Are motor insurance laws different in Northern Ireland?

Here's a phenomenon for you. Many motor vehicle insurers call themselves "UK Motor insurers" but decline to insure anyone from an entire country in the UK. Not only that, but they are unable to explain very well why they don't do this. Whatever the reason, if you search for motor insurance cover in Northern Ireland on the internet you'll find a bunch of online insurers offering to cover your car in the UK except for Northern Ireland. This makes it very difficult to arrange motor insurance if you live in Northern Ireland.

We have looked into this, firstly to see if we can find out the reasons, and secondly to see if we can help you northern Irish drivers to find Motor insurance.

We spoke to a variety of UK insurance brokers to ask them these questions. One of them said that they think that UK insurance regulators don't have 100% jurisdiction over Northern Ireland. However, the broker's spokesman admitted that his company was not 100% sure that this is the case.

Not entirely happy with this answer, we asked another broker, who revealed that he didn't think that UK insurers were happy about insuring vehicles in Northern Ireland considering the "troubles". This has seen cars used frequently as bombs, and motor vehicles have been at the center of bomb scenes, which gave the insurers the perception that their risks are too high.

If you call round insurance companies and ask them, they should be able to point you in the right direction. The AA in Ireland, Endsleigh and AXA do offer motor insurance in Northern Ireland. You can also find insurers who specialize in Northern Ireland as well.

Insurance premiums are likely however to be higher in Northern Ireland compared to the rest of the UK. They may explain that this is due to the higher risks. After all, statistics show that car crime seems to be on the increase in Northern Ireland. High performance cars are being stolen more, and houses are being broken into so car keys can be stolen. There is also anecdotal evidence that stolen vehicles are being taken through Northern Ireland as a transit route between Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

But it is also more likely that the lack in numbers in the motor insurance industry in Northern Ireland without competition from the UK means that motor insurance premiums can be higher.

You should ensure that your vehicle's security is as far up to scratch as possible. You should also try and park it as safely as possible overnight, and have a go at all the other changes or actions you can take to lower premiums traditionally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© AskFinancially.com 2008

Motor Insurance

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