Help Centre

You may be insured to drive other cars depending on your license type and occupation. Please refer to your policy documents for full details. 

Your car insurance policy will automatically provide you with cover within the EU. Please refer to your policy documentation for the number of days cover provided.

Anyone that is named on your car insurance policy can drive your car.

If Open Driving is on your policy;

AIG & Aviva Policies: Cover is provided for any person free from accidents, claims, disqualifications, endorsements and convictions, aged from 25 to 70 years holding a full EU or UK driving licence - The driver cannot have any penalty points unless they are named on the policy.

FBD Policies: Cover is provided for any person free from accidents, claims, disqualifications, endorsements and convictions, aged from 25 to 71 years holding a full Irish, UK or EU driving licence. Up to 6 Penalty Points are allowed provided they are not court awarded.

Allianz Policies: Cover is provided for any person free from accidents, claims, disqualifications, endorsements and convictions aged between 30 to 70 holding a full clean Irish, UK or EU driving licence & no more than 6 penalty points or 2 fixed charge notices.

Your certificate of insurance will be issued once you have arranged payment terms and returned all of the necessary documentation to An Post Insurance.

Your car insurance cover is in place from the time and date you specify to our agent and pay your first instalment.

Every customer is issued with a renewal notice prior to the end of their current Car Insurance Policy. If you are paying by Direct Debit and you do not wish to renew you must contact An Post Insurance at least 10 days prior to your renewal date to ensure the policy does not rollover. If you normally pay your premium by any other method you will need to call us to renew on 0818 33 33 35.

Should you wish to cancel your policy, you must send written instruction, inclusive of your policy number, and return your cert and disc of insurance to An Post Insurance. A cancellation fee may apply. You can simply fill in the cancellation form and return it to us, along with your cert and disc of insurance at our freepost address: An Post Insurance, PO Box 1, Freepost, Athlone, Co. Westmeath.

If your circumstances change, you must contact An Post Insurance at the earliest possible stage. Any changes that are made may increase /decrease your premiums. Please note some adjustments to your policy may incur a fee.

In order to tax your car online, you will need the following details:

1. Your car Insurance policy number.
2. The end date of your insurance policy.
3. The underwriter of your insurance policy – It is important you check who the Underwriter of your policy is, An Post Insurance is not the correct answer here.

All the above information can be found on your certificate of insurance or on your insurance disc displayed in your car window. 

We are always grateful for feedback and are dedicated to ensuring our customers are satisfied with the service they receive. Please contact the Customer Service Manager, An Post Insurance, PO Box 1, Freepost, Athlone, Co. Westmeath or phone us on LoCall 0818 33 33 33 and we will be happy to resolve any issues.

Every customer is issued with a renewal notice prior to the end of their current policy.   You can renew your car insurance policy using the following options;

If you are paying by Direct Debit and you do not wish to renew you must contact An Post Insurance at least 10 days prior to your renewal date to ensure we do not present your direct debit to your bank for payment'

An Post Insurance have 4 car insurance providers available to our car insurance customers;

• Aviva Insurance Ireland DAC
• AIG Europe S.A.
• FBD Insurance plc.
• Allianz Insurance plc.

Your No Claims bonus Certificate can be found on approximately page 11 of your Car Insurance Renewal Notice. 

In order to update your personal details on your Car Insurance Policy simply call one of our agents on 0818 33 33 33 or email [email protected].

If you wish to add a named driver to your existing Car Insurance Policy simply call one of our agents on 0818 33 33 33 for a quote or email [email protected] and one of our agents will call you back to discuss.

You may be insured to drive other cars depending on your license type and occupation. If applicable, driving of other cars would apply to your policy on a Third Party basis only for FBD, Allianz and AIG policies and Fully Comprehensive on Aviva policies. Terms and conditions apply, please refer to your policy documents for full details of the cover applicable to your Underwriter, the type of vehicles covered, applicable limits and exclusions. 

If you lose or misplace your insurance disc, you must contact An Post Insurance at the earliest possible stage on 0818 33 33 33 or email [email protected] to arrange for a replacement.  Please note this will incur a fee.

Excess is the amount you, as the policyholder, must pay towards any claim you make. In the case of standard excess, you will pay the first €300 yourself.  You have the option to increase the excess to €600, which will reduce your car insurance premium or you may decrease the excess to €125*, which will incur a slight additional premium.

