Insurance & Speed Awareness Courses
Discussion
I have recently been caught misbehaving on the roads. Police have offered me the choice of:
1. A day in court
2. 3 penalty points and £60 fine
3. Speed awareness course at cost of £95, no penalty points.
I have not had any points in my licence 20 years so £35 premium seemed like a very small amount to pay to avoid points and the inevitable loaded insuarance premiums on 3 cars for the next 5 years.
However, just seen the article below explaining that some insurance companies are now loading premiums for drivers who opt for the course in same way as they do for those who have penalty points on their licence. I do see their logic here.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-22...
Question is, if I will be penalised by insurance co's anyway, I may as well not spend my time going on the course and save myself £35.
Anyone noticed if insurance co's are now asking if applicants have attended such a course as a result of speeding offence?
1. A day in court
2. 3 penalty points and £60 fine
3. Speed awareness course at cost of £95, no penalty points.
I have not had any points in my licence 20 years so £35 premium seemed like a very small amount to pay to avoid points and the inevitable loaded insuarance premiums on 3 cars for the next 5 years.
However, just seen the article below explaining that some insurance companies are now loading premiums for drivers who opt for the course in same way as they do for those who have penalty points on their licence. I do see their logic here.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-22...
Question is, if I will be penalised by insurance co's anyway, I may as well not spend my time going on the course and save myself £35.
Anyone noticed if insurance co's are now asking if applicants have attended such a course as a result of speeding offence?
It appears it depends upon your insurance company. I know that Dorset Police have removed the statement that "attendance on the course would not effect your insurance premiums".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20328860
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20328860
LoonR1 said:
You've got two perfect answers to your question above.
Why do people only worry about insurance premiums and not that they can maintain a clean licence?
Because they do not consider 3 points on the licence to be out of the ordinary. The big selling point by the authorities of taking the course, at a premium cost over that of the fixed penalty, was that there would be no uplift of insurance premiums as there would be with the FPN.Why do people only worry about insurance premiums and not that they can maintain a clean licence?
I can quite understand that everyone wants their cut of the action, the companies running the courses,the Police with the profits from the courses, the insurance companies with premium penalties and the Government with the income from FPN's. It is up to the 'victim' to decide which particular tax to pay.
They're hardly "victims" though. They did commit an offence. Whether you agree with the rule isn't relevant. For example I may disagree that punching people is an offence. That won't alter the fact that I would be prosecuted if I randomly did it.
In reality only some insurers charge more for an SAC as many don't collect the data and there is also no way for the insurer to gather this data from elsewhere. Whether you choose to declare it is down to you and deciding whether the reward outweighs the risk.
In reality only some insurers charge more for an SAC as many don't collect the data and there is also no way for the insurer to gather this data from elsewhere. Whether you choose to declare it is down to you and deciding whether the reward outweighs the risk.
I was thinking that the only real value of clean licence was no hike in insurance premiums but on reflection can see wider values
3 points made no difference to my premiums 20 years ago but fear things would be different nowadays. I had a 'not my fault' accident 2 years ago. Even though I had protected no claims my premium went up because I had had an accident (some twit drove into me!)
I also read that fixed penalty fines went to the general government coffers but the SAC fee's are now used to directly fund the replacement of film based cameras with digital ones.
3 points made no difference to my premiums 20 years ago but fear things would be different nowadays. I had a 'not my fault' accident 2 years ago. Even though I had protected no claims my premium went up because I had had an accident (some twit drove into me!)
I also read that fixed penalty fines went to the general government coffers but the SAC fee's are now used to directly fund the replacement of film based cameras with digital ones.
i was in a taxi the other day and the driver said to take the points everytime. he said that if you take the course but get caught speeding again in the next x years you get an £x00 fine, the original 3 points and 6 points for the second offence. he may of been wrong.
so if you take the course, is the slate wiped clean or is the offence still active as described above?
so if you take the course, is the slate wiped clean or is the offence still active as described above?
