Green card for driving in NI and UK

Isambard

recyclebin wrote: »

@Cinio: My policy says I can drive insured in the UK.

The green card does not validate or invalidate your insurance. It just means that they can impound your car in the UK if you are stopped and don't have one.

yes it does now, but after a no deal Brexit it may be altered

CarAudio

CiniO wrote: »

It is a proof that your insurer is providing third party cover in a country which is part of green card system.
Without it, you won't be covered in countries which are part of EU or signed a deal with EU about recognising insurance.


Without green card, you won't be insured in UK, so they can take your car away.


You Irish policy will be useless in post-nodeal-brexit in UK, as it won't provide cover there.


Nothing like that.
Green card is a document that shows that you are covered to drive in countries which are part of green card system.
Without it, you are only covered in EU countries, and those which signed a deal with EU about recognising third party insurance.



Green card can exclude some countries, as your insurer might wish.
There are no laws forcing insurers to issue them afaik.

Please stop spreading false information, we have enough of the journalists writing BS about Brexit...
Total non sense

CarAudio

Isambard wrote: »

free of charge per the Independant

https://www.independent.ie/business/brexit/thousands-seek-green-cards-to-drive-in-uk-as-insurers-waive-fees-37825467.html

And must be issued on request and ideally on policy renewal or creation, automatically.

Has nothing to do with Brexit
Insurers are just trying to save money.

Charles Babbage

CiniO wrote: »

Without green card, you won't be insured in UK, so they can take your car away.

Irish policies have been required to include NI for the last 60 years and green cards were dispensed with long before the EU.

NI have said no need for green card for 26 county residents
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/driving-cross-border-and-green-card

"If you hold a motor insurance policy as a resident of the Republic of
Ireland, you won’t need a Green Card to drive in NI, as your insurance
certificate will be accepted as proof of valid cover.

Marcusm

Isambard wrote: »

Axa are sending them out automatically and presumably free.

I think they’ll all end up sending them automatically. Much easier and more efficient as a process and cheaper than responding to requests.

Isambard

https://www.axa.ie/other/green-card/

RoYoBo

According to the Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland, we will definitely need a Green Card to travel in NI or UK in the event of a no deal Brexit:
https://www.mibi.ie/brexit.1760.html

If there is a no deal Brexit on the 29th March, you will need a Green Card if you plan on driving an Irish registered vehicle in Northern Ireland or elsewhere in the UK.

A Green Card will stop you being treated as ‘uninsured’ by the police when driving your vehicle in Northern Ireland or the rest of the UK.

I agree that the information available is confusing and downright contradictory. I'd prefer to be safe than sorry. I know that I'm insured according to my policy, but I don't care for having to argue the point with a PSNI member who believes the opposite.

Charles Babbage

RoYoBo wrote: »

I agree that the information available is confusing and downright contradictory. I'd prefer to be safe than sorry. I know that I'm insured according to my policy, but I don't care for having to argue the point with a PSNI member who believes the opposite.

The PSNI are scared of Brexit undoing 20 years of progress, the last thing they want to do is stir up trouble with political policing of this sort.

whomitconcerns

So I am getting my green card this week. They said it is valid to the end of my policy. But I must tell them any dates I plan on driving out of the country due to foreign cover time limits.

wassie

Automatically received an emailed PDF version of a green card from KennCo today after last week being told they were going to charge me €30 for such and would take 2-4 weeks to porcess.
Amazing what computers can do these day

redcup342

josip wrote: »

Here's what they look like.
https://ua.all.biz/en/green-card-for-departure-on-a-car-to-the-cis-and-s591303

We get one every year, I think it's €12 or €20 123.ie charge us for it.
We email 123.ie the countries we want it for, they cross them on the form, form is checked dilligently at relevant borders.
Easy peasy, lemon squeezy

Don't understand why they cannot do a plastic card

OldMrBrennan83

So have we always needed one of these then? I'd never heard about them until lately.

CiniO

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

So have we always needed one of these then? I'd never heard about them until lately.

They were always needed as proof of insurance when driving abroad, but didn't apply to EU countries, due to separate EU regulations.

