Cheapest car insurance Northern Ireland

As promised we are providing a concise review of the car insurance market in Northern Ireland.

We want to find out who are the main players in this sector, are their any smaller niche players who excel in winning profitable business, how do motor premiums stack up against the rest of UK, and are the big insurance comparison websites hoovering up a lot of business?

Well, a quick search in Google for ‘Northern Ireland car insurance’ shows AXA Direct dominating Google Places results! In fact all three listings are for this company and their respective offices in Belfast, Londonderry and Ballymena.

Another really strong clue to see which companies are chasing market share in this market is to look at the sponsored links at the top and right of the 1st Google result page. Who is paying top dollar for page 1 visibility? Let’s have a look:

1. AXA Northern Ireland
2. Compare The Market
3. Sainsburys Bank

Three big boys taking the top three spots for sponsored lisitngs when we looked! Take a further look however and we can see a couple of distinctive NI car insurers.

Hughes Insurance
‘FBI’ (Finding Better Insurance), ok slightly naff but communicating the right message of not just cheap, cheap quotes but motor policies with great levels of cover aswell. Features of note:

• up to 70% no-claims discount
• courtesy car
• uninsured driver promise

CIP Insurance Brokers
With offices in Crumlin, Belfast and Ballyclare CIP are in pole position to deliver competitive rates arranged with insurance underwriters. Policy features of note:

• 24 hour Breakdown and Emergency Cover
• Flexible Finance Options
• Up to 36 months Gap Insurance

CompareNI
Good visibility for CompareNI. A terrific place to obtain a car insurance comparison quote for your next Northern Ireland motor policy. If you are fed up with quotes delivering insurers from the mainland then this company could be a good bet. They know how frustrating that can be, so CompareNI.com lets you compare deals that apply to NI residents.

Allianz Northern Ireland
Well, this month (May, 2012) you could win an iPod! not our idea of a particularly compelling offer but nonetheless their will be some tempted to input some information and see if it’s their lucky day! A poor website, where the only incentive for submitting a quote request is the £35 online discount. Not great in our opinion.

In summary the market seems to be fairly well balanced between big brand names like Sainsburys and The Co-operative; Comparison websites such as CompareTheMarket and CompareNI, and smaller players such as Hughes and CIP.

It is nearly always good practice to shop around to obtain the best value for money quote. Don’t always look for the cheapest policy. Try and match your level of cover needs, policy features and benefits with a great deal.

Happy hunting!