If you have a conviction behind you, whether driving or criminal, finding car insurance may become extremely difficult and in some cases, impossible. Therefore, with this in mind, we have come up with a guide to obtaining car insurance if you have been disqualified or convicted.
MyfirstUK offers competitive car insurance quotes for drivers previously disqualified due to such as:
- Failing to report or stop following an incident;
- Driving without insurance;
- Speeding;
- Un-spent non-motoring convictions;
- Drink driving;
- Driving while under the influence of drugs;
- Dangerous driving;
- Traffic light offences;
- Any criminal conviction.
Of course, the above are just a few of the most common reasons why drivers get their licence endorsed. You may even have issues obtaining insurance if your conviction wasn’t even related to driving and which had no bearing on driving. However, we can help you to obtain cover for any reason.
How convictions affect car insurance
Different convictions or bans affect car insurance differently, so here are some of the most common ones and how you can expect it to affect your driving insurance and premiums.
Insurance is affected differently depending on whether you were disqualified from driving or you were convicted.
You don’t have to tell the insurance provider about criminal convictions if they are what are called “spent”. This happens after a certain amount of time, such as the length of a prison sentence or a ban.
It is important to remember you should not hide the fact that you have had a conviction to try to get cheaper car insurance. By not declaring a conviction, it invalidates any policy you take out if found out.
Drink driving or driving under the influence of drugs
One of the most serious convictions is drinking and driving. If you are convicted for driving whilst under the influence of alcohol you can expect premiums to rise significantly, that’s if you can even get insurance.
Insurance providers see drink driving as a serious offence due to the possibility of damage to your vehicle and others, along with injuries to yourself and others, or even death. This means you can expect your premium to double or insurance providers will decline to offer you insurance altogether.
When applying for insurance it can be tempting not to declare a drink driving or drugs conviction. However, you do have to do so for five years. This will depend on the particular insurance company.
However, if the drink driving conviction or drug driving conviction resulted in death by dangerous driving you can expect the conviction to remain on your driving license for as long as 11 years.
Driving ban
If you received a disqualification from driving as you received 12 or more points on your driving licence due to speeding or another reason, you can expect insurance costs to rise dramatically.
Penalty points
Even if you don’t get banned but have points on your licence, you can struggle to get competitive car insurance quotes. The amount of points and how much you can expect your insurance to rise is going to depend on the offence and its seriousness. The more points, the more insurance is going to cost.
Common questions answered
Now let us answer some of the most commonly asked questions concerning car insurance if you have a conviction.
Q. Do I need to inform my insurance provider if disqualified?
A. Yes, you do have to tell your insurance provider and you need to tell them as soon as possible. If disqualified you no longer hold a driving license you will be in breach of the contract you signed with the provider. Remember, if you continue driving your car without a license you are driving illegally.
Q. Why is it difficult to obtain car insurance for previously disqualified drivers?
A. You may struggle to find a car insurance provider who will offer you insurance if previously disqualified and be wondering why. Well, the easiest answer is that they do not want to take a risk on you.
Disqualifications and/or convictions only occur if you have done something wrong, such as speeding. The provider will see this in poor light and see you as a big risk. Even if they are willing to offer insurance, the premiums could be astronomical.
Not to worry as MyfirstUK specialises in finding cover for drivers who have had convictions, for the most comprehensive quote possible.
Q. Is there a special type of insurance for disqualified drivers?
A. There is no specific type of car insurance aimed specifically at drivers with convictions. You can apply for third-party only, third party fire and theft or fully comprehensive.
Generally, the cheapest insurance is third party only. However, this only provides protection for the third party. Third-party fire and theft offers protection for the third party along with fire and theft for your own vehicle. As the name suggests fully comprehensive offers the most protection for other drivers and your own vehicle.
Q. Do I need insurance if I am temporarily banned?
A. If you are banned temporarily and not using your vehicle, you might wonder if you need insurance, after all, you will not be driving.
However, if it is parked on the road you will still need to tax and insure it, if only for third-party insurance. The only exception to this is if you apply for statutory off-road notice. SORN allows you to declare that your vehicle is off the road and it costs nothing to do this.
You can only apply for this if your vehicle is going to remain off-road in a garage, on a driveway way or on private land. Of course, if you do have a statutory off-road notice, while you don’t have to pay for insurance, the vehicle is not protected in the event it is stolen or set on fire.
