Student Car Insurance in Ireland: the Student and Young Driver Offer
If you are a student insuring a car in your own name, GMIB.ie runs a student and young driver off...
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What sets the price for a first time driver
Licence type. Citizens Information says that whether you drive on a full licence or a learner permit makes a huge difference to the premium, and that a learner permit can add hundreds of euro. Tell your insurer as soon as you pass.
Experience under someone else’s policy. Citizens Information explains that every insurance company will ask whether you have ever held insurance in your own name and, if not, whether you have driven under someone else’s insurance without incident, and that this is taken into account. Years as a named driver on a parent’s policy count; ask their insurer to confirm them. Citizens Information also notes that some companies offer discounts to young people insuring in their own name if they have been a named driver.
Fronting. Declaring a parent as the main driver of a car you mainly drive is fronting. It is illegal and can result in the policy being cancelled or a fraud conviction.
The car. Citizens Information lists the car’s value, age and engine size among the pricing factors: a newer or more valuable car costs more to replace, and a more powerful one is treated as more likely to be in an accident. Thinking of a Japanese import as a first car? Our car insurance for Japanese imports page covers what the quote asks about an import.
The excess and the cover level. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), the State’s consumer watchdog, notes that a higher excess usually means a lower premium, and Citizens Information that third party is in most cases the lowest-priced cover, with comprehensive the most expensive. Match the cover to what the car is worth and the excess to what you could pay.
Telematics. A telematics policy fits a box in the car so that how you drive is recorded. See telematics car insurance for how it is priced.
Learner permit rules that affect your cover
On a learner permit, the rules are: you must always have someone with you who has held a full licence for at least two years, display L-plates front and rear, and stay off motorways. In most cases you cannot sit the driving test until you have held your first learner permit for six months, and a first learner permit means 12 lessons of Essential Driver Training with an approved instructor. Gardaí can detain the car if you are stopped unaccompanied. A lower drink-driving limit and a lower penalty points limit of seven apply to learners and for the first two years of a full licence, when you display N-plates.
Every policy needs the driver number from your licence or learner permit, found in section 4(d), for you and any named driver. Under the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019 you answer the insurer’s questions honestly and with reasonable care; declare named-driver years you can document.
Licence from outside Ireland? See foreign licence driver insurance. No history at all? See car insurance with no driving history. To talk it through, call 0818 92 92 42, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm.
Sources: Citizens Information – motor insurance; Citizens Information – learner permit rules; Citizens Information – driving licences; CCPC – car insurance; Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019. Last reviewed September 2026.
