Insuring an Altezza

weekaizer · 17-05-2016 10:12pm #1

Hi all.
So I'm looking to buy a Toyota Altezza but have tried getting a few insurance quotes and basically getting shot down as the altezzas are all jap imports.
Only quote I got from my broker was €3050!
I'm 27, full Irish licence, no points with 9 years no claims.
Has anybody here recently insured an Altezza and with what company?
thanks

Vic_08 · 17-05-2016 10:20pm

Sadly by wanting to own anything remotely unusual you have marked yourself out for special treatment and are now another victim of our joke of an insurance industry, meanwhile criminals and cheats walk away with wads of cash we all pay for.

Perhaps someone needs to inform the insurers that every car in Ireland is an import.

Eric Cartman · 17-05-2016 10:23pm

Vic_08 wrote: »

Sadly by wanting to own anything remotely unusual you have marked yourself out for special treatment and are now another victim of our joke of an insurance industry, meanwhile criminals and cheats walk away with wads of cash we all pay for.

Perhaps someone needs to inform the insurers that every car in Ireland is an import.

the problem with an altezza is its not unusual at all, theres a fair few of them, and unfortunately most who own them have gotten into accidents, legal trouble and modified them without declaring it. If the OP had the only altezza on the island I'm sure they'd be fine, the problem , like with all jap imports (hondas, subarus, glanza's , skylines etc…) is that they are all too common among the exact people who shouldn't own cars.

Best of luck with it OP . But unfortunately the car that has taken your fancy happens to be pretty high on the list of the "mad bastard drift and crash crew"

weekaizer · 17-05-2016 10:25pm

Vic_08 wrote: »

Sadly by wanting to own anything remotely unusual you have marked yourself out for special treatment and are now another victim of our joke of an insurance industry, meanwhile criminals and cheats walk away with wads of cash we all pay for.

Perhaps someone needs to inform the insurers that every car in Ireland is an import.

Not just insurance industry.
Tax system also a joke if you want anything remotely interesting like an m3, Impreza etc.

Edit: rant over!

Vic_08 · 17-05-2016 11:26pm

Eric Cartman wrote: »

the problem with an altezza is its not unusual at all, theres a fair few of them, and unfortunately most who own them have gotten into accidents, legal trouble and modified them without declaring it. If the OP had the only altezza on the island I'm sure they'd be fine, the problem , like with all jap imports (hondas, subarus, glanza's , skylines etc…) is that they are all too common among the exact people who shouldn't own cars.

Best of luck with it OP . But unfortunately the car that has taken your fancy happens to be pretty high on the list of the "mad bastard drift and crash crew"

The solution to that is not broad stroke tarring of everyone who owns similar cars as idiots but proper profiling of policyholders.

OP says he has 9 years claim free, how many people in that category go boy racer scumbag? I'm guessing if he was like that he would have a dodgier insurance history by now.

The insurance industry are lazy and incompetent when it comes to properly assessing risk. They use stupid mathematical models that weigh transitory factors like car age, engine size or marque far higher than real indicators such as criminality, past claim history, family involvement in similar, likelihood of fronting, etc.

The Sidewards Man · 17-05-2016 11:29pm

What engine are you quoting for op?

Eric Cartman · 18-05-2016 12:41am

Vic_08 wrote: »

The solution to that is not broad stroke tarring of everyone who owns similar cars as idiots but proper profiling of policyholders.

OP says he has 9 years claim free, how many people in that category go boy racer scumbag? I'm guessing if he was like that he would have a dodgier insurance history by now.

The insurance industry are lazy and incompetent when it comes to properly assessing risk. They use stupid mathematical models that weigh transitory factors like car age, engine size or marque far higher than real indicators such as criminality, past claim history, family involvement in similar, likelihood of fronting, etc.

Criminality , the area you live in , past claims and likelihood of fronting have the most bearing on the insurance price of car

weekaizer · 18-05-2016 12:46am

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

What engine are you quoting for op?

4 cylinder beams, it's a 220bhp 2.0 engine

selectamatic · 18-05-2016 1:31am

Try liberty they're usually decent with jap cars. Also make sure you ring the insurance companies the online calculators are useless.

millington · 18-05-2016 9:41am

At your age you should have some luck. Try Campion brokers, theres a guy in there specialises in Jap insurance for over 25s.

