If you’ve been convicted of a criminal offence, buying insurance can be tricky. We look at ex-criminals’ options.
New rules came into effect this month which affect when a criminal conviction is classed as “spent”. The changes will make it easier for ex-criminals to get various types of insurance, including car and home cover.
A criminal conviction can be anything from a prison sentence for murder to a speeding conviction or a fine for littering. Insurers take a dim view of criminals for a number of reasons, mostly to do with the amount of risk they present.
Spent or unspent?
From April 2013 you no longer have to declare any unspent criminal convictions when applying for insurance. Instead the onus is on the insurance company to ask if you have any unspent convictions. The bad news is they are almost certainly going to ask the question.
Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, convictions become “spent” a certain time after the date of conviction. After that they’re not allowed to count against you. In general, the more serious the crime, the longer the time period until the conviction is spent. Some crimes are so serious that convictions will never be spent.
[SPOTLIGHT]Some insurers, or price comparison sites, won’t ask about convictions but instead will make a number of “assumptions” when you apply for a policy. These will be listed and will normally include an assumption that you haven’t got a criminal record.
Changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act
This month has seen changes to the length of time after which a conviction is spent, with some time periods reduced. The idea is that this will reduce the number of offenders re-offending and help them turn their backs on crime.
The changes vary depending on the sentence received, but as an example someone who served between six and 30 months in prison would previously have had to wait 10 years for their conviction to be spent, which has now been reduced to four years.
If you’ve been convicted of a criminal offence you can check on Unlock’s disclosure calculator when it will become spent.
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Can you get insurance if you have unspent convictions?
If you have unspent convictions you will find that some mainstream insurers will turn you down flat, while others will hike the price for home or car cover. Some insurers will cover you but impose special conditions.
However, if you shop around you should be able to find cover in most cases. Unlock is a charity that helps people with convictions move on from a life of crime. Its website has a list of insurance brokers that specialise in helping people with convictions get insurance.
It also has a list of motor insurers that might cover people with convictions. The list includes insurers that only ask about motoring convictions, rather than other crimes. Some insurers also ask about convictions for fraud.
It’s important to disclose convictions when asked. If you don’t, your insurance could be invalid and if you’ve made a claim the insurance company could ask for the money back.
Motoring convictions
As you might imagine, car insurers take a dim view of motoring convictions.
Some insurers will turn you down flat if you have certain unspent convictions. Privilege, for example, says it won’t insure new customers with the following driving convictions: driving while banned, stealing a car, dangerous driving, drink driving, causing death by careless driving, and totting up offences.
For other convictions it may or may not offer cover depending on factors such as classification, the number of penalty points, whether the driver was banned and for how long.
In general, the worse your conviction, the more likely it is that insurers will turn you down or your premium will rise. A simple speeding offence won’t make a massive difference but a conviction for drink-driving or death by dangerous driving will severely limit your affordable options. If you get banned from driving you’ll find you pay a lot more for your insurance when your period of disqualification is over.
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Home insurance
It’s not just car insurers that want to know about your past convictions – home insurers do too.
There are certain convictions that home insurers tend to steer clear of. For example Privilege will consider applications on a case-by-case basis, but generally not provide cover for people with convictions related to fraud, dishonesty or violence, or multiple convictions of any type.
Home insurers will ask about the unspent convictions of everyone who lives in the property so it’s important to find out the full past of any partner or lodger before you let them move in. Landlords need to check the criminal records of their tenants or they risk their landlord insurance not paying out.
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