Carole Nash pledges to back Irish bikers as Hibernian pulls out of Ireland

Motorcycle insurance specialist Carole Nash has pledged to back Irish bikers after Hibernian Insurance announced it is to stop offering cover to motorcyclists in Ireland from 1 July.
 
Hibernian cited “lack of progress on change to the regulations governing bike riding and training and poor enforcement of pillion passenger legislation” among the reasons for its withdrawal. Other factors quoted were poor trading conditions and increased expenses following the impact of 1998 EU legislation which made insurers liable for injuries to pillion passengers.
 
"We have every sympathy with Hibernian regarding the standard of bike training required in Ireland,  the high number of riders who ride on a provisional licence and the general lightness of regulatory and enforcement regimes,” commented Carole Nash’s managing director, Damian Keeling. “However we differ in our approach. We believe it is better to encourage bikers to voluntarily undergo training, and incentivising them to do so through discounted premiums, whilst also lobbying the Irish authorities to introduce statutory training and testing akin to the UK Compulsory Basic Test. We are heartened to see the establishment of the Driver Testing and Standards Authority which we hope will act swiftly and decisively in introducing tougher mandatory test standards."
 
"We are concerned that reducing insurance options could result in a higher proportion of uninsured riders and kill off motorcycling in Ireland at a time when car-fuelled congestion is reaching epidemic proportions.”
 
He added: “What we don’t want to see is Irish riders giving up on biking and we are already looking at how we might positively encourage Hibernian policyholders to move to Carole Nash when their renewal becomes due.”
 
Carole Nash is one of the biggest motorcycle insurance brokers in Ireland and now provides cover for nearly 20,000 Irish bikers. It is also the UK’s largest motorcycle insurance broker with over 230,000 motorcycling policyholders.
 
To encourage Irish riders to secure training Carole Nash offers premium discounts of up to 10% to bikers who complete any of a range of accredited motorcycle training courses.