Car insurance cover options

When purchasing car insurance you usually have three cover options. These are as follows.

Third Party Only

This is the minimum cover required by the Road Traffic Act and this covers the legal liability for death or bodily injury to any person and damage to other vehicles and property belonging to others arising out of the use of vehicles on a road.

Third Party, Fire & Theft

In addition to the above this covers damage caused to the vehicles as a result of fire and/or loss of or damage to the vehicles as result of theft.

Comprehensive

This includes all of the above as well as loss or damage to your own property.

At Its4women.ie as we wish to offer quality motor insurance, At Its4women.ie as we wish to offer quality motor insurance, we only offer Comprehensive Car Insurance

Other /motor insurance terms and covers

Personal Accident Cover

All policies will include some form of Personal Accident Cover. This basically pays out an amount to the insured or dependents in the event of a disability or death resulting from an accident in the insured vehicle.

Its4women.ie Car Insurance policy includes Personal Accident Cover up to €7500.

New For Old

Not all policies will have New for Old cover. Basically if your policy has New for Old cover and your vehicle is damaged beyond economical repair and is less than 1 year old you should receive a new vehicle.

Economical repair maybe damage in excess of 50 - 60% of the car's value. Some insurers may also include a mileage limit.

New for Old Cover is also only relevant to those vehicles 1 year old and under.

For those insurers that do not offer New for Old, cover claims are normally settled on the market value of the vehicle.

Its4women.ie Car Insurance includes New For Old as Standard.

Medical Expenses

This is the amount that the insurer will pay for the driver and passengers if they are injured as a result of an accident.

Its4women.ie Car Insurance policy includes Medical Expenses cover up to €150 for each injured person.

Personal Effects

This is cover items of clothing etc that may be in the car.

Its4women.ie Car Insurance policy includes Personal Effects cover up to €150.

Windscreen Cover

This will normally be for Comprehensive Cover only and will cover all of the windows in a vehicle.

Driving Other Cars Extension (DOCE)

Many policies offer what is termed a driving other cars extension (DOCE). These enable the policyholder to drive any other vehicle not belonging to them third party only. Many of these have certain conditions such as the following:

• Is not owned by the policyholder
• Is not hired by the policyholder under a hire purchase agreement
• Is not owned by an employer or partner

The DOCE may not be available to certain occupations and age groups. Always check the wordings of the quotation for details.

European Cover

All policies provide cover in all European countries. Some policies however only provide the MINIMUM cover, ie TPO.

Its4women.ie Car Insurance policy includes Maximum cover for European Travel, although certain terms and conditions will apply.

Excesses

The Excess is the amount that the proposer will be required to pay of their own damage as a result of an accident. For example, if a policy has a Compulsory Excess of €150 and a named driver is involved in an accident then they will pay the first €150 of the claim.

If you wish to increase the Compulsory Excess i.e pay more of your own claim, then this will reduce the cost of your insurance. This iextra excess is called a "Voluntary Excess".

The Excess is sometimes referred to an "Uninsured Loss" as you will have to pay it, even if you are not "at fault" in an accident. However if you are not "at fault" then your excess along with other "Uninsured Losses" such as Car Hire, Days off Work, Medical Bills etc can be claimed from the guilty party.

No Claims Discount

Every year that someone has insurance in their own name and they do not make a claim against their policy they will earn 1 year no claims bonus up to a maximum of 5 or 6 years depending on the company. This "no claims discount" is usually expressed as a percentage.

Protected NCB

Once the customer has attained a full NCB they can protect it so if they do make a claim the bonus will not be stepped back. This will cost extra and a loading on the policy applied.

The protection will only apply if certain conditions are met. ie: no more than a certain number of accidents over a period of time, the average being no more than 2 in 5 years.