If you want car insurance, Northern Ireland now offers choice
For car insurance, Northern Ireland is becoming increasingly like elsewhere in terms of the choice it offers.
Previous positions
Of course, historically the unique position of Northern Ireland meant that choice in car insurance wasn’t anything to speak of – in fact, in some cases, it may have been non-existent.
Anyone other than the very youngest and newest of drivers will remember those days and be glad that things are starting to change.
Today there are the beginnings of normality in the insurance marketplace with increasing numbers of car insurance policies becoming available.
Reality
Things though, are not entirely the same as elsewhere – at least not yet.
For a start, there are still insurers that do not offer their car insurance policies into Northern Ireland. Those that do are perhaps not always easily found if you simply start a sequential internet search of insurer by insurer trying to spot those that won’t refuse you once they see your postcode.
It also has to be recognised that even those insurers that are now operating here, still see Northern Ireland as a higher risk area. It may take some years before that perception is addressed.
Evolution
Notwithstanding all that, for car insurance, Northern Ireland is now offering increased choice and that is helping to bring prices down.
You can participate in this changing environment without needing to spend huge chunks of your time on the internet. That’s because there are now specialist sites that contain lists of insurance providers known to be offering products in Northern Ireland.
Those sites may not only save you time but by allowing you to go directly to known providers, they may facilitate your access to some of the suitable deals around.
For car insurance, Northern Ireland is becoming increasingly fertile ground. That just has to be good news for the driver-consumer.
Insurance, Northern Ireland and cars
In terms of insurance, Northern Ireland residents haven’t always had too much to cheer about.
The lack of choice and high prices were, for many of us, depressing and frustrating.
That was a pity because drivers here are no different to anywhere else. You probably want the most suitable cover you can find and at the most cost-effective price just as any other driver does wherever they may live.
For insurance, Northern Ireland was something of a desert in terms of choice and that position remained the norm for many years.
Fortunately, times change.
Today if you’re looking for car insurance, you’ll be able to find an increasing level of choice due to the fact that more insurance providers are coming back into our market.
Online you’ll typically be able to find sites that list the insurance providers currently selling their policies here and you may finally be able to experience real choice.
One of the strange consequences for Northern Ireland drivers arising from this increased choice is that it means we may have to re-discover some of those old ‘lost skills’. They are the things that can help obtain lower premiums by thinking about your usage.
For example:
- insurers like to see responsible attitudes towards security so using security devices and parking your car off-road may be rewarded with reduced premiums;
- you may see similar discounts advanced for things such as being a member of a motoring organisation;
- if you add very young or inexperienced drivers to your policy, you may find that some insurers will significantly increase their premiums;
- if you fundamentally change the chassis or engine of a car (e.g. major customisation) you may find that your premiums increase again.
So, for choice in car insurance, Northern Ireland is improving rapidly. Most drivers here will see that as a major good news item.
Getting car insurance quotes for Northern Ireland
Today one can finally start to think about getting car insurance quotes for Northern Ireland without necessarily flinching.
We all know how frustrating that experience would have been in years past and why.
Today though, a combination of changing circumstances and the arrival of the internet, are jointly starting to change all that.
The background
In the case of the former, there are now larger numbers of insurers who are taking the plunge back into the Northern Ireland car insurance market place. This, through market forces, should lead to increased competition, improved access to cover and in time, more attractive prices.
Of course, the insurance market here isn’t yet entirely regular and some insurers are still holding off but the position seems to be improving each year.
The technology
Being able to market their products across the internet has done wonders for many insurers and has typically been well received by the consumer.
Sometimes at the click of a button you can now get car insurance quotes for Northern Ireland without having the sheer hassle of trying to look at individual insurers yourself to see if they offer their policies over here.
That’s potentially a great saving of time and effort (not to say frustration).
Your control
Once upon a time, trying to get discounts on insurance in Northern Ireland was difficult – to say the least.
However, increasing choice and the flexibility of technology both mean that you may be able to help keep your insurance costs down by taking a few sensible steps including:
- parking your vehicle off the public road when not in use;
- making sensible use of security devices such as alarm and wheel clamps etc;
- avoiding trying to cover very young or inexperienced drivers on your policy;
- keeping down your estimated annual mileage.
All these things may help you obtain car insurance quotes for Northern Ireland that are a little bit kinder on your pocket!
New opportunities to compare car insurance for Northern Ireland
It’s hard to find anyone, anywhere, who admits enjoying the job of trying to compare car insurance for Northern Ireland.
Perhaps given the history of insurance here, that’s not too surprising. Nobody is likely to enjoy looking at multiple websites only to find banners proclaiming that the products were not available to drivers in Northern Ireland.
Of course, political progress has hugely changed the backdrop here over recent years and now more and more insurers are starting to offer their products to people with NI postcodes.
Great as that is, the market is still not entirely normalised and it would be misleading to suggest that things work the same here as everywhere else in terms of choice and premiums – that typically just isn’t the case.