No excess applies to windscreen claims or third-party claims. No excess applies to fire and theft claims for Aviva, AIG & FBD. The policy excess is applicable for Fire and Theft claims for Allianz

*with Allianz plc, the option to reduce your excess is not available

A Gap in Cover happens when your previous car insurance expired over 30 days ago. Reasons for this gap must be given and, if applicable, proof of no accidents or claims will be required.

Voluntary excess - Consider how much you'd be prepared to pay out if you have to make a claim. You could reduce the cost of your Car Insurance premium by increasing your standard excess from €300 to €600.

Paying in Full - If your Car Insurance policy is underwritten by Aviva Insurance Ireland DAC, or AIG Europe S.A. or Allianz p.l.c, the payment method (one annual payment or monthly instalments) is considered to be a rating factor, similar to engine size, address or driving experience and will have an impact on the amount you pay. Paying in full will cost you less.

Open driving is an optional cover available from An Post Insurance. Open driving allows other drivers to drive your car, with your permission, as long as they are a certain age and hold a full EU/UK licence. Driver/vehicle eligibility criteria and restrictions may apply.  Please see your specific Underwriter below for further details.

AIG & Aviva Policies: Cover is provided for any person free from accidents, claims, disqualifications, endorsements and convictions, aged from 25 to 70 years holding a full EU or UK driving licence - The driver cannot have any penalty points unless they are named on the policy.

Windscreen damage constitutes accidental breakage of the windscreen or any other car window (excluding sunroof) and scratching of bodywork resulting solely and directly from such breakage.

A modified car relates to cars where changes have been made outside the manufacturer’s specification. Examples of modifications include, but are not limited to modifications for a wheelchair, spoilers, alloys etc.

Where the policyholder uses the car in connection with their job, their employer may in some cases require a letter of indemnity from the insurance company. 

Step-back No Claims Discount is an optional extra, which allows you to keep part of your no claims discount in the event of a single claim.

Allianz policies, Stepback included as standard. For full breakdown of their NCD scales please see their policy booklet here.

For AIG, Aviva & FBD your No Claims Discount will reduce as follows:

AIG policies

• 55% to 30%,
• 50% to 30%,
• 40% to 20% or
• 30% to 10%

Aviva policies

• 50% to 20%,
• 40% to 10% or
• 30% or less to nil

FBD policies

• 75% to 55%,
• 70% to 55%,
• 65% to 55% or
• 55% to nil
• 35% to nil

It is not necessary to purchase this optional extra in order to purchase a Car Insurance policy.

For an additional premium, our protected No Claims Discount option allows you to have either one or two unlimited claims in a three year period, without losing your No Claims Discount depending on your policy underwriter. (We will not take account of  windscreen, fire or theft claims.)

For each policy underwriter's No Claims Discount scale please see their policy booklet in our Document & Forms page. 

It is not necessary to purchase this optional extra in order to purchase a Car Insurance policy.

For an additional premium, and depending on your Policy Underwriter, Protected No Claims Discount with Step-Back option allows you to have either one or two unlimited claims in a three-year period, without losing your No Claims Discount.  (We will not take account of  windscreen, fire or theft claims.)

For subsequent claims, the Step-Back No Claims Discount will then apply.

For each policy underwriter's No Claims Discount scale please see their policy booklet in our Document & Forms page. 

A No Claims Discount usually lasts for two years from the date that your last policy in your own name ends. You do not earn a No Claims Discount unless you are the policyholder of the car insured.

All car insurance quotes are valid for 30 days.

Named Driving Experience (NDE) is written confirmation of your driving record on another persons policy. It should confirm the dates you were named and your claims history as an occasional driver. The named driver may be awarded with a discount for each consecutive year of claims-free driving, should they wish to take out a policy in their own name. The acceptance of Named Driving Experience and the discount offered for Named Driving Experience can vary depending on the Insurer. 

A No Claims Bonus (NCB) or No Claims Discount (NCD) is a discount which can be earned by a policyholder. The discount is awarded to the policyholder for maintaining a claims free driving history on the policy, starting from one year. This discount is applied when incepting or renewing a policy and is based on the number of consecutive years a policy has been claims-free,  subject to a maximum of 5/6 years depending on the Insurer. 

Our premium payment plan allows you to pay your premium over 10 monthly instalments. You can choose to pay your instalments using the following options: 

• BillPay at the Post Office - using cash, cheque or debit card
• Direct Debit from your Bank Account. In this instance, you must pay your first instalment over the phone or by cheque, money order, credit card or debit card. You can then pay your remaining instalments automatically by Direct Debit from your Bank Account
  

Please note: a deposit of 20% is required for the first instalment and a service fee of up to 9% applies.

