Irish motorists could be paying more than €300 too much for their car insurance, new figures reveal.
Misplaced loyalty is driving up premium prices, a new study from Insuremycars.ie shows, and road users could almost halve their yearly charge if they shopped around. On average Irish drivers were paying anywhere from €170 to €300 more than they should, the research found, and some motorists were paying more than €300 too much.
Insuremycars.ie chief Jonathan Hehir said: “We took three average driver profiles and looked at the quotes offered to them by five different providers. What the figures show is that no one insurer is consistently the cheapest or most expensive. In one case, a motorist was quoted €656 by one insurer, but had they shopped around they would have been able to secure the same cover for €344.”
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Figuring out insurer’s pricing systems is almost impossible however, he said. Some insurers favour older drivers, some favour couples, some diesel, some petrol, while others specialise in higher risk.
“Motor insurance is one of the most fragmented products out there when it comes to pricing and quotes can vary wildly from person to person, and insurer to insurer. Based on this, there’s no way your average driver could possibly know which provider will offer them the best deal, without getting several different quotes from which they can compare.”
Shopping around for insurance will become even more important this year as motor insurance premiums could rise due to the huge increases in the cost of living, with prices for car parts and repairs on the rise, he added. “It is only a matter of time before the higher car repair costs trickle down to insurance.”
Mr Hehir said that while many people assume if they stay loyal to one insurance company they’ll be rewarded, this isn’t the case. He explained: “Shopping around is still as relevant as ever when it comes to getting the best deal on the market, particularly given so many of us are squeezed financially due to the cost-of-living crisis.
“We however see it too often that motorists who have remained loyal to one insurer are invariably being offered a slightly lower premium this year and, thinking they are doing really well, are simply accepting it. However, if they went elsewhere, they could save hundreds more."
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