Insurance renewal- Points pending?

[gedi]

hi folks,

please help me to understand this as im just off the phone to my broker for this years renewal and he couldnt tell me:

i have been offered 6 points from the procurator fiscal for a charge of failure to disclose the driver from december last year.
i have refused his kind offer and have a trial date for october as i have plead not guilty and can prove that i responded to their s172 request many months ago.

when i offered this information to the broker it has increased my premium by 25% which is £100.

does this come under a pending conviction? am i right to disclose this information at this point?
at the moment i have not been convicted of anything and am confident that the charges will be dropped before trial.

i have no intention of hiding anything but feel that this is unacceptable.
they will not lower my premium if/when the charges are dropped in the future.
if they are not dropped then i fully accept to have to pay the increased premium.

thanks in advance,

ged

[anonymous-user]

I would guess that YES, you have to tell them that there is an ongoing situation that may, or may not, result in prosecution. What the insurance companies do with that is up to them. I had this at renewal time with a NIP. With it being my first 3 points it made no difference but with potential for 6 I'm sure insurance companies will be a little more cautious.

[gedi]

thanks for your reply garyhun.

for anyone who may be interested i just gave another insurer a call today and fully declared my situation and outstanding case.
for them, this doesnt class as points pending as they were able to use common sense and note that as yet, i am not guilty of anything.
if my court case goes the distance and i am awared points then i will of course inform them and accept the consequences of the increased premium. i just felt aggrieved that my previous insurer was so quick to try and take £100 off me.

cheers,

Ged

[Lonely]

IIRC don't they ask if any prosecutions are pending rather than convictions which as you rightly state presumes some guilt.

[ZOLLAR]

not sure if it helps but the full question we ask at the insurer i work for is>

"In the last 5 years have any of the drivers had any motoring offences, fixed penalty points, disqualifications or pending convictions."

[SS2.]

ZOLLAR said:

not sure if it helps but the full question we ask at the insurer i work for is>

"In the last 5 years have any of the drivers had any motoring offences, fixed penalty points, disqualifications or pending convictions."

What is a 'pending conviction' ?

If a defendant is confident of being found not guilty then, as far as he is concerned at least, no conviction could be regarded as 'pending'.

[ZOLLAR]

SS2. said:

ZOLLAR said:

not sure if it helps but the full question we ask at the insurer i work for is>

"In the last 5 years have any of the drivers had any motoring offences, fixed penalty points, disqualifications or pending convictions."

What is a 'pending conviction' ?

If a defendant is confident of being found not guilty then, as far as he is concerned at least, no conviction could be regarded as 'pending'.

I presume along the lines of a notice of intended prosecution would be pending how ever with our selves if the points were dropped we would remove them from the policy and would have no further affect on the premium

[worsy]

Pending conviction would be accepting a CoFPN, or court case where defendant has pleaded guilty prior to trial.

[SS2.]

worsy said:

Pending conviction would be accepting a CoFPN, or court case where defendant has pleaded guilty prior to trial.

Technically, a CoFP is not a 'conviction'.

A guilty plea submitted prior to sentencing, clearly that could be deemed as a 'pending' conviction.

But a defendant going not guilty with a solid case may well consider a 'pending acquittal' to be a more likely outcome.

I know all material facts require to be disclosed to insurers, but (on the face of it, at least) it does seem an odd way of phrasing a question.