Policy suspension, or putting your car policy on hold, allows you to reduce your policy cover for a period of time while your car is not in use, for example if you leave the country on a long stay holiday. The cover provided is reduced to “Laid Up, Fire & Theft” for the duration of the suspension period.
Laid Up Fire & Theft cover provides cover to the insured car in the event of loss or damage as a result of Fire, Theft or Attempted theft only. The car must be ‘laid up’ meaning not kept on any road where the Road Traffic Act applies, for example in a private garage.
The following conditions must be met in order to suspend your car insurance:
- The insured car must not be kept on a Public Road.
- The cert & disc must be destroyed
- Instruction to suspend the policy can be verbal or written. If written it must include the date from which the suspension should commence (the date cannot be in the past).
- The car must still be in your possession i.e. it cannot be sold or scrapped
- If paying by direct debit you must continue to pay instalments as normal during suspension.
- The minimum time you can suspend your policy for is 28 days.
- Note: No refund is due if there is a claim prior to or during the period of suspension or anytime during that year of insurance, this includes windscreen claims.
Upon reinstating the policy, you will be refunded 75% of the premium for the days the policy was suspended. If you have an active direct debit, the refund will reduce the remaining direct debit payments. Otherwise the refund will be issued back to the last card used, by cheque or by bank transfer.
If your policy falls due for renewal and the policy is suspended, you will have two options:
1. Not renew your motor policy, so there will be no cover at all on the insured car from the renewal date. We will issue any refund due for the time the policy was suspended. You will need to contact our customer care team to arrange the refund.
2. Renew the policy and the request to suspend it again. Please call our customer care team immediately after you renew to request for this to be processed, as it will not automatically re-suspend from the renewal date.
Customer Care:
Call us on 01 524 6029
Email us at motor@123.ie
*Please note that suspension is not available on our 123GO policies