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

Insuring more than one vehicle

Many households now own more than one car. Alternatively, you may have a family car but ride a motorbike for leisure and a van for work. If this is the case, then multi-car insurance is worth consideration.

Multi-car insurance allows you to insure more than one vehicle registered at the same address on a single policy. You can usually choose to insure each car with its own level of cover.

It’s worth shopping around and finding an insurer or broker who can offer the best rates for a multi-vehicle household.

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.

What is a no claims bonus?

It’s a discount on your car insurance that’s earned by remaining claim-free.

The level of discount depends on the number of consecutive years you go without making a claim on your insurance. The more years without claiming, the bigger your discount will be, although this may cap between 5 and ten years.

If you do make a claim, you may lose some or all of your no claims bonus, unless you’ve paid to protect it.

What is black box insurance?

It’s cover which uses telematics to monitor driving. Premiums are based on how safely you drive.

Telematics uses GPS technology to capture:

• Journey data like travel time and distance plus the number of trips
• Driving data like speed travelled, acceleration, braking, cornering and impact detection
• Road data like elevation and road type

When you get black box car insurance, your insurer will arrange for the installation of a black box device.

What is a policy excess?

It’s the part of a claim that is paid by you, not the insurance company.

Car insurers usually require you to pay a compulsory excess which is the amount set by the insurer. You can also offer to pay a voluntary excess, which means you’ll pay more towards your claim in the event of an accident but pay a reduced premium.