Money Guide Ireland

In Ireland the major providers of car breakdown cover are the AA , Hibernian and Axa. RAC pulled out recently and their service is now provided by Hibernian.
With the AA – the person is covered – not the vehicle – so even if you are a passenger in another car that breaks down – the AA will come out.
The basic cover from AA is 126 Euro. This covers a roadside fix Or recovery to nearest approved garage. If you want cover for breakdowns at your home add another 42 Euro. The AA Rescue Plus cover is another 62 on top of the basic – for this you get things like recovery to anywhere in Ireland OR overnight accommodation OR a replacement car.

Hibernian quotes are based on the age and make of car and your location. For a 2002 Opel in Roscommon the cost would be 118.83 Euro for basic and 166.36 for extras like Homestart, recovery to destination or anywhere in Ireland.

Axa has 4 levels of cover from 49 Euro – Local Recovery and travel only 79 Euro for National cover , 89 Euro for National + Homestart. Top of the range is 99 Euro for Europe wide cover + Homestart.

The question is why bother with any of these if your car insurance includes breakdown cover? For example Quinn Direct includes Homestart and Roadside assistance in all comprehensive policies. The majority of insurance policy breakdown will be the “basic” type – ie. recovery to nearest garage only.

Bank of Ireland today unveiled a new ’2 in 1′ credit card that will give customers the option of transferring purchases to a payment plan that allows them pay for larger purchases over 12 months at a discounted rate of 6.9pc APR. This rate is as good as the best personal loan rates available – and may be a viable atlernative to taking out a loan.

It enables customers to use their credit card to make purchases worldwide and phase the cost of larger purchases over twelve months at a market-leading rate.

The minimum purchase is €500 and the total amount that can be transferred to the payment plan at any one time is limited to 80% of the total credit limit for that account.

Customers can transfer purchases to the payment plan within two months of it appearing on their statement and must repay the loan within twelve months.

Customers may also repay their payment plan early without incurring any additional fees or charges.

The purchase plan is available for new customers and on request for existing Standard, Gold and Platinum Bank of Ireland credit card customers who can add the facility to their existing account

The banks says that new customers can also avail of a 0pc APR introductory rate for purchases for the first six months.