AA Advice on how to insure older cars

AA Ireland is offering advice for such affected motorists. Whether you’re seeking quotes over the phone or buying car insurance online, finding cover for older cars has proven difficult in recent years.

However, the good news is that many car insurance providers in Ireland will still cover you, including AA Car Insurance. This is part of a bigger problem affecting the motor insurance industry as a whole. Prices are rising sharply for everyone: normal, standard risks are producing annual increases of up to 20%, while non-standard risks (including older cars) are prompting much higher premiums. New customers will also have fewer providers to choose from.

What can consumers do to insure older cars?     

It’s time-worn advice but do shop around. Even as prices go up, there is still good and bad relative value to be had. Please try the AA while you are at it. Don’t look only at price. It obviously matters but look also at what’s included in the car insurance policy. Protected no claims discount or windscreen cover are benefits worth hanging on to.

Why is the price of car insurance going up so much?

A few things are going on, some of which are understandable and some that are less so.

• Traffic volumes have rapidly increased, leading to more accidents and higher exposure.
• The cost of settling injury claims is on the rise.
• Insurance fraud is a significant problem in the industry, contributing to a minimum €50 increase in typical policies.
• Levies are incorporated into policies to cover past disasters, like the Quinn collapse, resulting in a 5% increase.
• Insurance was sold below cost for several years as providers competed for market share, leading to an unsustainable pricing model.

There ought to be a much stricter regime when it comes to insurance providers’ tolerance of fraud. That includes how companies share data, a practice that will act as a preventative measure and quell fraud at its source. A regime that encompasses Garda detection, policing of the issue and court dealings with fraudsters in the aftermath would significantly stabilise the industry as a whole.

Address the rising cost of claims

The Injuries Board (injuriesboard.ie) has worked well at keeping legal and unnecessary costs out of the claims process. This requires a review due to the changing nature of the industry. Presently, courts are allowed to award higher pay-outs for personal injuries, which results in the rise of unnecessary costs that are not part of the victim’s initial compensation.

Fewer crashes on Irish roads

Though it’s not exactly rocket science, we know that when we invest in the number of roadside Gardaí, the number of collisions reduces. The evidence is more pointed in the case of fatalities and severe injuries, but their presence also reduces the volume of more minor crashes as well. In recent years, the AA warned that Gardaí numbers on the road were deteriorating unacceptably and that this contributed to increased crashes on Irish roads. While efforts are underway to reverse this trend, government investment in Garda manpower and resources must continue if we are to continue to reduce the number of fatalities on Irish roads in the coming years.

What can you do about the cost of your car insurance?

Follow AA Advice on how you can lower your car insurance premiums here. So is your car over 15 years old? The good news, you can still get a quote online with AA Car Insurance.