OldMrBrennan83

CiniO wrote: »

They were always needed as proof of insurance when driving abroad, but didn't apply to EU countries, due to separate EU regulations.

That looks like a Dutch one in the example above though, which is in the EU, and it has EU countries listed on it.

josip

Yes, they list (nearly) all European countries on it and then X the ones that you advise them you're traveling to.
I don't know why it's like that since they don't charge per X.

wassie

wassie wrote: »

Kennco giving similar responses as AIG as Tabnabs above. After 20 mins of telling them Im crossing the border several times a week for work they said that it would cost me €30 to issue the card and I would be put on a waiting list. Going to be some unhappy policy holders if this is required in a few weeks.

Hope you didn't do it, they emailed me a copy on Monday for me to print myself. Makes sense really.

antix80

I go up north regularly. I intend to wait until the insurance company write to me when they know what's happening, probably including a green card automatically. If they don't send me a green card, I'll probably drive up north anyway because I'm pretty sure I'll be covered unless my insurance company tell me otherwise.
Some people are such drama queens. I'm fed up hearing about brexit.

CiniO

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

That looks like a Dutch one in the example above though, which is in the EU, and it has EU countries listed on it.

True.
They list EU countries, but when travelling within EU with EU registered vehicle you don't need to have this green card.
It's only really needed when travelling to countries which are in Europe but no in EU or EEC or Switzerland (afair).

Odyssey 2005

I received mine from Aviva on Monday. It's dated for a week !!. Handwritten be a senior infant. Received Mrs O's from an post yesterday. Dated until the end of the policy and professionally typed up.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

With axa and policy expires in may. Wonder would they even bother with me but then again it's rare I bring the car to the North.


However , the company vehicles I drive many times to North , Intercity coaches, which are self indemnified for insurance... How would that work ?

CiniO

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

With axa and policy expires in may. Wonder would they even bother with me but then again it's rare I bring the car to the North.


However , the company vehicles I drive many times to North , Intercity coaches, which are self indemnified for insurance... How would that work ?

Self indemnified means that they don't have a policy and the owner guaranteed to pay for any third party loss from their own pocket? Is that good understanding?

If so, that's actually very interesting question - do they allow to do the same in UK? Will they still allow to do it after brexit?

From my experience, when driving to a country (non-EU) if your insurer did not issue green card for that country, then there was always obligation to purchase border insurance. It's a type of short term policy (usually up to 30 days) purchased by foreign visitor driving foreign registered car.

I remember before 2004, before eastern European countries joined EU, and I used to drive Polish registered car to Slovakia, they used to check green card at the border, and if you didn't have it, they were asking you to purchase border insurance for period of your stay. I remember it wasn't expensive, but most insurers were issuing green cards for free, so there was no point not getting it, as free is always better than cheap.

Got ours today unprompted from Liberty, hadn't even given it any thought as we don't drive in the north really. It was very similar to the one pictured above with boxes crossed out for some (alot) countries .

Gas you can't actually make out the country code abbreviations for some of them because of the X through them, and have to work it out based on the list on the back and the ones you can see clearly on the front that you can drive in. :rolleyes:

CiniO

Deleted User wrote: »

Got ours today unprompted from Liberty, hadn't even given it any thought as we don't drive in the north really. It was very similar to the one pictured above with boxes crossed out for some (alot) countries .

Gas you can't actually make out the country code abbreviations for some of them because of the X through them, and have to work it out based on the list on the back and the ones you can see clearly on the front that you can drive in. :rolleyes:

Isn't it that those crossed are the ones you're not covered to drive?

antix80

antix80 wrote: »

I go up north regularly. I intend to wait until the insurance company write to me when they know what's happening, probably including a green card automatically.

Lo and behold, I received it from Liberty.

antodeco

Got an email today saying if I want one, I have to pay c.€20 for it, and it only covers specific registration, driver and dates. As I currently have multiple cars insured with them, with more than 1 driver, I will need multiple green cards for different journeys. Ive been with them for 10 years, will not be renewing this year!

