only allow renewals not new policies after a certain age.

I am not saying insurers are not price gouging, but we know claims are very high in Ireland in some cases 5 times that of UK. Many businesses cannot even get insurance quotes let alone individuals. Try to position yourself to get a low quote by having a vehicle that gives low quotes. Haggling on renewal or new quotes can help a lot.

Supercell

Have a 15 year old 1.8L Mazda 6 and was recently quoted around €450 IIRC for fully comp. I'm 51 with no claims in over 10 years though. Maybe there is an element of type/model (bit boring in my case) and age (past it in my case) to it rather than car age alone.

pron

Much will depend on the value of the car - if it's over a few grand .. even at 17-19yo there's little to no problem insuring it ..

Flipside, if you tell 'em it's a €400 shitebox, they'll know you're not putting brakes and tyres on it when they're needed .. so they'll load you because they know you're going sideways into a queue of schoolchildren :)

(Not had a problem with a 17yo Alfa because it's worth a few bob, and had a lot spent on it since I got it !)

Eggs For Dinner

If you have owned an older car for a number of years, you should have no problem getting reasonable quotes. If you have just bought it and are looking for cover, it raises red flags. Insurers advise that recently purchased older cars are involved in a disproportionate number of claims with injuries. Part of this is down to lack of modern safety features, but mainly due to a combination of staged accidents and (separately), the fact that older and cheaper cars are used by a demographic that don't give a toss on the road.