What's the news?
Volkswagen is offering free insurance to buyers of its up! and Polo models this July. Buy a new Volkswagen up! or Polo and finance it through the Volkswagen Bank (using hire purchase or PCP schemes) and, subject to underwriting conditions, you'll get a year's free insurance for the car, underwritten by Zurich Insurance.
The terms and conditions don't seem too onerous either:
- Minimum age 21
- Private individuals only
- All drivers must hold a current, full Irish driving licence
- Drivers must have three or more years No Claims Bonus
- Maximum of one additional named driver permitted - all drivers subject to the same qualifying criteria
- Drivers must not have any more than four penalty points
- Drivers must not have made any more than one claim of greater than €5,000 in the last five years
Some of the benefits of the insurance policy include:
- 24-hour emergency helpline and claims line
- Courtesy car (up to a maximum seven-day period and up to a Class B category vehicle [1.2 petrol engine]. If the vehicle has been damaged beyond economical repair or has been stolen and not yet recovered, provided such a damage is recoverable under the policy, courtesy car up to a maximum of 10 days.)
- New for old replacement car (if the car is written off or stolen and not recovered within a year of registration, Volkswagen will give you a brand new one - with conditions)
- Should you be involved in an accident, you are entitled to €10,000 in accident benefits and €30,000 in the event of death
- You are covered to drive your car anywhere in the EU for up to 30 days.
Anything else?
Although Volkswagen has framed the free insurance offer as being for a limited period on just two models in its range, it's believed to be considering expanding the scheme permanently across more models if it proves successful.