Odyssey 2005

antodeco wrote: »

Got an email today saying if I want one, I have to pay c.€20 for it, and it only covers specific registration, driver and dates. As I currently have multiple cars insured with them, with more than 1 driver, I will need multiple green cards for different journeys. Ive been with them for 10 years, will not be renewing this year!

That's price gouging of the highest order. I'll bet the bastards even have an office in Belfast.

RoYoBo

What insurance company was this? Exorbitant!

Allianz are sending me mine free of charge - there's a copy in my online documents too. It's not looking good for an 'orderly Brexit', so I'm pleased to have this to hand

clones1980

Got the following email today


Dear Client,



We are emailing to advise you of potential changes in the event of a no-deal Brexit that may impact you and/or any named drivers noted on your motor policy.



Green Cards

If you plan to use your Irish registered vehicle in Northern Ireland or elsewhere in the UK after the 28th of March 2019, in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit you will require a Green card.



If you require a green card we will require a few details and an administration fee of €20.85. You can submit your request by clicking on the following link www.firstireland.ie/payments/index.php and selecting ‘Green Card’ from the drop-down options there.



This link will allow you to enter your necessary details and make payment by card. We will do our best to process your request as quickly as possible but due to potential high volumes of such requests, it may take up to 14 days to process and issue by post.





UK Licences

If you or any of your named drivers are a UK licence holder, We want to make you aware of recently published advice from the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS) regarding UK driving licence holders who reside in the Republic of Ireland. We are drawing your attention to this as it contains important information regarding what will happen with UK driving licence holders residing in Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit.



In summary the NDLS have advised that, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the driving licence of a UK licence holder living here in Ireland will no longer be recognised and the driver will not be able to continue to drive in Ireland on that licence.



The advice from the NDLS is that anyone holding a Full UK driving licence who resides in Ireland should exchange their licence for a Full Irish driving licence before the 29 March 2019, which is set as the withdrawal date of the UK from the EU. Under current arrangements a UK licence holder resident in the Republic of Ireland has an entitlement to make such an exchange, without issue. In this scenario, the driver will have all valid licence categories on their driver licence included on the Irish licence. There are some limited exceptions which can be obtained by contacting the NDLS.



To receive more information on the process of exchanging a UK licence, please visit, https://www.ndls.ie/news/149-brexit-update.html.



We would like to also take this opportunity to thank you for your custom as a valued Client of First Ireland.



Kind regards,

antodeco

^^^ That's what I got!

RoYoBo

Well, that's First Ireland off my list for next Insurance renewal time anyway. Disgraceful charge for a simple document! Capitalising on Brexit already at our expense. Very bad move on their part.

Leonard Hofstadter

I got one from RSA (via my insurance broker) recently. I requested it because I am flying to Edinburgh from Belfast at the end of the month. Mine is only valid until the middle of April. I can't understand why it can't just be valid until the end of my policy, I'll definitely be heading up North again this year.

mikeecho

Leonard Hofstadter wrote: »

I got one from RSA (via my insurance broker) recently. I requested it because I am flying to Edinburgh from Belfast at the end of the month. Mine is only valid until the middle of April. I can't understand why it can't just be valid until the end of my policy, I'll definitely be heading up North again this year.

Were you charged for the card?

I'm heading up North in April, I've no intention of getting a green card, I'm sure the copy of my insurance cert, worded in the Queen's English will be proof enough of my insurance.

For all the hundreds of miles I've clocked up driving around the north, I've yet to ever be stopped once by the psni.

wonski

This is the bit from my policy about being insured in the UK:



If the green card is required then they must provide it for free since my premium does include driving within UK. And I would expect, or even demand it, to be free for the duration of the policy. Some companies need to have their heads examined because they have no clue what they signed when they took the payment.

wonski

Leonard Hofstadter wrote: »

I got one from RSA (via my insurance broker) recently. I requested it because I am flying to Edinburgh from Belfast at the end of the month. Mine is only valid until the middle of April. I can't understand why it can't just be valid until the end of my policy, I'll definitely be heading up North again this year.

