Michael McAleer answers your queries
From Brian McPhillips:
I was wondering is there an insurance company that specialises in providing cover for persons over 60 years of age? I'm writing on behalf of my father who is 63 and driving for 40 years. I'm driving for 10 years and can get a more competative quote than him.
Insurance firms seem to have segmented the market in such a way that, while several firms quote for motor insurance, often there are only one or two for any particular age group.
In your case, it's pretty common to find premiums rise as you approach your mid-50s. Insurance firms claim the differences are based on records of claims.
One firm which specialises in quotes for motorists in their 50s is Caoga. Based in Co Meath, the brokers JF Dunne run the scheme from AIG Europe, aimed at motorists between 50 and 69 years of age. It accepts new business from motorists in this age bracket - and it covers those over 69 if it's not new business.
Under the scheme, the excess - or payment due on damage after which the insurance cover will apply - is €100. Caoga can be contacted at 1800 730 930. Hope this helps.
From Peter McGurk:
For all the constant criticism of the National Roads Authority and the impending toll systems that are going to be introduced in the coming months/years, it's worth saying that as a motorist for the past 20 years, the road system in Ireland has come on in leaps and bounds.
However, I have one question for the NRA. How does it expect to get trucks to use the Port Tunnel when it can't even get them to pay to use the Drogheda by-pass?
First off, the trucks are going to get to use the Port Tunnel for free, as opposed to the situation at Drogheda where they are charged.
Also, according to Brian Cullinane of the National Roads Authority (NRA), figures regrading truck use on the Drogheda bypass are ahead of expectations. "The figures are in excess of initial expectations and, while there was an orchestrated campaign by road hauliers to boycott the bypass, apart from two days at the centre of the campaign HGV figures show trucks are reverting to the bypass."
Cullinane also says that, to get HGVs to use the Port Tunnel, Dublin City Council will be introducing a new traffic management plan for the city to coincide with the opening of the tunnel. This could take the form of restrictions on trucks over a certain weight using particular inner city roads.
From Tom Winston:
Holidaying in Ireland this summer we noticed the difference in fuel prices from one county to the next. We covered the length of the country - which is the topic for a very different letter to a family counsellor - but I could not believe the differences in price, varying from 78 cents in Tralee, Co Kerry, to just under 91 cents in west Donegal for the same unleaded fuel. When you are putting up the sort of mileage we were, it all adds up to more of the rip-off Ireland mentality.
We can't over-emphasise the importance of shopping around for fuel. Even in Dublin prices can vary by 10 cents for unleaded in various parts of the city.
Our very unscientific research would show that the ordinary motorist should take his or her cue from taxi drivers, for whom variations in price impact on profits. We have frequently heard from the drivers about the cheapest stations in Dublin.
Often the reason for price variation is different strategies by station owners. Some choose low profit margin but high volume, while others take the opposite approach.
However, by choosing the high margin strategy it's hard to justify it to the average motorist, for whom the quality of service or forecourt is hardly improved. Nor, for many, is it an issue.
Send your queries to
Motors Help Desk, The Irish Times, Fleet Street, Dublin 2 - or e-mail them to motorshelp@irish-times.ie