The reality is that trying to compare car insurance for Northern Ireland may require a substantial amount of website browsing and searching. Even though things are improving, that’s still likely to result in cases where you’ll discover that the company concerned just don’t offer their policies in Northern Ireland.
It’s also typically the case that drivers here may end up paying more for their policies than they may do if living elsewhere (all other things being equal). That’s a reflection of ongoing perceptions of risk that only time and stability will be able to dispel.
Although there is perhaps nothing immediate that any individual can do about the general premium position, there are two things that may be worth keeping in mind:
- taking some commonsense steps along the lines of parking your vehicle off-road and fitting security devices may help reduce your individual premium;
- there are sites that have already collected lists of those companies now offering car insurance in Northern Ireland and they may be able to obtain a range of quotations for you just based on a single data-entry of your details.
So, in summary, perhaps we’re still some way away from being able to say that it’s possible to compare car insurance for Northern Ireland as easily as anywhere else – but perhaps the above sites are helping us get there.
Keeping down the costs of motor insurance in Northern Ireland
Traditionally, motor insurance in Northern Ireland always operated a little differently to that elsewhere.
Not to put too fine a point on it, it wasn’t always readily available and often one’s priority was simply to try and get something in place rather than worrying too much about the finer details of cover or the financials.
That situation is now starting to become history, even if the current situation in terms of choice isn’t perfect.
However, what this increased choice for car insurance in Northern Ireland is offering is the opportunity to start to think again about what you can do to take a little more control of your position.
One thing is, assuming you’re not wealthy, keeping down the cost of your motor insurance in Northern Ireland is probably an objective.
Here are a few thoughts that may help:
- avoid large, expensive or rare models (though admittedly if you can afford such a car, the insurance costs probably won’t be an issue for you!);
- don’t customise and tune up your car with vast new engine power plants etc – insurers typically don’t like the message that conveys about your potential driving tendencies;
- keep your annual mileage down if you can – the more you do the more you’ll typically pay if you cross a threshold (it’s also greener);
- typically “any driver” policies will be a little more expensive than if you restrict drivers to named individuals;
- on the same line, try to avoid including very young drivers on your policy (certainly not easy if they’re your kids!) or those that have strings of motoring convictions;
- avoid motoring convictions yourself – unless you enjoy paying out extra money to motor vehicle insurers;
- think about fitting alarms and immobilisers – insurers may offer discounts if you do;
- undertaking to park your car off-road each night may also earn you a discount and even more so if it’s garaged and locked/secure.
Ok, perhaps you’re not in a position to adopt some of the above but even one or two may make a difference to the costs of your motor insurance in Northern Ireland.
Interpreting insurance quotes for Northern Ireland
Insurance quotes for Northern Ireland will typically comprise a number of key headings, though they may be called different things depending upon the policy you’re looking at.
The categories are:
- the cover description;
- the cover exclusions;
- your obligations;
- terms and conditions.
Each of these will then typically have various sub-headings and breakdowns within them. There may also be significant variations by insurance provider.
The cover description
Typically this may outline:
- the type of insurance being provided (third party fire and theft or fully comprehensive etc);
- the specifics of the cover provided – for example outlining what if anything is covered by way of personal contents in the vehicle.
Cover exclusions
As the name suggests, some policies may describe separately, what they will not cover or will only cover if you notify them in advance.
Here you may see, for example, that your vehicle is not covered if you take it outside of the United Kingdom. Another example might be those policies that offer any authorised driver protection but which then exclude drivers under, say, 21 years of age.
Your obligations
You may see clearly outlined what your obligations are with respect to keeping the policy in force.
Perhaps here you may see, for example, that you’re obliged to report any significant changes to your car to the insurance company. That may cover things such as fitting a new engine or major bodywork changes.
The terms and conditions
In fact, all of the above may simply be incorporated within the terms and conditions section of insurance quotes for Northern Ireland but if they’re listed separately, then this section will typically contain things such as:
- payment terms;
- renewal periods;
- legal jurisdictions in terms of governing law;
- details of the insurance provider etc.
The purpose
These above elements of insurance quotes for Northern Ireland may seem like red tape and legalese but they’re actually important and they exist for your protection. Ignore them and you may end up with inappropriate or simply invalid insurance.
Options for motorcycle insurance in Northern Ireland
The marketplace for motorcycle insurance in Northern Ireland has opened up significantly in the last few years.
Insurance cover for motorcycles is becoming easier to find as more companies are offering their products in Northern Ireland. As a result of this increased availability and competition, prices are coming down!
Riders now have a lot more choice and since no two motorcycle policies are going to offer exactly the same levels of cover, exercising that choice by looking closely at what’s on offer has never been more important.
Inevitably though, the nature of the product itself is going to mean that prices, although lower, may still not always be what you would term cheap.
There are a few options you can to try that may keep the cost of premiums as low as possible.
These include things like;
- accepting a higher excess and agreeing to pay more towards any future claim;
- parking your bike on a driveway or garage thereby reducing the risks of damage from passing vehicles or vandals;
- keeping annual mileage low.