Yuxi said:
i was in a taxi the other day and the driver said to take the points everytime. he said that if you take the course but get caught speeding again in the next x years you get an £x00 fine, the original 3 points and 6 points for the second offence. he may of been wrong.
so if you take the course, is the slate wiped clean or is the offence still active as described above?
"He may have been wrong" He was.so if you take the course, is the slate wiped clean or is the offence still active as described above?
Don't tell your insurance company.
The ony way ANYBODY (including insurance companies) can find out if someone has been on a speed awareness course, is if that person tells them. They do not have access to any database that shows them who has been on one, only the police do.
I believe the first thing said at every speed awareness course is that nobody other than the police have access to the database, including the people themselves who run the course. Once they've submitted your details, that's it.
It's a underhanded scheme by insurance companies to trick people into telling them.
A friend of mine has been caught speeding 4 times in 3 1/2 years.
First time she took a speed awareness course, second and third time she took points, and the fourth time she took another speed awareness course (3 year gap before you can take another). She has never been charged more than standard for a fine, ,and she has also had a claim in that period of time which went 50/50. She had not declared his speed awareness course, and it was never mentioned, she uses an insurer part of the Admiral group.
For those who missed it. They only know if you tell them.
The ony way ANYBODY (including insurance companies) can find out if someone has been on a speed awareness course, is if that person tells them. They do not have access to any database that shows them who has been on one, only the police do.
I believe the first thing said at every speed awareness course is that nobody other than the police have access to the database, including the people themselves who run the course. Once they've submitted your details, that's it.
It's a underhanded scheme by insurance companies to trick people into telling them.
A friend of mine has been caught speeding 4 times in 3 1/2 years.
First time she took a speed awareness course, second and third time she took points, and the fourth time she took another speed awareness course (3 year gap before you can take another). She has never been charged more than standard for a fine, ,and she has also had a claim in that period of time which went 50/50. She had not declared his speed awareness course, and it was never mentioned, she uses an insurer part of the Admiral group.
For those who missed it. They only know if you tell them.
Edited by xreyuk on Monday 28th January 14:09
LoonR1 said:
Why do people only worry about insurance premiums and not that they can maintain a clean licence?
Depends on your outlook I suppose, but many people see 3 points as no big deal. I've had 2 speeding tickets in my life - one fifteen years ago not long after I'd passed my test and another one 5 years ago, so a totting ban doesn't feel like something I'm particularly at risk of. So if the insurance implications were much the same either way I'd be tempted to pay £60 and have 3 rather meaningless points on my licence rather than pay £95 and lose a day's holiday. Especially since if I did get caught again I could always take the course next time rather than end up with 6 points on my licence - 6 might start to make me a little nervous.xreyuk said:
Don't tell your insurance company.
The ony way ANYBODY (including insurance companies) can find out if someone has been on a speed awareness course, is if that person tells them. They do not have access to any database that shows them who has been on one, only the police do.
I believe the first thing said at every speed awareness course is that nobody other than the police have access to the database, including the people themselves who run the course. Once they've submitted your details, that's it.
It's a underhanded scheme by insurance companies to trick people into telling them.
A friend of mine has been caught speeding 4 times in 3 1/2 years.
First time she took a speed awareness course, second and third time she took points, and the fourth time she took another speed awareness course (3 year gap before you can take another). She has never been charged more than standard for a fine, ,and she has also had a claim in that period of time which went 50/50. She had not declared his speed awareness course, and it was never mentioned, she uses an insurer part of the Admiral group.
For those who missed it. They only know if you tell them.
Whether your insurers can 'find out' and whether they consider your SAC to be a material fact are two entirely different things.The ony way ANYBODY (including insurance companies) can find out if someone has been on a speed awareness course, is if that person tells them. They do not have access to any database that shows them who has been on one, only the police do.
