Avoid convictions to cut insurance costs

Research from MoneySuperMarket confirms that motoring convictions can bump up the cost of car insurance - giving drivers even more incentive to stay within the laws of the road.

We drilled through almost 12 million car insurance quotes run on our site over a 12-month period and found around 10% of searches were carried out by drivers with a prior driving conviction. This is lower than last year's 12% but, if we extrapolate to the nation's 30 million drivers, it still suggests up to three million Brits are paying the price for a past transgression.
So what's the potential impact of having a conviction on the cost of premiums? A driver with 4 to 6 points on their licence could see a hefty 25% hike to the cost of annual car insurance, an increase of almost a £100 on the average premium of £400.

Motorists with 10 or 11 points can expect to have a massive 82% increase or an average of almost £350 added to what they would pay if they were points-free.

Not so fast...

Our data shows that speeding and speed-related offences are the most common driving conviction, representing two thirds of all recorded offences, followed by 'careless, reckless and unfit driving/crashes' accounting for 13.3%, with drink or drug-related motoring convictions contributing 4.2%.

But let's just pause and savour the good news. In the third quarter of 2012, the total rate of convictions was 28.5 per thousand drivers. This year the number is down to 25.9 per thousand. The biggest decrease was in the number of speeding and speed-related convictions, down from 19.39 per thousand in 2012 to 17.11 per thousand this year.

If you do have a conviction, it makes even more sense to shop around to find the best value cover. The risk appetite between insurers varies greatly, so it could make a real difference to compare prices to see which offers the best value cover for your profile.

How do convictions work?

If you are convicted of a motoring offence you will get penalty points on your licence on a scale from 1 to 11. You get more points for more serious offences.

My colleague Les Roberts wrote a blog showing the full range of motoring offences and the associated codes that can be put on your driving licence. It also shows how many penalty points you can get. Offence codes and penalty points will stay on your driving licence for 4 or 11 years, depending on the offence.

The most serious offences may also involve a disqualification. You can also be disqualified under the 'totting up' rules if you amass 12 or more points in a three-year period.

New drivers

The rules are different for new drivers. Your licence will be revoked if you get 6 or more points within 2 years of passing your test. Any penalty points on your provisional licence that haven't expired will be carried over to your full licence when you pass your test, so you don't start will a clean sheet.

If your licence is revoked within 2 years you'll have to apply and pay for a new provisional licence and pass both theory and practical parts of the driving or riding test again to get a full licence.

Spent convictions

To remove expired endorsements from your driving licence, you'll need to apply by post to exchange your licence for a new one.