Safe Speed Forums

Was listening to radio ulster this morning and they were on about insurance. Insurance over here is generally about twice the price of insurance on the mainland. For example for an 18 year old driving say a vauxhall corsa over here would cost anything between 1500 - 6000 (male), whereas on the mainland, the same driver would be paying about 2000 maximum.

Another point that I found the presenter brought up was that if you drive an old less powerful car it's cheaper to insure. I agree with the less powerful part, but surely an old car isn't going to be as safe?

The reason for northern irish insurance being so expensive was because we have a smaller insured population (we only have something like 1.1 million, wheras the mainland has 56 million), and therefore to cover the cost of claims we are charged more.

In general our insurance is about 1.5 to 2 times the price of english insurance.

There was one listener that called in and his son was originally quoted 1500 or so for a 997cc engined car. He then went to start the insurance 2 weeks earlier than before, and the premium went up to 2100. It then turned out that the girl in the insurance company had messed up the dates, so he was driving around for a week uninsured. Now, I don't want to excuse him, he should have ensured that he had insurance before driving, by getting a cover note or the actual certificate, but still.

I understand that we are a higher insurance risk, being young, but I don't think it's fair that I have to pay 2600 for my insurance, a girl will pay about 1500, and a driver starting to drive at 25 will pay 500 or so. I understand they are less likely to have a crash, but I really don't think its fair.

There was another listener who's son went to get car insurance, and it turned out to be 2500, he refused to pay it and bought a 125cc motorbike instead, much to his mother's dispair...

I have no real point to make, but maybe this will bring up some interesting discussion or something.

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Mike

I don't think that makes sense - by the same principle, shouldn't insurance in Wales be much dearer than that in England?

My understanding was that historically the courts in NI had given much more generous damages awards than those in GB.

Also does NI to some extent share the generally poorer road safety record of the South?

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

We have a larger proportion of roads that are rural. They're not 'bad' roads as such, but they aren't exactly straight.

You're sort of right about the damages, but the insurance people that were on the program said that wasn't the main problem, it was the insurance population.

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Mike

I honestly believe that's nonsense, it's just a smokescreen. By the same argument, premiums on the Isle of Man should be astronomical

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Yup! I don't mind that much. I wouldn't mind paying double when I get older, as it would be more like 300 or 400 pounds, but at the moment I'm paying 2600. How can they say my insurance is double the price of the same aged person living on the mainland, yet we're limited to 45mph, and if you have a car with any power at all you'll get totally crushed with insurance. I still wouldn't consider driving without insurance, although I know a lot of people who probably aren't covered due to modifications which they haven't declared, and I know people that get cover on their parents insurance, but say they're driving 40% of the time, when it's more like 95% of the time, and that gets them a good reduction... But I'll *hopefully* have my own no claims built up in a few years, and I'll hopefully be down to about 1000 by the time I'm 21, that's with no claims on its own, might get a bit of a drop at 21 too?

It's something I see a bit silly about the whole insurance thing, the way it's priced. I totally agree I'm a higher insurance risk, I know I am, but I don't see how they can justify prices like what they charge. I also don't see how being in Northern Ireland causes such a great increase, although I'd agree with you Peter, if you claim after an accident you're more likely to get more money, and going to court costs more.

Something I couldn't get over was the guy trying to push pass plus, he claimed something like 35% reduction, but in reality you'd be lucky to get 10% off over here... I know that's not why I would take part in it, but still, he wasn't really pushing the right message in my opinion. It should have been more like, "Take part in pass plus and you will gain some additional experience of driving on motorways, in the dark <etc> and you may get the bonus of money off insurance."

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Mike

Maybe they're subsidisng mainland rates? As I understand it, at the moment (for example) e-sure is paying out £120 for every £100 it receives in premiums - prices here are unsustainable as we've entered a positive feedback loop with competition between insurers.

Anyway, I'm currently driving a 2.3 litre volvo 740 estate with electric everything, heated leather seats, etc, chosen purely because it is about half the price of anything else to insure for younger drivers, especially if you stick your mum on as a named driver. RWD too and you can get the back out .

Take a look into it, you might be able to halve your insurance, and with insurance rates like that the car would essentially be free...

For the ultimate cheap quote though, look into a Morris Minor - a 19yr old friend who just passed their test was quoted under £600 TP.

I like the small car though... Really quite attached to it... Wonder what a transit would cost Imagine how many speakers one could fit in the back! Could really chav it up

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Mike

Try here...

