1

If someone is loaning you a car there are probably very specific clauses that his/her insurance company will impose. It might be better to get him/her to add you to his insurance as named driver(s), which is usually quite easy to do. I have done it with friends when driving one car to France, for example, for a two week holiday or added my children when they're visiting from Oz. As long as you have the NZ equivalent of our full driving licence, you should be fine - being over 25 helps, since the cost goes down as well. Ask the person who's loaning you their car to contact their insurer to find out the best way to deal with this, as they will have to inform them whatever insurance you take out.

2

if you are going to be the main drivers of the car for the 11 months, putting you on the insurance as 'named drivers' is called fronting and is insurance fraud. This means that if you have a crash you could well be uninsured and you don't want to go there. And they WILL check.

if you are only using it occasionally it would be fine.

insurance for you as foreigners with no UK driving record will indeed be a lot of money. That's how it is.

3

Ah, I missed the 11 months, in which case it will be slightly different. I imagine then, that the owner will not have insurance on the car at all and all responsibility will lie with the borrowers.

Yes, you will have to get the insurance in Ireland, and that cost will depend on several things, including the make/model and value of the car, your ages and driving history. You MAY be lucky and get a reduction with your no claims bonus if you can prove you have had no claims for many years in NZ, as some insurers will take that into account (some do not). But it will be expensive.... oh, you can get two levels of insurance too - third party or fully comprehensive, with the former being cheaper - but you would have to check with the owners which cover they would prefer you to take out. For example if you wrote their car off on third party, their car would not be covered - you would have to find the cpst of a replacement but you would be covered for any car you may have hit.

4

Look at ....LIBERTYINSURANCE.IE /
They are one of the larger companies
offering motor policies
details on their web-site.
they cover the north (U.K.) and the south.

Edited by: yofletch

5

Just head for a broker (any one that deals with motor cover will do).
Give them the run-down of your requirements - they'll give you a quote.
Done ! !

6

AA will cover you as Kiwis on a Kiwi licence.

It'll cost more to get the insurance.

The GF faced the same problem in that I am an Oz on Oz licence (I ain't given that up!). Lots said I couldn't go on the insurance (Liberty included so just ignore #4), AA said fine but it'll cost about EUR400 compared to EUR150-200.

The alternative, since you are here for 11 months is to get an Irish lic (meaning you surrender your Kiwi licence) and then get your kiwi one again when you go home.

7

I would check your options fully before swapping your licence. I did this in the UK (as once you've been there for more than 12 months you can't drive on your NZ licence) - and even though I'd been driving for 10+ years on a full NZ licence it was considered a "new" UK licence and as such the insurance premiums were massive.

However getting insurance for the first year shoudln't be an issue once you're resident. If it is, try downunder insurance, they have some good policies for travellers and they fully insured our van for a fraction of the price quoted by local companies.

Another option is if you have car insurance in NZ with an international insurer, contact them to see if they can help you out - they can sometimes transfer no claims bonuses if you're going to insure with their Irish branch.