Yes, to change the date your monthly payments are collected, simply call us on 0818 33 33 30 or 090 648 7377 and we can look after this for you.

If your payment is overdue by 3 days, your policy will fall into arrears. You will receive an SMS to the mobile number you provided advising you of this. If after 10 days you are still late with your payment we will issue a registered letter advising you that your policy will cancel in 10 days. If/when your policy cancels An Post Insurance will advise the relevant underwriter and authorities of this and you will no longer be covered should you have/or become involved in an accident.

If you are paying by Direct Debit and you do not wish to renew you must contact An Post Insurance at least 10 days prior to your renewal date to ensure we do not present your direct debit to your bank for payment.

If you are involved in a car accident you should follow these steps:

1. Check for injuries, starting with yourself and then the remaining passengers in your car.
   
2. Don’t move any injured parties unless they are in immediate danger from oncoming vehicles.
3. Call the emergency services, providing as much detail about the car crash as you can such as the location of the car crash, number of people and vehicles involved, and injuries sustained.
4. Do not admit, deny, negotiate or settle a claim without your insurer's permission.
5. Take note of the following third-party details: names, addresses and phone numbers. The address of the owner of the vehicle you are driving if it’s not your car. The car insurance company name and the insurance policy number as well as the driver's licence numbers. Vehicle’s registration numbers car’s year, make, model and colour. Keep a record of the name, address and phone number of any witnesses. Take photos of the position of and damage to each vehicle involved in the collision.
6. Notify the local Garda station immediately.

Please note: You should always let your insurer know immediately about any event that may give rise to a claim under your policy. You can find the correct phone number to call here.

If you are involved in an accident, check your insurance disc to see who is the underwriter of your policy and call their number to register the claim and get further help and advice. Please notify your underwriter as soon as possible after the accident occurs.

Aviva

• Within Ireland: 1800 147 147
• From abroad: +353 91 52 5311

AIG

• Within Ireland: 01 859 9700
• From abroad: +353 1 859 9700

FBD

• Within Ireland: 0818 825 250
• From abroad: +353 1 761 7658

Allianz

• Within Ireland: 01 613 3990
• From abroad: + 353 1 613 3990

Breakdown Rescue and Breakdown Assistance provides 24-hour emergency support if your car breaks down. This covers roadside and driveway assistance with up to one hour's free labour in the event of a mechanical breakdown, malicious damage, punctures, lost or stolen keys, keys broken or locked in the car, etc. Additionally, it covers towing your car to the nearest repairer or getting you home if it can’t be repaired.

To access Breakdown Assistance, you will need to check your policy documents or insurance disc for the underwriter relevant to you and call the corresponding number below:

Aviva

• Within Ireland: 1800 34 34 35
• In the UK: +44 161 210 2113
  

AIG

• Within Ireland: 01 804 4328
• In the UK: +353 1 804 4328

FBD

• Within Ireland: 0818 11 22 31
• In the UK: +353 91 560 610

Allianz

• Within Ireland: 01 613 3990
• In the UK: + 353 1 613 3990

Please check your Policy Schedule to ensure you have Keycare on your policy. 

If included on your policy, do the following to access your Keycare benefit:

1. Report your stolen keys to the Gardaí immediately and get a crime reference number.  
2. Call Keycare at 01 431 9639 as soon as possible and within 45 days of the insured event. You must have your fob number, found on your Policy Schedule, and crime reference number from Gardaí. 

If your car is damaged in an accident you should check your insurance disc to see who is the underwriter of your policy. Call their number, provided below, as soon as possible after the accident occurs, with your insurance policy number and car registration. Our underwriters will help you register the claim and provide you with advice you can trust and care you can rely on. 

Aviva

• Within Ireland: 1800 14 71 47
• From abroad: +353 91 52 5311

AIG

• Within Ireland: 01 859 9700
• From abroad: +353 1 859 9700

FBD

• Within Ireland: 0818 82 52 50
• From abroad: +353 1 761 7658

Allianz

• Within Ireland: 01 613 3990
• From abroad: + 353 1 613 3990

We’re human about insurance, and sometimes that means making important information easier to understand for our customers. The Central Bank of Ireland recently conducted a review into Car and Home Insurance pricing across the Irish market, and as a result, they introduced a series of measures to strengthen the consumer protection framework. We’ve put together a simple summary of these steps to help you understand how you’ll be affected when they’re introduced on the 1^st July 2022. 

