Car Insurance Renewal

When should I receive my Car Insurance renewal details?

By law, your car insurance company must issue you with details of your insurance renewal terms at least 20 working days, or 4 weeks, before your current car insurance policy is due for renewal. You should also receive your certificate of No Claims Bonus which you will need if you wish to move your policy to another insurance company or broker.

The “terms” of your renewal should include:

• The details of the car due for renewal including the registration number
• Any restrictions that apply to the policy – new and existing
• Any change to the policy
• The renewal premium
• Premium breakdown
• Last year's renewal premium
• Premiums for other, available covers
• Details of all level of covers your Insurer offers
• Details of any optional policies we are offering
• An IPID - Insurance Product Information Document from your Insurer and from the alternative Insurer if we are recommending that you move

Receiving your car insurance renewal notice is often a good reminder to check out your cover and make sure that it adequately suits your needs. Check that your policy includes all of the extras such as free windscreen cover, driving other cars, breakdown assistance and protected no claims bonus.

Named Persons on Your Car Insurance

Check too that you have the right people named on your policy. If you no longer need named drivers to use your car, ring your insurer to get a revised (lower) price with them removed from your policy.

Car Insurance Payment

Car Insurance renewal date also means payment date. There are no “days of grace” on motor insurance policies. It is very important that the policy is renewed or alternative cover is arranged elsewhere before your renewal date. Otherwise you will be driving without insurance.

The penalty for driving without insurance in Ireland is a fine of up to €5,000, 5 penalty points and the vehicle will be impounded if it is in a public place. Instead of imposing 5 penalty points, the offender could be disqualified from driving for 2 years. A pretty stiff penalty so well worth getting your car insurance renewal finalised in advance of your renewal date.

Many people now pay for their car insurance by instalments instead of making one payment upfront. Worth checking out.