I believe the first thing said at every speed awareness course is that nobody other than the police have access to the database, including the people themselves who run the course. Once they've submitted your details, that's it.
It's a underhanded scheme by insurance companies to trick people into telling them.
A friend of mine has been caught speeding 4 times in 3 1/2 years.
First time she took a speed awareness course, second and third time she took points, and the fourth time she took another speed awareness course (3 year gap before you can take another). She has never been charged more than standard for a fine, ,and she has also had a claim in that period of time which went 50/50. She had not declared his speed awareness course, and it was never mentioned, she uses an insurer part of the Admiral group.
For those who missed it. They only know if you tell them.
Edited by xreyuk on Monday 28th January 14:09
If you're likely to get more points, take the 3 penalty points now. Take the Speed Awareness Course next time. That way, the points will be off your licence quicker and you're less likely to be banned for a tot up.
In all honesty though the course is not that patronising and could well be a useful refresher. I doubt many people, even keen drivers on PH, keep updating their Highway Code when a new issue is published. There are some subtle differences compared to when I passed my test (ahem in 1988!!).
In all honesty though the course is not that patronising and could well be a useful refresher. I doubt many people, even keen drivers on PH, keep updating their Highway Code when a new issue is published. There are some subtle differences compared to when I passed my test (ahem in 1988!!).
xreyuk said:
Don't tell your insurance company.
The ony way ANYBODY (including insurance companies) can find out if someone has been on a speed awareness course, is if that person tells them. They do not have access to any database that shows them who has been on one, only the police do.
For those who missed it. They only know if you tell them.
That's all very well, but if your insurers ask about speed awareness courses and you don't tell them, you have to remember that you lied. So when they ask you again in 2 yrs time when you report the claim, you'd better have a good memory to be able to recall the lie you told. The ony way ANYBODY (including insurance companies) can find out if someone has been on a speed awareness course, is if that person tells them. They do not have access to any database that shows them who has been on one, only the police do.
For those who missed it. They only know if you tell them.
Edited by xreyuk on Monday 28th January 14:09
Of course if you tell the truth, you don't need a good memory.
xreyuk said:
Don't tell your insurance company.
The ony way ANYBODY (including insurance companies) can find out if someone has been on a speed awareness course, is if that person tells them. They do not have access to any database that shows them who has been on one, only the police do.
I believe the first thing said at every speed awareness course is that nobody other than the police have access to the database, including the people themselves who run the course. Once they've submitted your details, that's it.
It's a underhanded scheme by insurance companies to trick people into telling them.
A friend of mine has been caught speeding 4 times in 3 1/2 years.
First time she took a speed awareness course, second and third time she took points, and the fourth time she took another speed awareness course (3 year gap before you can take another). She has never been charged more than standard for a fine, ,and she has also had a claim in that period of time which went 50/50. She had not declared his speed awareness course, and it was never mentioned, she uses an insurer part of the Admiral group.
For those who missed it. They only know if you tell them.
When the question is asked specifically you'll be required to declare it regardless of any databsae that holds the info.The ony way ANYBODY (including insurance companies) can find out if someone has been on a speed awareness course, is if that person tells them. They do not have access to any database that shows them who has been on one, only the police do.
I believe the first thing said at every speed awareness course is that nobody other than the police have access to the database, including the people themselves who run the course. Once they've submitted your details, that's it.
It's a underhanded scheme by insurance companies to trick people into telling them.
A friend of mine has been caught speeding 4 times in 3 1/2 years.
First time she took a speed awareness course, second and third time she took points, and the fourth time she took another speed awareness course (3 year gap before you can take another). She has never been charged more than standard for a fine, ,and she has also had a claim in that period of time which went 50/50. She had not declared his speed awareness course, and it was never mentioned, she uses an insurer part of the Admiral group.
For those who missed it. They only know if you tell them.
Edited by xreyuk on Monday 28th January 14:09
For those interested in some legislation due in this year.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/6/content...
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