Sinn Féin Finance Spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD has said that insurance companies must guarantee that customer policies will be respected and will remain effective for drivers who have been issued failure certificates by the NCT as a result of the ongoing lift debacle

Speaking today, the Donegal TD said:

“A number of concerned drivers have contacted my offices over the past number of days to explain the ridiculous situation that they are faced with, where their vehicles have failed the NCT because of the unavailability of the lifts needed to test the vehicles and their insurance companies are now refusing to stand-over their policies in the absence of a valid NCT certificate.

“I have written to Insurance Ireland calling on them to immediately ensure that insurance companies guarantee a grace period will be given to drivers who find themselves without a valid NCT certificate as a result of the unavailability of the lift system during their tests.

“The unavailability of lifts is in no way the fault of the driver and the insurance companies must understand this and be pragmatic in how they deal with it.

“Furthermore, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Road Safety Authority and Applus Auto must liaise with the insurance industry to ensure that there is a joint approach to the issue which causes the least amount of hassle for drivers.

“I have also written to the relevant Department officials today requesting a meeting to discuss this issue and to make sure that they are taking appropriate measures to protect consumers caught up in this chaos.

“Drivers need to know that they are validly insured at this time and must not be penalised for the mess created by those who manage the NCT centres or those insurance companies who see an opportunity to take advantage.”