Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
SHOPPING AROUND FOR car insurance could save up to €1,335, a survey conducted by the National Consumer Agency (NCA) has revealed.
The survey was the first undertaken since the implementation of the EU Gender Directive on 21st December 2012, and found that quotations for both genders were the same.
Quotes were received from eight different insurers in Ireland, with a quote being obtained for each of eight different driver profiles.
There was found to be a difference of up to €1,335 on third-party, fire and theft cover and up to €1,038 on fully comprehensive cover between the lowest and highest quotes for a 20-year-old student from Mayo with a full licence and driving experience of less than one year.
Another driver profile (a 25-year-old teacher from Kilkenny with a full licence for three years) resulted in a difference of up to €595 on third-party, fire and theft cover and up to €625 on fully comprehensive cover between the lowest and highest quotes.
The survey also showed that insurers, when providing a quote, did not treat penalty points in a uniform manner.
While all eight insurers provided a quotation for a driver with two penalty points, only three were willing to provide a quote for the same driver with six penalty points.
The director of research and policy at the NCA, Fergal O’Leary, said that the survey clearly showed that it was “worthwhile getting a number of quotes before buying or renewing motor insurance and we would strongly urge motorists to do so, especially younger drivers.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Renewal notices are always the worst for ripping you off…NEVER renew without checking with a few other companies first..
I agree 100%. I’ve never had the same insurance company two years in succession. Thank God for the internet.
My renewal quote was almost E100 more than an online quote from the same company. Rang them up and they gave me the lower one.
All companies are named and details are available on National Consumer Agency website.
FBD quoted me €738 for 3.5 ton tipper,setanta insurance €330 exactly the same cover incredible !!!
Welcome to the rip off Republic of Ireland.
You mean Ripublic.
Name and shame the insurance companies…
Absolutely! Though in reality it doesn’t matter, it’s so easy to get quotes from multiple sources that only a fool ends up paying more than they have to! Admittedly it’s a pain changing insurance company every year but what can ya do!
I don’t think there’s a need. Just be wise. Shop around.
Don’t name and shame – let those eejits who don’t shop around subsidise the rest of us.
So sex discrimination is wrong but age discrimination is ok. Why do older people pasy less? Cos they’re less likely to have an accident. Women are less likely to cause accidents why shouldn’t they pay less then? Europe of equality my a##
Frank
Will you hush up.
It is illegal to discriminate based on age except for motor insurance, so please keep your voice down before somebody cops on & we all end up paying more.
It has more to do with experience…….jeeze!
I got a quote for £57000 when living in the UK, for a car worth about 5k… Why bother even quoting me that! Needless to say I went elsewhere!
Thanks for sharing. Anyone else got any “expensive insurance I didn’t buy in a foreign country” stories?
£57000? What on earth were you insuring? An aircraft carrier? :O
Sorry to bother ya there padrig, go on back to sleep
FBD kept me on the phone for 35 mins filling out a proposal on a car that I brought up to todays safety standards and the last question was “does the car have a valid nct cert” when I replied that it hadn’t but it was booked in I was told they could not give the quote (I already have another vehicle with them)
Anyway,I went to 123.ie and got a good deal off them with a lot less hassle.
I make a point of shopping around.
FBD are extremely frustrating to deal with on the phone in my experience.
FBD only once were able to give us a lowest quote, but only for house insurance never car, so we never used them.
They have been the highest anytime ive checked! Dont know where they get any business! I dont know anyone with them
5000 to insure a open corsa when I was 19,the car was only worth 700.
In the UK more and more peope are learning the benefit of shopping around for car insurance at renewal time. I always use moneysupermarket.com and always end up paying less. My recent renewal quote from the AA was £398 but I got the same cover from Aviva for £195. No doubt they will also ask for substantially more next year but I will again go elsewhere.
My insurance, is half the price of my tax.!
I must add. 350 something. That’s fully comp on a 1.8 with no clam protection and all the extras. on average I’ve had a clam every 2 years. And a new windscreen last year. Key word of the day is protection. And also find yourself a partner who drives. The “self and spouse” knocks loads off both policy’s. (Aviva) it kills me having to hand over 179 euro every 3 month’s for tax.
I’ve just saved hundreds on my car insurance by switching………my car into reverse and leaving the scene of the accident I’ve just caused.
I wonder did the nca take the excess into consideration when comparing insurance quotes? Doesn’t mention is here. It’s no secret that you can chose to have a smaller excess for a higher premium. Plus the benefits vary greatly from company to company . Some offer doorstep assistance and some don’t. I think your headline is misleading
Getting a quote is as easy as….. “pushing molten butter up a hedgehogs backside with a red hot needle”
I saved about €400 when I renewed mine & my wife’s insurances. They both run out within 18 days of each other. Both of us are in our mid 40′s, me with a full license for 22 years & her 7 years, both with over 9 years no claims. I got this saving by simply switching to a different broker but the insurance is with the SAME insurance company for fully comp on both.
The cheapest 3rd party fire and theft from the previous broker was higher that the fully comp with the new broker.
So don’t simply blame the rip off insurance companies, blame the rip off brokers also.
Of course each broker has a broker fee and in most cases the smaller broker the better the deal, AVOID big brokers they frankly don’t care whether you stay or go
Renewing my Mrs insurance. Received the renewal in the post, I then went online to the providers site for a quote – 25% cheaper!!
3 years ago i got quoted 3,500 for a volkwagon polo which i only paid 700 for needless to say i told them where to go eventually got a company who quouted 1,100
2 years ago I got my insurance for €940, got a second quote from Axa @ €7k. I told Axa the deal I had already been offered an asked them could they do a deal (as I had been with them for a few years) they said no “unlike Quinn we are here to make money” …well you certainly didn’t make money from me!
have your say