Frequently Asked Questions

No you will need to wait until your renewal date to get the same benefits as a 25 year old – for example under the AXA policy (depending on your occupation) they give cover to drive other cars if you are over 25…in the case above they will only get the driving of other cars at their renewal date – 1^st of June.

Remember: Cover under the Driving other Cars extension does not always match your policy cover; Many Insurers will only give Third Party only cover while driving under this extension.

No, Comprehensive Cover means the damage to your car is covered in the event of a accident/claim.  The only way you are covered for your injuries is if there is a Third Party involved and they are at fault for the accident.

In the Republic of Ireland, where the damage to property is only involved it is not necessary to report the accident at a Garda Station provided you exchange the necessary particulars with the person whose property has been damaged.

Once you have a policy in your own name for 5 years of more claims free you are considered to have a Full No Claims Bonus – however some insurers now operate a 9 year scale – for example Allianz are allowing a 9 year No Claims Bonus.

This can be for a number of reasons – the new vehicle may be a higher engine size.  It may be a newer vehicle.  It may be a high value vehicle.  It may be a much older vehicle.  They may be charging an administration fee.  It may be a higher group vehicle.

You can change Insurer at any time during the policy period, however it is not recommended in some cases.

Cancelling where you currently have a full No Claims Bonus:

• If you are currently earning a full No Claims Bonus and are claims free you can change mid-term, though you may be charged and administration fee by your Insurer.
• If you are earning a Full No Claims Bonus and are with your current insurer less that 1 year they may apply short term rates – this means for example, if you cancel the policy after 6 months you may only receive 5 months premium back.

Cancelling mid-term where you have less than Full No Claims Bonus – say you had 2 years at last renewal date:

• This is not recommended – if for example your renewal date is 1^st of September and you are considering changing Insurer on the 1^st of June – if you arrange a new policy on the 1^st of June you will go back to the 2 years No Claims Bonus – effectively losing the benefit of the 7 months cover since the previous Renewal date.

Always consider the most appropriate Insurer for your needs.  Do you have teenagers who will be looking to drive?  Will you want to add them to your policy?  Not every Insurer will insure young drivers so consider this when Insuring your vehicle.

Yes, but you must earn the no claims bonus on each vehicle separately (this is assuming you have an occupation to suit a Commercial Vehicle).

No there is no cover for hire or reward

No – contact your Insurer immediately to arrange the appropriate cover – any type of delivery is not covered under a standard motor policy.

It is covered whilst attached to the vehicle provided it is within the carrying capacity allowed by law.  Detached cover is available at an additional charge with most insurers.

In most cases this will only be covered if their services at the scene of the accident involved controlling or to put out a fire in your car (in circumstances which have given rise to a valid claim under your policy); and/or removing occupants of your car with the use of cutting equipment.  The policy will not pay if the Fire Brigade attended an incident and just carried out traffic controlling duties.

The most an Insurer will pay depends on your policy wording e.g. current Aviva limit is €1,000, current Allianz limit is €500.

Step-back no claim bonus protection normally means that in the event of a claim, where your Insurer pays out on a claim, if you hold a full 50% no claim bonus, this will be stepped back by 3 years to 20%.  Some Insurers will reduce your no claims bonus by 4 years if the claim exceeds a certain amount.  If you make a second claim, your no claim bonus will normally reduce to nil.  You will need to build up your no claim bonus again year on year to get back to earning a full no claim bonus.

Full no claim bonus protection means that you can pay an additional premium in order to protect your full bonus, i.e. your Insurer will allow you to make a claim without reducing your no claim bonus.  Some Insurers will allow you to make 2 claims without your no claim bonus being affected.  However, it must be remembered that even though you have full no claim bonus protection, this doesn’t guarantee that your premium won’t increase at the following renewal.  You may still see an increase due to normal rate increases or due to an Insurer applying a claims loading to your policy.

Normally, any claim payment for Windscreen Breakage, Fire & Theft would be paid by an Insurer without impact on your no claim bonus.

You should always check this with your specific Insurer.  Depending on the year of the car & how long it has been since the previous NCT expired, some Insurers are happy to confirm that cover is ok once you have a booking date for your NCT.  Other Insurers may advise that No cover applies until your car has a valid NCT.

It is a legal requirement to hold a valid NCT.

Yes. Some Insurers apply a discount for all drivers being Penalty point free and if a driver should receive penalty points during the year and fail to notify the Insurer, they may apply an increased excess in the event of an accident, e.g. It is currently a condition under Aviva’s policy to notify them if any driver receives penalty points; If this condition is not complied with they will apply a special claims excess of €2,500.