The increase in insurance premiums has burned a hole in motorists’ pockets.
Running a family car in Ireland costs just under €11,000 a year, according to the AA’s annual survey of motoring costs.
The survey revealed the annual cost of running a family car in Ireland in 2016 to be €10,849.92, a big increase of €255.82 on the 2015 figure.
The AA say that the rising cost of insurance premiums is to blame for the significant increase in costs from last year, with the typical motorist hit with a 38.6 per cent rise in the cost of their insurance premium in 2016.
The rise in the cost of insurance counteracts the drop in fuel prices this year; the average cost of a litre of petrol (127.5 cent) in August 2016 was just over 11% less than it was at the same time last year.
Other motoring costs – oil, tyres, servicing, repairs, replacements and garage parking – were subject to only slight adjustments in 2016.
Commenting on the figures, AA Director of Consumer Affairs Conor Faughnan said: “In a better year we could be talking about the fall in fuel prices.”
“Drivers won’t notice though because of the enormous surge in insurance costs. The insurance crisis is particularly frustrating because much of it is unnecessary.
“While it is true that motor insurance was losing money a few years ago and the price had to rise a bit, there are thing that Government and the industry could do right now that would pull prices downwards.”
The full details of AA’s Cost of Motoring analysis for 2016 are available here.