Or what could be better than a nice sedate people carrier:

http://members.lycos.nl/Vorden/espace.html

That doesn't make sense either.

It's much cheaper to insure a car based on a rural postcode (on the mainland) than an suburban one.

All very strange in light of this:

http://www.endsleigh.co.uk/web/media/ne ... sults.html

The actual reason is that most big name insurers can't/won't quote for NI because of Northern Ireland Office restrictions and requirements. The problem that results is reduced comepetition. Translation: Price Fixing Cartel

http://www.google.com/search?q=motor+in ... Ireland%22

The problem is ten times worse for motorcyclists; the choice of insurers is a joke. I'm fortunate that I qualify for the only policy that offers sensible rates but you must be over 25 and have held a full licence for 5 years before they even look at you. Carole Nash (supposedly the UK's leading motorcycle insurer) couldn't do better than more than twice what I'm paying now.

I'm a very very happy boy. My current insurers quoted me at 2100 for this year, so I decided I would check with some other insurers. What a shock I got. Quinn Direct quoted me 1600, comprehensive on my car. I also got windscreen cover, and a marginally smaller excess. And the best bit is I get 3rd party cover on any car. I thought that was something basically restricted to over 25's or something, but no. Only thing is I doubt I'll ever use it, because dad's car is too powerful and I think it would draw attention to me with plod, and mum's car is subject to a credit agreement and it states that any driver must have comprehensive cover.

I just thought I'd share that with you, I'm happy that I've managed to cut my insurance by £1000. The funniest thing is that Quinn quoted me about £3000 last year... But hey.

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Mike

I'm 49 and moved to NZ from the UK six years ago - to find that insurance here is not compulsory, and for reasons I can't understand insurance here is very low particularly when the crash rate is taken into account. (I see some sort of coming together every couple of weeks in a town with a population of 350,000). I pay around £15 a year TPFT for older cars, and perhaps £80 fully comp for something with rather more value (say £5000) - and the 400cc motorbike insurance was....£3! Maybe it's because cars are very cheap here, maybe it's because insurance isn't compulsory, I actually can't work it out. Basically my house/contents/car insurance is less than a single car policy in the UK - and 15 year olds can drive which is rather scary.

The whole issue of insurance pricing is bizzare. When I added my wife (actually still girlfriend back then) as a named driver I got a lower premium. When we got married I phoned up to notify them of her name change and got a rebate!! I can't remember her ever driving one of my cars so I have no idea how this could affect my premium.

The moral of the story is that if you want cheaper insurance get a woman added as a named driver. Getting married will save a bit more on insurance but costs a fortune in every other way

Can anyone explain this?

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

From the High Commission site



Remove the 'Compensation Culture' and the Sharks (sorry, lawyers) from the equation and the costs obviously plummet.

LINK

How Intreguing.

Now, I wonder?

What is the typical educational background of the average NZ MP??

Ours are all Lawyers, Hence (Possibly) "Lawyer frendly" Laws.

I would imagine Lawyers in NZ hate this. Just think. No ambulance chaseing! Here recent "Reforms" positivly encourage it! (No win, No fee/share of the payout arragngements used to be specifically illegaL)

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

I was rearended 5 years ago, by a middle aged male driver. I was asked by the police, in a letter if I wanted the driver to be prosecuted, and naturally I said yes. However, I was later informed that he had agreed to go on some driver awareness course, presumably showing him how to look at the road in front of him, see stationary cars in front of him and teach him how to use his brakes! Anyway, toward the end of the ensuing personal injury claim, which by the way was approximately 4 years later, I was asked by my solicitor to sign a form, to enable personal injury calims to continue. This government wants to end these claims if they are less than £5000, which I would assume the majority are. That's absolutely outrageous, we pay an extra amount on our premiums for legal cover, and should not have that option removed by the idiots that "run" this country! It's not always young drivers who are irresponsible on the road either. I was going around a very tight roundabout, with my son in the car, and the car to my left was veering over into my lane nearly forcing my onto the island. I sounded my horn once to alert him, and for about 2 miles down the road after that, he had his hand on his horn. My son is 22, and not usually sympathetic to me on the road as I do get annoyed with stupid drivers. But on this occasion, he actually tried gesturing to the other driver to shut the hell up. The other driver was an old bloke who probably shouldn't even be on the road. Finally, I don't agree that speed alone causes accidents, it's the conditions at the time, so it should be obvious that you slow down in bad conditions. Numbskulls on mobiles are much more dangerous, and I see them all the time, but where are the police when you want them? It's far easier for them to hide with their speed guns and catch the speeders.