Declare speeding course?

ericpode

My car insurance will be up for renewal soon with Aviva.

I have a clean license and no convictions, but earlier this year I did get caught going at 35mph, and took the option of going on one of those speed awareness courses earlier this year - it's offered as an alternative to 3 points on your license.

On the course they said the attendees would not have to declare this to their insurers as it was not a conviction. But they also mentioned that one or two insurers were also asking if you had attended one of these courses - the course tutor wasn't sure but thought that Aviva might be doing this now.

I've gone through the comparethemarket procedure and sure enough their questionnaire only asks about convictions.

Can anyone confirm whether Aviva require to be told of attendance at a speed awareness course ?

If not, I'd rather let the renewal go through as-is. I suspect that even adding unimportant details can trigger a recalculation of the quote which is likely to increase even if it's just due to the passage of time. And then of course there was the recent article on BBC Watchdog about insurance costs being increased just because the insured person rang the insurer with an enquiry.

dazza.mk

Why not try doing a 'dummy' quote for Aviva online and see if they ask for it?

sarahk100574

I did a speeding awareness course last year (caught at 34mph in a 30) in West Yorkshire. We were told that once you attend the (full) course all records are clean and insurance companies etc NOT informed....

Of course this year (caught at 36mph in a 30) I have to take the three points....grrr!

scheming_gypsy

Like Sarah said, you don't need to declare it. Insurance quotes ask if you have any convictions and the course replaces a conviction

kingstreet

Is attendance on a speed awareness course a material fact which should be disclosed? I don't think you can answer this with a blanket yes or no.

If you are with a company who wants it disclosed, failure to do so will cause you future problems at claim stage.

I would telephone the company concerned and ask the question directly of them. Log the date and time of your call and the name of the individual answering the question.

silvercar

sarahk100574 wrote: »

I did a speeding awareness course last year (caught at 34mph in a 30) in West Yorkshire. We were told that once you attend the (full) course all records are clean and insurance companies etc NOT informed....

Of course this year (caught at 36mph in a 30) I have to take the three points....grrr!

Not a successful course then!

I'm also surprised that 34mph was enough to catch you -I always thought the "rule" was 10%+2 and your OK, 10% + 3 and your stuffed.

losgiganteskid

The insurance industry is clearly missing a trick here. Given that the course is in place of a conviction, you would have thought the insurers would want to know about any one speeding and load or not load accordingly, irrespective of how the driver dealt with the matter.

With my underwriting hat on - a speeding motorist is a speeding motorist, if they go down the route of a conviction or opt for a course (if they are offered one) matters not one iota - so I would underwrite the risk as a speeding motorist. I would suggest that the majority of motorists caught speeding opt for the course, not because they think they will be educated into being a subsequent non - speeding motorist but purely because they do not wish to inform their insurer

A material fact it is -

dggar

losgiganteskid wrote: »

.

With my underwriting hat on - a speeding motorist is a speeding motorist, if they go down the route of a conviction or opt for a course (if they are offered one) matters not one iota - so I would underwrite the risk as a speeding motorist. I would suggest that the majority of motorists caught speeding opt for the course, not because they think they will be educated into being a subsequent non - speeding motorist but purely because they do not wish to inform their insurer

A material fact it is -

The motorist might not opt for the cource because they think they will be educated but there is a possibility the some people attending such a cause do become educated. How do you factor that into the underwriting.

What research has been done to test the effectivness of such courses?