And you should tell them what you want as since they offer unlimited cover in the UK you are not going to beg for it after you paid for it for the whole year

clones1980

I drive in and out of the north numerous times just to go to work so I definitely need one. But jeez the brass neck in them charging for the privilege.

josip

Sorry lads I don't get the, "we should be entitled to it for free angle" on this.
It's an additional form not normally provided as part of the quote and there are additional costs associated with issuing it.
I doubt if the insurance companies are losing any money on it at €20 a pop, but nor have they increased their prices over what they normally charge.
We pay €20 every year for ours.

wonski

josip wrote: »

Sorry lads I don't get the, "we should be entitled to it for free angle" on this.
It's an additional form not normally provided as part of the quote and there are additional costs associated with issuing it.
I doubt if the insurance companies are losing any money on it at €20 a pop, but nor have they increased their prices over what they normally charge.
We pay €20 every year for ours.

Fair play if you drive to Russia or somewhere. But if they clearly state to provide cover in the UK then let them foot the bill. And to be honest that piece of paper doesn't really cost much.

Odyssey 2005

josip wrote: »

Sorry lads I don't get the, "we should be entitled to it for free angle" on this.
It's an additional form not normally provided as part of the quote and there are additional costs associated with issuing it.
I doubt if the insurance companies are losing any money on it at €20 a pop, but nor have they increased their prices over what they normally charge.
We pay €20 every year for ours.

Let them email it,we'll print it ourselves.

josip

wonski wrote: »

Fair play if you drive to Russia or somewhere. But if they clearly state to provide cover in the UK then let them foot the bill. And to be honest that piece of paper doesn't really cost much.

But the paper won't magic its way out to everyone who needs it.

There is a labour cost involved in providing this niche service.

We would have had to send a mail, follow up with a phone call outlining dates, provide payment details over the phone and then someone on the other end had to X off the countries we didn't want and post out the form.
You can't ignore that and say, "but the piece of paper only costs..."

josip

wonski wrote: »

Fair play if you drive to Russia or somewhere. But if they clearly state to provide cover in the UK then let them foot the bill. And to be honest that piece of paper doesn't really cost much.

But the paper won't magic its way out to everyone who needs it.
There is a labour cost involved in providing this niche service.
We would have had to send a mail, follow up with a phone call outlining dates, provide payment details over the phone and then someone on the other end had to X off the countries we didn't want and post out the form.
You can't ignore that and say, "but the piece of paper only costs..."

wonski

They could cut down the cost by not taking payment and not checking the dates by giving it until the end of the policy. They can also pre x the countries as it is the UK part that needs to be added.

I don't mind paying admin fee if I decide to travel to countries like China or Belarus, but since UK is listed in my cover then taking additional payment makes the original premium more expensive. If they charge me 5 times a year that's 100 euro, I could be better off switching to company that doesn't charge for it.

josip

wonski wrote: »

They could cut down the cost by not taking payment and not checking the dates by giving it until the end of the policy. They can also pre x the countries as it is the UK part that needs to be added.

I don't mind paying admin fee if I decide to travel to countries like China or Belarus, but since UK is listed in my cover then taking additional payment makes the original premium more expensive. If they charge me 5 times a year that's 100 euro, I could be better off switching to company that doesn't charge for it.

Fully agree that charging to issue it multiple times isn't on.
Can anyone who knows how the industry works explain why they want to know the specific dates that you'll be abroad?
There wouldn't be any additional cost to them beyond what's already underwritten in the Ts&Cs of your policy.


If your Insurance Provider charges you for each request, rather than each trip, then ask them for a Green Card for the trips you'll be making on Week 1 and Week 52 of your policy.

Isambard

wonski wrote: »

They could cut down the cost by not taking payment and not checking the dates by giving it until the end of the policy. They can also pre x the countries as it is the UK part that needs to be added.

I don't mind paying admin fee if I decide to travel to countries like China or Belarus, but since UK is listed in my cover then taking additional payment makes the original premium more expensive. If they charge me 5 times a year that's 100 euro, I could be better off switching to company that doesn't charge for it.