I used to be able to insure them no problem when I was 19/20 but haven't tried lately. It has got a lot tougher.

rhino1 · 18-05-2016 9:45am

Get onto a broker .Get a landline and prepare to spend time ringing around.Also explain what the car is first .That avoids the annoying details followed by 'We don't insure those'.Good luck lad

marcus2000 · 18-05-2016 10:34am

If you're able to wait, I know that XS Direct are re-entering the Irish market next month, and from what I can remember, that wasn't a car on their exclusion list. it will be a low(er) premium in exchange for a high excess, in the event of a Claim.

weekaizer · 25-06-2016 12:38pm

Hi well after a month of hearing the same "unfortunately we do not insure that type of vehicle" I think I'm giving up. But it begs the question how are so many people insuring these types of car.
The streets of Letterkenny were festooned with altezzas during the rally.
Is it really a case of them using the driving of other cars extension to cover them?
But then how do they get a valid insurance disc?.
Tried campion brokers but they said to ring back in a month or so so that would be my last chance!.
I test drove a golf gti yesterday, great power and I can get insurance for twice what I'm paying but front wheel drive not as exciting as rear wheel drive and an lsd!

bazz26 · 25-06-2016 1:08pm

Probably have it insured via fronting under a parent's policy or not been entirely truthful with the information they provided to the insurance company.

What you may need to do is get refusal letters from 3 insurance companies and then go through the insurance regulator where the first insurance company has to offer you cover. How much they will charge for that cover is another matter though.

traco · 25-06-2016 1:14pm

Insurance is mad, I'm the wrong side of 40, Full license since I was 18, never had a claim and no points.

Tried to get quotes on an S2000 a few weeks back as a second car. Many companies would not even quote. Even transferring my current policy to it only brought it down to 1500 odd. Jap stuff seems like a no go from my experience.

The Sidewards Man · 25-06-2016 1:48pm

Does one have to be a female nun, 61 with 40 years no claims bonus to insure one sensibly.

JC01 · 25-06-2016 1:53pm

Liberty, have a modded skyline insured reasonably with mods declared couple years younger than you.

Only thing is they won't take it on as new business, take out a policy on something normal for a month then swap over.

The vast majority of Altezzas, skylines, evos, silvias, imprezas etc are properly insured (if not mods-declared) so it is very possible.

Chris_Heilong · 25-06-2016 2:21pm

JC01 wrote: »

Liberty, have a modded skyline insured reasonably with mods declared couple years younger than you.

Only thing is they won't take it on as new business, take out a policy on something normal for a month then swap over.

The vast majority of Altezzas, skylines, evos, silvias, imprezas etc are properly insured (if not mods-declared) so it is very possible.

^^^^
This is it exactly, almost no company will take it on as new business. All those altezza owners would have already had a previous car insured with their insurance company.

weekaizer · 25-06-2016 3:50pm

I changed insurance companies to liberty 2 weeks ago because they were cheaper by over €200 on my Avensis but I've tried numerous times to get quotes for new cars, I can't even get insurance on a 2008 320d sport but they will quote me on a 318d sport albeit for double the price of my current Avensis!...
Best quotes I can get now are with top quotes who quoted me 1150 on the golf gti but still have to try chill and campion insurance on Monday...
This has to be the worst country ever for even remotely interesting cars.
Has anyone used a foreign insurance company for coverage here on boards?.

traco · 26-06-2016 11:25am

A few people have been talking about that but as far as I know any insurer must have a legal presence in Ireland (registered office) and thus under the control of the regulator in the state. Now I could be totally wrong on that but its something I heard somewhere.

Henry Ford III · 26-06-2016 11:35am

traco wrote:

A few people have been talking about that but as far as I know any insurer must have a legal presence in Ireland (registered office) and thus under the control of the regulator in the state. Now I could be totally wrong on that but its something I heard somewhere.

Home country regulation applies. Rabo Bank for example is regulated in the Netherlands.

Ireland isn't an attractive market for foreign motor writers I'd imagine.

weekaizer · 27-06-2016 7:38pm

Rang campion insurance today, they say from July 1st they will offer insurance on Japanese imports, time will tell how severe the quote will be though!..

mgbgt1978 · 27-06-2016 9:34pm

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Home country regulation applies. Rabo Bank for example is regulated in the Netherlands.

Ireland isn't an attractive market for foreign motor writers I'd imagine.

Not having a go at you, but they're all foreign. We don't have any Irish-owned Insurance Companies.
They still seem happy enough to stay here though so they must be making a few bob....bless them.

grogi · 28-06-2016 12:36am

traco wrote: »

A few people have been talking about that but as far as I know any insurer must have a legal presence in Ireland (registered office) and thus under the control of the regulator in the state. Now I could be totally wrong on that but its something I heard somewhere.

Setanta wasn't regulated here...

Henry Ford III · 28-06-2016 12:11pm

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Not having a go at you, but they're all foreign. We don't have any Irish-owned Insurance Companies.
They still seem happy enough to stay here though so they must be making a few bob....bless them.

No problem but ownership isn't the issue.