Fair weather riders
There is another option that may help keep premium costs down and which may interest you if you only tend to use your bike in the summer months.
Some providers of motorcycle insurance in Northern Ireland offer a type of split policy.
This gives you the option of fully comprehensive insurance cover for the summer months when you may be out and about more on your motorcycle.
This cover reduces to third party in the winter when you may not use the bike much, if at all, but still need to keep it covered.
Small may be cheaper
Remember too that while that big bike may look really impressive, the insurance premiums for it may be just as amazing. A smaller bike may do the job just as well but could cost a bit less to insure.
Spread the pain
You could also consider a provider who can offer monthly repayment facilities for motorcycle insurance in Northern Ireland. That may help ease the financial strain a little!
Car insurance quotes in Northern Ireland
Most people will agree that buying a new car is a lot more exciting than looking at car insurance quotes in Northern Ireland.
Even if the option of looking at car insurance quotes in Northern Ireland is still a relatively novel experience for many car drivers here, it still may lack a little on the excitement scale!
But what it lacks in excitement it may make up for in helping you to save some money without necessarily compromising on your requirements for insurance cover.
Must haves
As an example if your brother, father, son or daughter is a mechanic who lives nearby, then you may not be particularly interested in paying for insurance which provides you with breakdown assistance from home.
If, on the other hand, neither you nor anyone you know knows one end of a car engine from another, then this support could be right at the top of your priority list.
Only you can know exactly what are the must haves for your cover. Once you have worked these out you can then have a look at some quotes to see what kind of deals are available.
Risk reduction
You’ll typically find that many providers will reward steps that you take to reduce risk by offering reductions in premiums.
So, for example, if you park your car off of the public highway on your driveway or in a garage then you will reduce the chances of accidental damage from passing vehicles or from opportunistic vandalism.
If you have a model of car that could be particularly attractive to thieves or joy riders then fitting an immobiliser, if it doesn’t already have one, may help keep your car where it should be.
Getting car insurance quotes in Northern Ireland may only take a few minutes of your time. This could be time well spent if it results in you finding car insurance that provides the peace of mind your were looking for at a price that doesn’t break the bank.
Asking for a car insurance quote for Northern Ireland
Anyone much above their mid-20s can probably remember the time when asking for a car insurance quote for Northern Ireland often received one of two responses:
- a sad sigh of resignation;
- mild amusement!
In the end, it was often typically a case of looking at a very specialist niche of providers and often having to pay comparatively high prices.
Today
OK, today great value car insurance isn’t exactly being handed out free on the street corners but the position has still changed out of all recognition – and it continues to do so.
Finding a suitable car insurance quote for Northern Ireland
The first challenge is, of course, to find a company that will offer insurance in Northern Ireland.
That used to be a moderately tedious process of making lots of phone calls or internet searches but today there are sites that specifically list insurance providers and products available here.
That may be a great aid and time saver.
The second challenge is to start thinking commercially about car insurance.
Insurance companies may typically charge extra if they perceive the risks to be higher.
It’s still the case that typically Northern Ireland premiums are a little higher than those for other parts of the UK but you can take steps to think about how you can get the cost of your quotation down.
You may wish to try:
- third-party, fire and theft is the legal minimum and it may be worth thinking about if you’re driving an older and very low-value vehicle;
- parking your vehicle off-road when it’s not in use;
- fitting additional anti-theft security devices;
- not insuring youngsters on your policy as drivers.
All these things may help you find a suitable and cost-effective car insurance quote for Northern Ireland.
What’s special about taxi insurance in Northern Ireland?
The short answer is – nothing! Well, at least there’s nothing philosophically different about taxi insurance in Northern Ireland as opposed to anywhere else.
The big differences relate to the nature of the insurance required for a taxi as opposed to a private vehicle.
The law is clear
All over the world, the law and insurance practice both state that a vehicle used for taxi purposes (sometimes referred to as hire or reward) carries different risks to those associated with a private vehicle.
The reasons for that are hopefully self-evident.
Typically as a taxi, you’re likely to be on the road for longer and engaged in more individual journeys than a private motorist. Very possibly your mileage will be higher and more of it will be involved in town or city-centre driving that ordinary drivers.
You also will have fare of fee-paying passengers; something that there is no equivalent of in private motoring.
All these things add risk – and risk that is either not present or much reduced for private drivers.
If you’re working as a taxi business, your activities may come under one of several general types:
- a self-employed taxi driver predominantly working for others;
- as above but having your own office base and business;
- running a small business where you drive but also have others working for you – possibly as drivers or office staff etc.
Depending upon the specifics of the situation, your needs for taxi insurance in Northern Ireland may vary and this will include any legal obligations relating to the minimum type and amount of insurance required, too.
Cover varies
In the final analysis, the legal minimum cover you need for taxi insurance in Northern Ireland may be one thing. Whether that alone is enough to help you sleep easily at night is another – so thinking about some of the additional forms of cover above might be sensible.
