Young drivers should be able to avail of car insurance on a pay as you method according to Sean Naughton.
A Sinn Féin candidate in the Killaloe Municipal District for May’s local elections, Sean maintained there is little assistance available to assist young people in securing affordable car insurance. “Where I live in O’Briensbridge and in many other parts of East Clare, in Kilkishen, Tulla, Broadford, Bridgetown, and Scarriff when jobs become available, young people often have no option but to drive because there is no other way of getting to work. Like myself, they depend on family and friends to help with transport to work. Which can be nearly impossible for families with only one car.”
He told The Clare Echo, “When young people living in rural areas try to insure a car, they find themselves being quoted astronomical prices. It would not be unheard for a young person to be quoted €4,000 to get on their mother’s car insurance as a named driver. It is not an option for a young person to take out their own car insurance because of the higher costs involved. When a young person living in a rural East Clare community finds a job. This work can usually be low paid or casual and will involve some means of transport and travel. With no effective public transport service young workers have little option but to drive on a low income.”
Sean declared young people were “imprisoned by impossible car insurance premium prices. Insurance companies are simply closing down opportunities for young people to get insured and get on with their lives. So something radical must be done to ensure that people can get insurance so they can drive cars in rural Clare.”
Naughton concluded, “The promotion of pay-as-you-go car insurance cover should be widely available to young people. Pay-as-you-go car insurance could be a fixed insurance fee of €150, plus a deposit of €50 for fire, theft and black box monitoring technology. Allowing for a notification of the distance of traveled to be received and a related cost. Of course if no action is taken on car insurance this will all feed into the migration and emigration cycle and the consequences for rural young people and rural decline.”