Here's a good example:-

Aviva Direct Ireland Limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. A private company limited by shares.
Registered in Ireland No 374895. Registered Office One Park Place, Hatch Street, Dublin 2.
© 2016 Aviva Ireland

BronsonTB · 28-06-2016 4:33pm

Just FYI for all users - most Irish Insurance companies will no longer offer a quote for a jap import, period.

Existing policies are not affected hence why you see people with existing Insurance on them able to have them on the road....

Most don't realise it is now next to impossible to insure a jap import on a new policy as of June esp if you never had a jap import insured before.

BUT small bit of hope, it may be possible with a few companies, but you'll need to ring as they quote only on a case by case basis. I'll drop you a PM.

BronsonTB · 28-06-2016 4:36pm

weekaizer wrote: »

Rang campion insurance today, they say from July 1st they will offer insurance on Japanese imports, time will tell how severe the quote will be though!..

Will you let me know if this is true? Cheers
I just got it in writing last week from them that they no longer cover any jap import as part of their new underwriting rules.
(I'm part of the Celica Ireland club - always looking for companies that cover Jap imports for members)

weekaizer · 28-06-2016 11:11pm

BronsonTB wrote: »

Will you let me know if this is true? Cheers
I just got it in writing last week from them that they no longer cover any jap import as part of their new underwriting rules.
(I'm part of the Celica Ireland club - always looking for companies that cover Jap imports for members)

Yeah I will post on here what they say.

Thanks for pm tooðŸ‘

BronsonTB · 07-07-2016 2:19pm

weekaizer wrote: »

Rang campion insurance today, they say from July 1st they will offer insurance on Japanese imports, time will tell how severe the quote will be though!..

Did you try again? I've been officially informed by Campion today (7/7) that they will NOT insure any 'performance' car on any NEW policy. (Existing customers are not affected).

mb1725 · 07-07-2016 3:46pm

Sure the insurance companies would be only queuing up to give the likes of this lad cover!

weekaizer · 07-07-2016 11:41pm

BronsonTB wrote: »

Did you try again? I've been officially informed by Campion today (7/7) that they will NOT insure any 'performance' car on any NEW policy. (Existing customers are not affected).

They told me to try again tomorrow. Xs direct were meant to join them last Friday but got put back a week. Will try them tomorrow afternoon.

Liam McPoyle · 08-07-2016 7:01am

weekaizer wrote: »

They told me to try again tomorrow. Xs direct were meant to join them last Friday but got put back a week. Will try them tomorrow afternoon.

If its excess direct that's their import insurer then they are really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

They offer minimal cover levels, even for comp its a hugely basic policy and it has an excess of between €2000 & €3000.

Grand for someone that does minimum driving but its a specialist company primarily in the market for non standard drivers ie people with poor claims history or driving convictions.

weekaizer · 11-07-2016 9:50pm

Tried again apparently xs direct are on board with campion but their computer is not providing any quotes yet so... Try again tomorrow!ðŸ™„

weekaizer · 13-07-2016 10:29am

Also tried to get quote today but need to wait til "tomorrow"!

grogi · 13-07-2016 10:38am

weekaizer wrote: »

Also tried to get quote today but need to wait til "tomorrow"!

Is there a pattern yet?

weekaizer · 13-07-2016 10:42am

grogi wrote: »

Is there a pattern yet?

They're really building the tension before they inform me that unfortunately they are not able to provide a quote me a quote on that vehicle!

I wonder can they be insured on a classic policy as most altezzas are now over 15 years old anyway?

biko · 13-07-2016 11:26am

A classic policy is not 15 years, it';s usually 25 and is a 2nd policy for weekend and such use.

If a classic could be used easliy then any old daily driver banger owner would use it

Henry Ford III · 13-07-2016 1:27pm

biko wrote: »

A classic policy is not 15 years, it';s usually 25 and is a 2nd policy for weekend and such use.

If a classic could be used easliy then any old daily driver banger owner would use it

It's 15 years + old for certain cars cars with certain insurers.

weekaizer · 15-07-2016 2:28pm

So today I got a quote for a 99 Altezza using a reg number for one I used to own.
Over €3200...on a car valued at €3000...
This was with arb insurance as xs direct are still not quoting on their computers just yet so I requested a call back when they are up and running.
Not admitting defeat just yet!

The-Game · 31-08-2016 6:28pm

weekaizer wrote: »

So today I got a quote for a 99 Altezza using a reg number for one I used to own.
Over €3200...on a car valued at €3000...
This was with arb insurance as xs direct are still not quoting on their computers just yet so I requested a call back when they are up and running.
Not admitting defeat just yet!

