Car Insurance for Convicted Driver - TT99 - advice needed

Paddy710

Hi everyone. This is my first post so please be gentle

My query is regarding car insurance for a convicted driver and I'm wondering if anyone can help me with some advice.

Last year I got stopped by the police for a driving a vehicle with no insurance. I already had insurance on my own vehicle but this friend's vehicle I had borrowed had no insurance, which I was not aware of. Anyway, because I already had 6 points on my licence (two SP30's) I was told I had to go straight to court and will receive 6 points and have my licence taken away.

The time came when I went to court and the inevitable happened when my licence was taken away, given 6 points (12 points in total), 6 month ban and a £200 plus fine. I had been driving for 10 years with 8 years no claims and without any problems and then all this happened to me within a year!

I got my licence back a few months ago, after serving my ban, with a 'TT99' endorsement and decided to shop around for insurance. On anything above a 1.2 litre vehicle or above group 2 or 3 I was getting quoted ridiculous amounts...£3,000 - £4,000. None of the big insurers would touch me so I had to go through a specialist broker and they eventually quoted me £1300 on a 1.0 litre 15 year old vehicle! I had no choice and went for it because I needed a car for work.

Now i've decided to go back to university as a full-time mature student and decided I cannot afford to pay the monthly insurance premiums so I'll resort to public transport, which works out a lot cheaper for me. Therefore the only option is to get rid of my car and cancel the insurance

After all that my question is this, when will I start to see more competitive quotes for a driver in my position? Has anyone been through anything similar and can they share their experiences? I was told by one company, who wouldn't insure me, that I should try again next year and they MAY insure me. It's just so frustrating knowing that it may be like this for me for the next 4 years (after that my licence will be clean again and I won't have to declare to most insurers).

I know this is wrong of me, but through my frustration I even contemplated about not disclosing my convictions to the insurers! Thankfully I decided against it.

Any help or advice will be much appreciated. Many thanks.

huckster

Once the conviction codes become spend and come off the licence, you will be ok. But by then, if you have not had Insurance, the no claims discount will be lost, so you will be starting from scratch.

A very expensive lesson!!!

Paddy710

Thanks huckster. Looking further into this I have found out that a 'TT99' becomes spent once the disqualification is over, so technically I do not have to disclose it. However, with having two SP30's and an IN10 from 2008 and 2009 respectively I will have to disclose these for the next 3 or 5 years, depending on which insurance company I go with!

mikey72

Paddy710 wrote: »

Thanks huckster. Looking further into this I have found out that a 'TT99' becomes spent once the disqualification is over, so technically I do not have to disclose it. However, with having two SP30's and an IN10 from 2008 and 2009 respectively I will have to disclose these for the next 3 or 5 years, depending on which insurance company I go with!

I would check that.
The question is usually if you have been convicted in the last 3 or 5 years, not if it is spent or not.
Not disclosing on what seems to be a technicality could find you with a cancelled insurance policy further down the line, and then that would be a further problem, similar to
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2704803

raskazz

mikey72 wrote: »

I would check that.
The question is usually if you have been convicted in the last 3 or 5 years, not if it is spent or not.
Not disclosing on what seems to be a technicality could find you with a cancelled insurance policy further down the line, and then that would be a further problem, similar to
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2704803

Regardless of how the question is worded, a spent conviction never has to be disclosed for the purposes of obtaining insurance, and an insurer would not be entitled to avoid the policy or rewrite its terms on the grounds of non-disclosure of a spent conviction.

mikey72

Well a TT99 stays on for 4 years, so I won't argue either way.

rdawson84

Hey man.

I'm in more or less exactly the same boat as you. I totted up 12 points (first 3, then 6, then another 3) all for speeding within a 2 year period... I got slammed with a 6 month ban and a £200 fine.

This was 2 years ago so I'm back driving again but not enjoying the constant fcuking I receive from insurance companies, who see it fit to charge me triple rate prices and beyond!

I currently got my TT99 declared only - None of the convictions that led to this, if that makes sense.

I too need a car for work so I'm cruising around in a 14 year diesel Seat and paying £800 a year for the privledge. (My quote without the TT99 is £154!!!)

My policy is up for renewal and I'm sick of being punished when really I've served my ban and paid my fine. I'm thinking of going with a new insurer and not declaring sweet fa.

I've heard different peoples opinions about this... Some say a TT99 stays on your license for 4 years, others say you can get around this on minor technicalities, eg: A "disqualification" is not the same as a "conviction", therefore when an insurance company asks "Have you had any convictions in the past 5 years", you could actually answer "no" and it be truthful.

It's a risky business, but I think I might speak to a lawyer and see where I stand. But I like you don't see why we should pay thousands extra in insurance over 4 years when we've paid our fine and served out bans!

This country is a joke... The justice system is a joke...

rdawson84

Just found this too...

After a period of four years from date of offence you can remove them from your licence and after five years from date of conviction, under the rehabilitation of offenders act speeding offences do not need to be disclosed as they are considered, "spent"..... under the law you cannot be discriminated against when your insurance premium is worked out, therefore you have no duty to disclose them after the five years from the conviction date.

Note - If any SP is still within the five years of date of conviction, you have a duty to disclose that even if it is removed from your licence under the four year rule above.

---

The TT99 is a disqualification not a conviction, under the same "ROO act" it has a disclosure period that is equal to the ban period that you received.... which if it was six months, this would be spent six months after the disqualification period was handed to you, or however long the ban period was in your case.

Clear as mud?! I thought so!!! In theory, this is saying that you don't declare your TT99, but you should declare the offences which led to it, providing they are all within the last 5 years!

Sparx

How old are you may I ask and how old were you when you were convicted of driving without insurance?

Just curious as if you were old enough, I would of thought your own car insurance would provide you Third Party cover to your friend's vehicle you were driving at the time but if you are under 21 I think it is (or 25?) you are not eligible for third party insurance on other vehicles.

rdawson84

I don't mean to start an argument with the last poster, but I can assure you this is no joke and I don't particularly appreciate your needless comments when you know nothing about the circumstances surrounding my disqualification.

For the record I'm a well educated Business Advisor and I'd say the size of my brain was slightly larger than average...

A speeding driver does not equate to a bad driver, nor an unsafe driver. Half the people on the roads wouldn't pass their driving tests today. Some people are clueless, careless and damn right dangerous when travelling at the correct speed!

As you mentioned in your post. EVERYBODY speeds at some point. On your way home from work this evening I bet my bottom dollar that you went over the speed limit at one point or another. The difference is that you were lucky enough not to have a traffic cop stood in a bush with a speed gun pointed at you... I was, 3 times.

raskazz

rdawson84 wrote: »

The TT99 is a disqualification not a conviction, under the same "ROO act" it has a disclosure period that is equal to the ban period that you received.... which if it was six months, this would be spent six months after the disqualification period was handed to you, or however long the ban period was in your case.

No but in your case you got the £200 fine with the TT99 so the longer Rehabilitation Period applies, i.e. 5 years.