Your complete guide to car insurance

What if you’re driving someone else’s car?

You’ll need to be a “named driver” on a policy if you’re driving another person’s car.

If you’re driving your partner’s car you’ll need to make sure you are covered on their policy and if you’re learning in a parent’s car, they will need to add you to their policy before you can drive on the road.

What about extra benefits?

You can pay extra for things that aren’t included in your policy, but it’s worth checking you don’t already have add-ons included in your policy.

Here’s some of the add-ons usually available in Ireland:

• Breakdown rescue
• Legal expenses
• Replacement locks
• Key rescue
• Courtesy car
• Windscreen cover
• Personal injury
• European travel
• Protected no claims discount
• Excess free claims

Windscreen cover

Windscreen cover helps with the cost of repairing or replacing your damaged car windscreen.

It typically just covers the cost of having the glass of your car windscreen and or windows replaced or repaired but sometimes it covers any damage to the body of your car caused by windscreen damage, for example, paintwork scratches from shattered glass.

Any damage that impairs your ability to see the road poses a danger to you or your passengers, so windscreen cover ensures you can carry out repairs immediately.

Windscreen insurance typically covers multiple repairs in the year, but only one complete screen replacement.

Legal expenses

You can add motor legal protection to your car insurance to pay for legal action and assistance if you have an accident or a complex claim.

You can use it to cover legal expenses if a motorist claims against you, but you can also recover losses through the courts if you’re involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault.

Legal expenses up to €100,000 are usually covered but the maximum amount will differ between insurers.

What affects the price of car insurance cover?

Several things affect the cost of cover and every insurer will have its own pricing formula and rules.

Here’s the main factors

• Your age If you’re a young driver under 25, you’ll pay a lot more for cover. The younger and more inexperienced you are, the greater the risk of a crash so insurers will charge higher rates. Here’s how to get cheaper young driver car insurance.
• Your location Where you live is one of the main factors affecting insurance costs. Urban areas are seen as higher risk than rural areas and if you live in a high crime area you’ll pay more. Insurers will also assess an area for traffic accidents and claim rates.
• Your job If you have a job that’s considered high risk to insurers based on claim statistics then you’ll pay more. Lying about your job or class of use could invalidate your insurance, so check that your job title is correct.
• Your mileage If it’s above average (around 10,500 miles) you’ll probably pay more because the risk of an accident, breakdown or repair is greater. You’ll be asked about the class of use, so be accurate or your claim could be refused.
• Your driving experience The more years you have the better, and if you’ve got a no claims bonus (NCB), you’ll save even more. If you’re just starting out as a learner driver, here’s what you need to sort out.
• Your car The make of your car and its size, safety and performance will dictate the insurance group of your car and impact the premium price. Economy cars with small engines are cheaper to insure than larger, more powerful cars. You’ll pay extra for any modifications to your car too.
• Your excess This is the amount you volunteer to pay against a claim - so the higher the excess, the more you could save on monthly premiums. It can make claiming expensive though.

Should you switch or renew your car insurance?

Many insurers do not reward loyalty and often hike the price of your cover on renewal.

With car insurance prices on the up, it’s worth shopping around to ensure you pay the cheapest price.

The average policy cost €568 in 2023 according to Central Bank’s Private Motor Insurance Report but premiums have been on the rise since.

Make sure you’re not paying more than you need by comparing a selection of quotes when your policy is up for renewal to see if you can better the price of your existing insurer.