1. What is ‘price walking’ – and why is it banned?
   The Central Bank is banning a practice known as ‘price walking’. This means that from 1st July 2022, when you renew your car or home insurance for the second time or more, your insurance provider can no longer charge you more than someone who is renewing for the first time and has a similar risk profile and cost of service to you.
   
2. Will reviews of pricing policies and processes change?
   These new measures mean that providers of car and home insurance will have to review their pricing policies and processes annually to maintain a focus on pricing practices and the impact these practices may have on customers. This should also ensure adherence to new pricing provisions and the fair treatment of consumers.
   
3. How will the automatic renewal process work?
   If your car or home insurance policy renews automatically by direct debit, that won’t change. However, now you will now be given additional information to help you make more informed decisions when renewing your insurance.

For more information on the new regulations, take a look at the Central Bank of Ireland’s website, available here.

The premium you have been offered for your policy is set by the Insurer of your Policy (which will be clearly set out in any correspondence we send to you regarding your Policy). An Post Insurance also applies certain fees, which again will be clearly set out and are included in our Terms of Business. Your premium may increase (or indeed, decrease) based on the Insurer’s updated view of relevant factors affecting your risk, including claims costs, rising inflation and the ban on price walking resulting from the Differential Pricing Regulations. 

The premium you have been offered for your policy is set by the Insurer of your Policy (which will be clearly set out in any correspondence we send to you regarding your Policy). An Post Insurance also applies certain fees, which again will be clearly set out and are included in our Terms of Business. Your premium may increase (or indeed, decrease) based on the Insurer’s updated view of relevant factors affecting your risk, including claims costs, rising inflation and the ban on price walking resulting from the Differential Pricing Regulations. For you, the latest view for your risk has resulted in a premium reduction. 

Any premiums we have offered you previously were correct and based on the Insurer’s view of the risk at that point in time. As such, there is no refund due for previous insurance periods. 

It’s important to read the offer in detail – put the kettle on and take some time to go through your renewal documentation. This outlines your own personal details, your premium, your cover and sums insured as well as highlighting the benefits included on your policy. We recommend that at every renewal you review all cover on your policy to make sure it’s suitable for your needs. You should check your buildings sums insured to ensure they reflect today’s rebuilding costs and any additional cover options you have chosen or may require. The following website can help you check current estimated rebuilding costs: please click here.

Your renewal documentation also includes details of your renewal payment options. If you currently pay your premium by direct debit, your policy will renew automatically unless you contact us at least 10 days before your renewal date to advise us that you do not wish your policy to renew automatically.

You should keep your insurance arrangements under review as there may be other alternatives in the market that could provide savings for you for similar cover. More information in relation to getting insurance quotes is available on the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission website here.

Our experienced Renewals team is on hand to help you go through your options. Contact us at 0818 33 33 35 to discuss the best price available for your policy renewal, or to make any changes to your policy at renewal. We’re here to provide the cover and care you need.

We understand that life is busy, and there’s lots to do, but it’s important to take the time you need to go through your paperwork. We encourage you to review your renewal documentation in detail. It outlines your own personal details, your premium, and the cover and benefits included on your policy. We recommend that at every renewal you review all cover on your policy to ensure it’s suitable for your needs, including any additional cover options you have chosen or may require.

Your renewal documentation also includes details of your renewal payment options. If you currently pay your premium by direct debit, your policy will renew automatically unless you contact us at least 10 days before your renewal date to advise us that you do not wish your policy to renew automatically.

You should keep your insurance arrangements under review as there may be other alternatives in the market that could provide savings for you for similar cover. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission website (available here) is a great resource for further information on getting insurance quotes.

Cars can be complicated, but car insurance doesn’t have to be: to discuss the best price available for your policy renewal, or if you would like to make any changes to your policy at renewal, get in touch with our friendly Renewals team on 0818 33 33 35. We’re here to help.

Following the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement on Friday 31 Jan 2020, the UK are no longer a member of the EU. Under the arrangements in place, UK/NI driving licences held by residents of Ireland will continue to be valid up to 31 December 2020. As and from the 31 December 2020 a UK licence held by residents of Ireland will no longer be valid to drive here in Ireland.

For that reason, UK licence holders resident in Ireland should take steps to exchange their licence for an Irish one well in advance of that date. For the most accurate and up to date information on the validity of your licence please visit the RSA website.  

No, you do not need a Green Card to drive in Northern Ireland & the UK. However, you do need proof of insurance such as a valid Irish insurance disc which will act as proof of insurance when driving an Irish registered vehicle in the UK, including Northern Ireland. If you already have a Green Card, check the expiry date and if still in date this will also be accepted as proof of valid insurance.