Moving Home - Advise me.....

Right, I'll be moving home to Ireland in September, with the missus and toddler daughter, after nearly 7 years in Japan.

I don't need any comments about moving home just as a recession starts, I know rents are sky high, I know it will be tough to find a job and all that, but my hand has been forced at this end.


I'm looking for advice about various things, pretty much all money-related.

Car - we plan to import our Nissan Serena (automatic) as from what I've seen on the net, it is cheaper to do so than to buy the same car there (or a car of similar age. size, quality). Is this a good idea? (As owners of the car for more than 6 months, we are exempt from VRT, but will have to pay VAT, as far as I know)

If it is a good idea (or even if it is not), does anybody have any car insurance companies they'd recommend. We are using American Home Direct over here, but they don't seem to be in Ireland.

I have the same question for life insurance and home insurance - any good companies / deals out there? Any companies to stay away from?

Renting - we plan to rent, at leat for the time-being. I've looked at sites like Daft.ie, and seen some of their places. Is what I see on Daft.ie a pretty accurate representation of the rental market at the moment?

Any other info you think is worth posting here - please feel free. I'm trying to make the transition as smoothly and cheaply as possible, and would appreciate any help I can get.

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Originally Posted by osarusan

Car - we plan to import our Nissan Serena (automatic) as from what I've seen on the net, it is cheaper to do so than to buy the same car there (or a car of similar age. size, quality). Is this a good idea? (As owners of the car for more than 6 months, we are exempt from VRT, but will have to pay VAT, as far as I know)

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I doubt you will have to pay VAT. I didnt have to pay anything when I brought my car home from UK, but you will have to show plenty of evidence to the Inland Revenue to prove you have been living abroad (bills, bank statements, employment contracts or such like).
For some reason you have to physically bring the car to their offices as well so they can look at it!
I would say definitely a good idea to bring your own car rather than pay stupid money for something here thats had to endure our crappy roads.

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Originally Posted by osarusan

If it is a good idea (or even if it is not), does anybody have any car insurance companies they'd recommend. We are using American Home Direct over here, but they don't seem to be in Ireland.

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I'd suggest you try the AA (broker), I'm insured by AIG through the AA, they were much cheaper than most and included all the extras I wanted and then some. Also Allianz could be worth a try.

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Originally Posted by osarusan

Renting - we plan to rent, at leat for the time-being. I've looked at sites like Daft.ie, and seen some of their places. Is what I see on Daft.ie a pretty accurate representation of the rental market at the moment?
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Daft is very accurate. Where in Ireland are you hoping to move to? Limerick? Dublin? Every town seems to have at least one freebie newspaper which will have an online version where you can view current rentals. That said, www.daft.ie is spot on. Why not place an ad in a local paper in the Accom Wanted section? "Young family with car seek 2/3 bedroom home at least 3km from city centre. Long lease required. Blah blah blah ...".

That may excite potential landlords

On car insurance, my little brother recently got a good deal off Ryanair (seriously, they sell car insurance now) after shopping around. He was with Quinn Direct previously.

www.myhome.ie

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Originally Posted by KevB76

I'd suggest you try the AA (broker), I'm insured by AIG through the AA, they were much cheaper than most and included all the extras I wanted and then some. Also Allianz could be worth a try.

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Steer well clear of brokers or any kind of intermediary, they're not getting you a better deal than you'd get if you went direct, try any of the big 4 (AXA, Hibernian, Allianz & Zurich) and you'll get a good deal....Quinn might be cheaper but their product is inferior. AIG are an awful company to deal with.

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Originally Posted by John83

On car insurance, my little brother recently got a good deal off Ryanair (seriously, they sell car insurance now) after shopping around. He was with Quinn Direct previously.

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FBD underwite those policies so they will be quite good am surprised that they can compete on price with Quinn though....they're normally on the more expensive side of things

For car & home insurance the only advise is to shop around. No one can say one company is better than the other. IMO it is luck of the draw, if you are lucky they won't have filled their quota of Limerick fans for that month so will offer good deal. You may get discount for adding car & home together though.

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Originally Posted by Paddyfield

Why not place an ad in a local paper in the Accom Wanted section? "Young family with car seek 2/3 bedroom home at least 3km from city centre. Long lease required. Blah blah blah ...".

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You coming to Waterford Osarusan?

123.ie is a pretty good site for insurance quotes. I got an excellent deal on a life insurance policy from them. Hibernian seem to have pretty decent motor insurance deals at the moment, and they do health insurance and probably home insurance too. I think the likes of Quinn and Hibernian do special deals if you're willing to lump motor, home and health insurance into one package. Definitely best to shop around.

Rent was fairly stable for a good few years, it got a bit of an upward squeeze recently as the buy to rent crowd started getting panicky with interest rates increases and a bit of a squeeze on pocket money. It's not a bad time to be a buyer if you intend living in the place medium to long term, prices have dropped and there are definitely good deals out there at the moment.

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Originally Posted by Wangball

Steer well clear of brokers or any kind of intermediary, they're not getting you a better deal than you'd get if you went direct, try any of the big 4 (AXA, Hibernian, Allianz & Zurich) and you'll get a good deal....Quinn might be cheaper but their product is inferior.

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Not neccessarily so, I had quotes from all the usual suspect, the AA were still cheapest and had most to offer (e.g. proper no claims protection (not step-back), other car cover, windscreen cover, low excess, legal cover and so on...).

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Originally Posted by Wangball

AIG are an awful company to deal with.

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I only ever had to claim for a windscreen, could not have been easier, completely hassle free and prompt. I dealt with the broker AA, not directly with AIG.

I'd agree with Wangball, going through a broker slows your claim down as you are just adding an extra link to what could be a direct chain. Brokers often just give their interpretation of what you are covered for as well, and sometimes get it wrong, which hits you in the pocket, that doesn't happen when dealing directly with a company. Better off just dealing with one of the companies direct in my opinion