Ways to keep down your insurance premiums
Even if you are given a quote for insurance following disqualification, you can expect that quote to be higher than for someone without a conviction. Of course, to drive legally on the roads you do need insurance. Even if you are not going to be driving your vehicle for a while, insurance and tax is still needed by way of third-party if leaving the vehicle on the road.
Disqualifications or convictions do lead to problems and typically, additional expense for cover, but there are some things you can do to help bring down the quote.
Give some thought to the car you buy
If you are purchasing a new or used vehicle to get back on the road again following a ban, you should give some thought to the type of vehicle.
Vehicles are put into insurance groups. The smaller the engine of the car, the lower the insurance group and the cheaper the insurance quote.
With the above in mind, some of the cheapest vehicles to insure include the Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Polo and Hyundai i10. On the other end of the scale, some of the most expensive ones include Ferrari, Mercedes and Porsche. You will find it almost impossible to obtain affordable car insurance for any of the powerful vehicles if you have had a conviction. Even someone without bans or convictions can expect the insurance costs to be high for vehicles in the top insurance brackets.
Offer to pay a higher excess
All car insurance comes with excess. This is the amount of money that you are willing to pay towards the total cost of any claim that you make.
For instance, if you offer to pay £500 in excess and you make a claim to repair your vehicle which costs £1, 500, you pay the £500 and the insurance company pays £1,000.
The more excess you are willing to pay the cheaper the cost of the premium. However, you do have to bear in mind that you have to find the excess out of your own pocket in the event you make a claim.
Rehabilitation courses
There are special courses you can take if you are a convicted driver to help reduce the cost of premiums.
These courses include such as drink driving rehabilitation or speed awareness. While you have to pay to take such courses, the amount saved in the long term will outweigh the cost of the course.
In some cases, if you have been accused of a driving offence the local police might provide you with the chance to improve awareness of driving through the NDORS, National Driving Offender Retraining Scheme. The police, and many insurance providers, see someone who has taken the course and passed as being rehabilitated. This means you don’t get penalty points.
If this is an option open to you there is no need for you to tell the insurance provider about attending the course and nor will the information be disclosed to anyone by NDORS.
Install a dash cam
You can install a dash cam in the vehicle and leave it running whilst driving. Dash cams will capture footage of any incident that might occur when out on the road.
For instance, if you are involved in a collision that was caused by someone else, the dash cam will record exactly what occurred, which you can show the police and/or your insurance provider.
Do not re-offend
It goes without saying, but we are going to mention it anyway, do not re-offend. Depending on the conviction, it could lead to you actually receiving a prison sentence and having your policy cancelled and it will make it even more difficult to get car insurance in the future.
The fewer miles you drive the cheaper the insurance
The fewer miles you drive in your vehicle the lower the risk of being involved in an accident. With the risk lowered, the cost of insurance generally lowers. Therefore, you might want to give some thought to mention this when applying for cover.
Black box and car security
Installing telematics in your vehicle, aka a black box, can help to reduce your car insurance premiums. The black box records your driving abilities, such as speed, which helps to determine how big a risk you are, which in turn helps to calculate how much your insurance costs.
Installing additional security in the car and taking care of your vehicle will also go towards reducing the cost of car insurance.
Security you can install in the vehicle includes a car alarm, an immobiliser, steering wheel lock and parking the vehicle in a garage or a car-port away from the road.
Younger disqualified drivers
If you happen to be a younger driver, generally classed as such under the age of 21, and you have a conviction, obtaining car insurance may become almost impossible or unaffordable.
Younger drivers generally have to pay more for insurance than older drivers do to start with. This is due to them having less experience on the road and being seen as taking more risks than older and more experienced drivers take. Add in a conviction and the premiums may become extortionate.
Again, MyfirstUK, specialise in obtaining competitive quotes for younger drivers, with or without disqualifications or convictions.
Reasons to choose MyfirstUK for a quote
Here at MyfirstUK, we understand how difficult it can be to get approval from an insurance provider for car insurance. We also know that even if a provider is willing to take you on, the quote may be way outside of your financial budget.
We can help you to find the cheapest quote possible based on your circumstances regardless of your driving conviction. We also provide you with a huge list of driving conviction codes that you can check for peace of mind before asking for a quote.
There are many ways you can contact us. You can give us a call on 0333 305 5116 and speak to one of our advisors. Alternatively, you can click on the live chat option at the bottom of our webpage to live chat with us. Finally, you can use the Contact Us page to leave your details via our form and one of our specialists will get back to you to talk about your car insurance details.
