6 in 10 Irish People Would Like the Option of Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) Motor Insurance

• Those over 55 most likely to say they’d use PAYG motor cover

• Drivers urged to review mileage on policies to ensure they’re not paying for miles they don’t drive

• Six in ten people would be in favour of a Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) approach to motor insurance in Ireland.

When asked if they would like a pay per mile/ pay per hour option, one in three (33%) Irish adults said they would “definitely” consider using this style of insurance, and a further one in four (27%) said they could see the benefits of it, even if they didn’t use it themselves.

The survey of 1000 adults nationwide, commissioned by Peopl Insurance revealed strong interest in the concept which is available in countries like the UK and US and which typically works out cheaper for low mileage drivers.

Those over 55 were the most likely to be in favour of PAYG motor insurance, with more than four in ten (42%) of this age group saying they would “definitely” consider using it.

Commenting on the survey findings, Paul Walsh, spokesperson for Peopl Insurance said:

“With the standard car insurance model available in Ireland, drivers estimate the number of miles they will drive a year when taking out or renewing their policy – and this estimated mileage is one of the things factored into the cost of their car insurance. However, these estimates can be wrong or too high meaning that people may inadvertently and unnecessarily be paying too much for their car insurance as they’re essentially paying for miles they don’t drive.

It’s not surprising that our survey found strong support for the concept of PAYG motor insurance amongst the over 55’s: as people get older and retire, they often do less mileage in their cars so they might feel it’s unfair that they have to pay the same for motor insurance as those who could be on the road seven days a week.

And not just the older age cohort that might benefit. The average distance driven in a privately owned petrol car in Ireland is around 17,000km, but many people do far less”.

Other highlights from the Peopl survey include:

• Slightly more men (34%) than women (31%) say they’d “definitely” consider using PAYG motor insurance.
• At less than one in four (23%), people in Leinster, but outside of Dublin, were least likely to say they’d use PAYG car insurance – possibly because many of these people commute to Dublin to work and so would do a lot of mileage on their cars.
• Ulster residents were the most inclined to say they would “definitely” consider PAYG insurance.
• Almost four in ten Irish people are not in favour of the PAYG concept, with more than one in four (27%) saying it wouldn’t suit them and more than one in ten (13%) stating that it is not a good idea.

How It Works

With PAYG insurance, a small tracking device is typically installed in a car to record the number of miles or hours that a driver has driven and this is then factored into a monthly premium calculation. On top of this, drivers are typically charged a fixed fee to cover their car for theft or damage while it’s parked.

Mr Walsh added,

“PAYG motor insurance won’t suit everyone – those who drive long distances would likely pay more for the PAYG option than the traditional annual car insurance. However, given the availability of this type of cover in the likes of the UK and other countries, there is no reason why Irish drivers should not have the same choice.”

In the absence of a PAYG option in Ireland, Peopl is urging drivers to review the mileage on their policies.

Mr Walsh explained,

“It may be surprising to many people that car insurers still place such a high value on insuring motorists with low mileage. The less they drive, the less the risk of accidents. Many of us make the key mistake of over-estimating our milage or rounding up to the nearest thousand. A common error seen by the team at Peopl Insurance is with drivers estimating milage at ‘around 10,000 a year’. The difference in policy cost between 9,999 miles per year and 10,000 miles a year can be as much as 10% with some insurers, so check before you get a quote.”