Figures show a slight drop in car costs

The average cost of running a family car for a year is €10,593.26 according to the AA’s annual survey of motoring costs. The total is a decrease of €98.11 on the same figure for last year, according to the AA’s calculations.

According to the CSO’s Consumer Price Index, the average cost of motor insurance has dropped by 6.7% compared between June 2018 and June 2019.

This is not even across the market, however, and the motoring organisation says that the small reduction has only benefitted the mainstream market of motorists with conventional risk profiles.

Groups like returning immigrants, young drivers and those with penalty points or a claims history, still pay inordinately high prices in the ongoing insurance costs crisis.

In better news, according to the AA’s monthly fuel prices survey, the average cost of a litre of fuel has dropped by 2.5% in the last 12 months. However, the AA highlighted that the most recent drop in fuel prices came after a period of significant increases at the pump earlier in 2019.

The average price of petrol at 143.9 cent per litre as of June 2019 is down approximately 3.7c per litre on the price 12 months ago. For a typical motorist in a Band B car this means they will pay €1,665 for their year’s fuel, down from €1,707. Of this figure, over 60% is made up of various taxes.

“For the second successive year, the CSO findings in relation to insurance show a significant year-on-year drop,” explained Conor Faughnan, AA Director of Consumer Affairs.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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