3 points on car insurance premium ?

[rebby]

Will 3 newly acquired points (For speeding. No preaching please, I feel guilty enough!) on a driving licence affect the insurance premium ? If I renew with my current insurers, do I need to tell them, or will they already know ? I've been told it only affects the premium if you get 6 points or more. I've looked for quotes on the internet and they want to know if you have points. I'm just worried about my insurance being void if I go about this wrongly. Thanks :-)

[kempie]

You may find this site useful.

I do not know if your insurer will automatically be aware of the endorsement so perhaps you should make a point of informing them to be on the safe side.

[january_bug]

Failure to inform your insurer of points is an offence (I'm not going to show off and quote acts at you, partly cos I can't be bothered to look it up, and mainly cos knowing the section of the law won't make the blindest bit of difference to you! :-p) but anyway, basically, TELL THEM! It probably will go up, but hopefully not by much. But you are quite right, if you don't declare it, then your insurance would be invalid (or at least the company could demm it to be invalid if you tried to claim). Check your existing policy to see how quickly you're meant to inform the company if something like this happens.

At least points come off your licence in a couple of years... shouldn't be a long-term problem for someone who's obviously usually very careful. :-)

[january_bug]

I would suggest, 10CS, that the answer lies in a three word statement "Blame and claim".

With so many "victims" suing where previously they'd have just accepted it as a fact of life and got on with it, insurers are paying out more and more money every year. There are more drivers and cars on the roads, and the cars are more expensive. Yet car insurance remains a highly competitive industry. Therefore, the insurers have to been seen to be offering the lowest basic premiums possible, but then just make the more careless (therefore potentially the more expensive) drivers pay more. They have to regain the payout costs somewhere, after all!

(I'm not meaning to say that anyone here is a careless driver, and whilst I have no point, like many people, I creep above the speed limit now and then, so I wasn't getting into that. I hope that's clear).

[rebby]

Thanks for all your answers. I bit the bullet and rang my insurance company who said it 'may or may not' go up when the renewal is due. That was very little hep - I rang another company for a quote and found then very competitive. Apparently the lesser offences such SP30 can attract a �30-�40 premium rise, its just the more serious ones that they really go to town on.

[january_bug]

Well, �30-40 isn't too bad! Good for you for contacting them! Not sure if my advice was too late to be of much help, but if it was useful, then I'm glad! :-) Enjoy the rest of your Sunday! :-)

[ronniemonda9]

It depends on your age. If you're really young, it may go up a bit. I got 3 points, I think my insurance didn't change? The copper told me that everyone gets 3 points for a speeding offence here and there. Don't worry about it. But under no circumstances fail to disclose. Noooooooooo!

Dangerous driving, on the other hand.................NO NO NO! Big money!

[Famous5]

An item in The Times 2 or 3 weeks ago suggested thainsurance companies were getting less punitive about speeding fines because so many drivers are now getting them. Their survey showed that many companies made only minor increases, especially for first offences.

The police response was on he lines that part of the punishment for speeding was increased insurance costs, and if the insurers were taking this line then speeding fines need to be increased.

But of course, speed cameras are not to be seen as revenue raisers for the police.....