car insurance renewal disclosures

philg5

Hi all, thought I would ask you all as my son as asked me and i don't know the answer. I get all these queries at this time of year as most of my families renewals are at the same period roughly. Right my son received points on his licence in 2008 and 2009, one for speeding the other for bad tyre, he also had a claim in 2008 which he was at fault.His question to me was why do insurers as for convictions from last 5yrs when they are only effective on licence for 3yrs. I didn't know the answer so I ask for your help. Cheers Phil.

jobdone1

Its all about risk in my view is how i understand it.

kingstreet

Offences count for totting-up for three years, remain on the licence for four and insurers ask about them for five.

Presumably the insurer likes a longer record to establish if the applicant had a poor driving record before this immediate three year period. I would guess that is helps the statistics used to calculate premiums having that longer record.

philg5

Thanks. I know it makes no difference but he gets annoyed with the fact that he received the points whilst not driving his own vehicle.I was confused by the 5year thing as as I stated the law only says points on licence are only valid for 3yrs

InsideInsurance

Insurers would probably like to ask about all the points and convictions you have ever had in your life but the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 gives a specified time limit for which all criminal convictions can be forced to be disclosed for.

Of cause you have to remember that speeding etc is a criminal offence not just some points on your license

philg5

Thanks kingstreet, so would insurers load him for the points he had although spent?

Quentin

Possibly (though they aren't "spent" after just 3 years), - loadings usually depend on how many you have (eg 3 doesn't make much difference with most insurers!).

kingstreet

It's debatable.

There may be only a few insurers who load a premium for a single speeding conviction between three and five years old, but I suspect when you put together a speeding offence and a construction & use offence, the number will grow.

The simple thing to do, is to try some dummy details (not his) in a comparison site and see the impact of those which apply to him, SP30 and CU30?

philg5

Cheers. Will tell him to try that.Would the loading for his claim be any different as that was almost five years ago (Sept. i think)?

kingstreet

There are some insurers, Esure being one off the top of my head, who ask for five years convictions history but only three years of incidents and/or claims.

As long as you key the correct information honestly, you will see what the figures are. If you want to see what will happen when the claim and/or the convictions expire, do the dummy thing, but avoid using his details as this can cause the insurers to think there's something fishy going on.

philg5

Once again a big thanks. Will pass on your comments. I'm glad I don't have all this with my own insurance (older and wiser)