The UK is listed now, but there's always the possibility they will change that on a No Deal Brexit or indeed a Brexit with a deal that doesn't allow for this area. We just don't know what's going to happen.

Tabnabs

AIG have changed their tune and have now confirmed that they will issue Greens Cards, on request, but no mention of a fee.

Perfect, I have just logged a request for a green card to be issued to you. Please allow up to two weeks for this to be recieved.

wassie

Kennco were initially going to charge, then sent out a mass email with PDF greencards. But their instructions were that it need to be printed in A4 & colour, double sided. Thats a lot of green ink assuming you even have one.

And before anyone suggests using green paper, the PDF is actually a green backround so that trick wont work. I requested a hard copy and they obliged.

Also I was aware that they had sent hard copies to other policy holders direct - I assume perhaps to those in the borderlands.

josip wrote: »

But the paper won't magic its way out to everyone who needs it.
There is a labour cost involved in providing this niche service.
We would have had to send a mail, follow up with a phone call outlining dates, provide payment details over the phone and then someone on the other end had to X off the countries we didn't want and post out the form.
You can't ignore that and say, "but the piece of paper only costs..."

I think you over estimate the cost.

It would make far more sense to automatically generate, print & mail out a single A4 piece of paper to all policy holders in a single batch lowering the unit cost to do such. The cost would not remotely be anywhere near the revenue generated by charging [€20 x all policy holders].

wonski

Well you just need a colour printer obviously. No different than printing your certificate in colour.

josip

wassie wrote: »

...


I think you over estimate the cost.

It would make far more sense to automatically generate, print & mail out a single A4 piece of paper to all policy holders in a single batch lowering the unit cost to do such. The cost would not remotely be anywhere near the revenue generated by charging [€20 x all policy holders].

I think you overestimate how many green cards were required before Brexit.
There's a significant upfront cost to automating manual processes and the number of Irish cars requiring it wouldn't have made a business case for it. Even now it wouldn't make sense to pay to automate the process in case the UK exit in an orderly manner and it's not required.


I don't know why this is the case, but the form has to be green, so emailing to people to print out may not work for all.
I don't know if green ink/paper is acceptable, but if I'm crossing a border at the other side of Europe I'd rather have paid the €20 and have the peace of mind knowing the form will be accepted.

I understand that for the UK situation people may be happy to take the chance that they can talk their way past the policeman at the border if they don't have it.

Eggs For Dinner

wonski wrote: »

This is the bit from my policy about being insured in the UK:



If the green card is required then they must provide it for free since my premium does include driving within UK. And I would expect, or even demand it, to be free for the duration of the policy. Some companies need to have their heads examined because they have no clue what they signed when they took the payment.

I don't think you get the point of the green card. You have the cover to drive to the UK now and you will have the cover to drive in the UK after Brexit. However, after Brexit, the UK authorities will insist that you're able to PROVE you are insured in the INTERNATIONALLY ACCEPTED FORMAT to drive in their territory., which is a green card.

wassie

josip wrote: »

There's a significant upfront cost to automating manual processes and the number of Irish cars requiring it wouldn't have made a business case for it.

What is this manual process you refer to? Simply extract the required info from a database, populate a template, print it and mail it. Not rocket science.

My insurer clearly was able to batch email out green card PDFs to all policy holders so the next step is to batch print & mail.

You may well be fine to cough up another twenty quid to your insurer. Personally I'm not so keen given we have been paying over the top for car insurance in this country for years.

wonski

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

I don't think you get the point of the green card. You have the cover to drive to the UK now and you will have the cover to drive in the UK after Brexit. However, after Brexit, the UK authorities will insist that you're able to PROVE you are insured in the INTERNATIONALLY ACCEPTED FORMAT to drive in their territory., which is a green card.

I definitely do. If my insurer clearly offers me cover at that territory then he should provide me with green card if necessary. Not for 20 euro a pop, though.

If however I require a cover to drive to non EU country in Eastern Europe, then I accept they might charge me an admin fee as this is not a cover I was given at the start of the policy.

Hope you get my point.

It's like issuing a policy valid everywhere in the world but asking the Insured to pay extra premium whenever they want to go abroad