Telling your insurer about spent convictions will bump up your premiums.
Millions of drivers are paying extra on car insurance because they are declaring spent convictions unnecessarily, according to the DVLA .
Insurers continue to ask about old convictions, even though motorists don’t have to disclose them. However, underhanded pressure from insurers is leading drivers to ‘over-declare’, meaning that they get charged more.
Adding just three penalty points for speeding to an application will bump your annual premium up by an average of £57, according to GoCompare.
Speeding penalties, car parking fines and convictions for carelessness stay on driving records for four years before they become spent. This applies to housing applications as well as most jobs too.
Duped into over-declaration
The Motor Insurance Bureau reckons a quarter of drivers do not accurately disclose their driving record on the application. Around 7% - the equivalent of 2.8 million drivers - with spent convictions continue to declare those offences, partly due to confusion over conviction dates or providing more detail than asked for on application forms.
[SPOTLIGHT]Some insurers require customers to disclose any convictions before they’ll give a quote. Others leave questions about convictions open-ended, which may encourage people to over-declare.
What should you tell your insurer?
So what should you declare on your car insurance application?
"Where an insurer asks about motoring offences you should answer fully and honestly", says Malcolm Tarling, Spokesperson for the Association of British Insurers.
Most insurers will ask for convictions in the past five years. However, there are some who won't ask you to disclose motoring offences as they may be part of the MyLicence scheme, which will already have details of your history. If they're not part of it, they'll ask you for you licence details and check the DVLA database for any relevant motoring offences which could affect your premium.
Penalty points come off your licence after four years, but as it is an endorsement it’ll need to be disclosed for five years after the conviction date. Points for dangerous or drink driving could be there for up to 11 years. A fine will be spent after 12 months so it's less of a worry.
If asked, it's definitely wise to mention any speed awareness courses you've been on in the past. Even though it might increase your premium, it's better that you insurer knows from the off rather than finding out later.
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