JohnnyTheFox wrote:
We moved back in 2010 and also faced the car insurance issue. We paid north of €2k the first year for one car and then it dropped in steps over the next five years as we accumulated a no claims bonus. It probably cost us €4kish in total over that period than it would have if we had a full no claims bonus starting out, so it's something to be aware of but it's not going to be a make or break issue in deciding whether to move or not. It probably helped that we were moving from a country with even higher insurance costs, and where we had needed two cars, so even at €2k+ our insurance costs were actually lower in Ireland.
I was incredibly lucky with regards to this.
Bought my first car in London, where I did all of 300 miles a year.
So my very first car insurance bill was only stg£500.
This was at a time when all my friends in Ireland were paying €1,200 - €1,500.
When I moved back to Ireland, the insurance company recognised my UK no-claims bonus and I was charged €400.