Did you get any further with getting a half decent quote in the end?

rhino1 · 01-09-2016 7:24pm

How are insurance companies allowed to suddenly decide 15 year old cars are death traps?It makes a mockery of the nct.
I'm having similar problems with a 16 year old jap import Honda, insurance has trebled since last year.
Anyone got any positive ideas.I'm pretty fond of the car and have no desire to sell or upgrade.

weekaizer · 01-09-2016 7:27pm

The-Game wrote: »

Did you get any further with getting a half decent quote in the end?

Not at all. Totally gave up. Total joke of a country we live in.

weekaizer · 06-02-2017 1:40am

Ok so I'm thinking of buying an altezza again...
Has anyone experienced any breakthroughs in the last few months with regards insuring a jap import?

My most recent effort was through a classic policy quoted by a company based in Newry whose name escapes me but they told me I could only get cover if I was over 30 years of age... I'm 28.

BronsonTB · 06-02-2017 10:04am

weekaizer wrote: »

Ok so I'm thinking of buying an altezza again...
Has anyone experienced any breakthroughs in the last few months with regards insuring a jap import?

My most recent effort was through a classic policy quoted by a company based in Newry whose name escapes me but they told me I could only get cover if I was over 30 years of age... I'm 28.

Try autoline otherwise it'll be near on impossible.

weekaizer · 06-02-2017 2:53pm

BronsonTB wrote: »

Try autoline otherwise it'll be near on impossible.

autoline! That was the newry based company I already tried!....

Any other classic car insurance companies?
Anybody using simplyinsure?..

JockESpollix · 10-02-2017 7:48pm

Vic_08 wrote: »

OP says he has 9 years claim free, how many people in that category go boy racer scumbag?

weekaizer wrote: »

I test drove a golf gti yesterday, great power and I can get insurance for twice what I'm paying but front wheel drive not as exciting as rear wheel drive and an lsd!

Not being smart... But the OP doesn't sound like He is looking for a nice car to commute in.
Do you intend on drifting or hooning about roundabouts at 4am?
Why would FWD make a difference to a mature adult driving a car responsibly?

Comments like "great power" and "not as exciting" wouldn't make me rush to insure him in a car with 'notoriety' to be honest.

weekaizer · 12-02-2017 2:50am

JockESpollix wrote: »

Not being smart... But the OP doesn't sound like He is looking for a nice car to commute in.
Do you intend on drifting or hooning about roundabouts at 4am?
Why would FWD make a difference to a mature adult driving a car responsibly?

Comments like "great power" and "not as exciting" wouldn't make me rush to insure him in a car with 'notoriety' to be honest.

No. I actually like to look after my cars... I'm not into loud exhausts, slammed suspension or cb aerials etc. You can drive responsibly and safely and enjoy a rear wheel drive car too. Or rather you could if the insurance industry wasn't such a shambles...

JockESpollix · 12-02-2017 4:20pm

weekaizer wrote: »

cb aerials etc. You can drive responsibly and safely and enjoy a rear wheel drive car too.

CB aerials in 2017?

After driving many different FWD/RWD cars over the years, you only feel the difference when taking the car to the limits of it's handling ability (if you want to induce over-steer for example).

Normal day to day responsible driving, you won't feel the difference unless the FWD car is a POS development wise and suffers from massive amounts of torque steer.

Let's not forget you used the term "not as exciting".
Sugar coat it all you want, but to me, that signifies pushing the RWD car until it gets near the limit (exciting).

weekaizer · 12-02-2017 8:38pm

JockESpollix wrote: »

CB aerials in 2017?

After driving many different FWD/RWD cars over the years, you only feel the difference when taking the car to the limits of it's handling ability (if you want to induce over-steer for example).

Normal day to day responsible driving, you won't feel the difference unless the FWD car is a POS development wise and suffers from massive amounts of torque steer.

Let's not forget you used the term "not as exciting".
Sugar coat it all you want, but to me, that signifies pushing the RWD car until it gets near the limit (exciting).

I didn't start this thread to open a debate about whether or not RWD needs to be pushed to the limit to be enjoyed... facts are I've owned 7 rear wheel drive cars in the past 5 years and never had any claims or accidents while driving them. Nor do I intend to start 'hooning' them around roundabouts at 4am, so unless you can advise me about how to go about insuring my dream car why don't you dethrone from your high horse and move on.

weekaizer · 14-02-2017 11:08am

First Ireland - unable to quote
Simply insure - unable to quote
Xs direct - unable to quote
Quote devil - awaiting (to be refused probably!).

St. Westy · 22-06-2020 10:36am

did you ever get insurance in the end ? :pac: they are falling under the classic category now (under a select few) most companies upped their policy to 25 years once the poor 99 and 00 altezzas hit 20 years hahah