MSE News: Online driving records could cut car insurance bills

Former_MSE_Helen

"Motorists could see insurance premiums cut by up to £15 a year, as all driving licence records are being put online..."

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Online driving records could cut car insurance bills




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AMG762

Driving records are to be put online from 2015.

No need for the paper counterpart after the change.

Does this mean i now have to tell my insurance company about my points? :cool:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25663249

UKGuy

Why, did you choose not to tell them when you took out the insurance?

Li0nhead

Thats a good idea. It will make it more efficcent for the ID fraudsters to harvest our details en-mass.
Nice to have the authorities thinking of them. I often felt sorry for these people having to go through bins and make phone calls to get details, much better to have them in one place which can be accessed by someone with better computing skills than the people who will set up the system.

jasmin293

I don't see how it would bring down premiums as I'm sure insurance companies love it when you do not disclose endorsements - gives them a way out of paying!

Last time I made a claim the insurance company rang the DVLA with me on the line to check if there were any endorsements so its not as if they have to factor in "people lying or forgetting."

It may make things quicker and easier. It would be good not having to show hire companies your paper counterpart etc but as for bring down costs, sorry not sure this will help.

UnderPressure

I think it is a good idea to be honest and it is nice to see the government finally embracing the 21st century, now if they sort BT out and our ridiculously crap broadband (in certain parts of the country) we will be winning!

If you do not tell your insurer about points or accidents and they then come to light in the claims process surely they will then be telling you that you are not insured, so no idea what the extra factored ££ factored in because of "risk factors" pertains to? Does it cost them to tell you that you have lied so are not insured?

sithemadmonkey

As there is an element of uncertainty at the point of pricing a policy (insurers are essentially taking your word for it), there will a chance that you are actually a higher-risk driver than you are letting on. This chance will be accounted for by a very slightly higher premium built-in.

Eliminate the uncertainty, and there's no (or less) need for the uncertainty loading.

Other insurers ask all drivers for copies of counterpart licences immediately after conception, and then manually check each one - introducing the online system would eliminate a massive amount of administrative effort (plus headaches with complaints, cancellations etc when the required paperwork isn't received or doesn't match the quote info), therefore reducing the cost and (hopefully) premium.

rudekid48

sithemadmonkey wrote: »

As there is an element of uncertainty at the point of pricing a policy (insurers are essentially taking your word for it), there will a chance that you are actually a higher-risk driver than you are letting on. This chance will be accounted for by a very slightly higher premium built-in.

Eliminate the uncertainty, and there's no (or less) need for the uncertainty loading.

Other insurers ask all drivers for copies of counterpart licences immediately after conception, and then manually check each one - introducing the online system would eliminate a massive amount of administrative effort (plus headaches with complaints, cancellations etc when the required paperwork isn't received or doesn't match the quote info), therefore reducing the cost and (hopefully) premium.

Are Insurers tracking when you get your leg over now?

Aretnap

jasmin293 wrote: »

I don't see how it would bring down premiums as I'm sure insurance companies love it when you do not disclose endorsements - gives them a way out of paying!

They still have to pay for damage and injuries you cause to third parties, even if you lied on your application. They can attempt to recover the money they have to pay from you, but if it's a big payout and/or you have no money you won;t be able to pay the full amount and so they'll be left out of pocket. So no, they don't love it when people don't declare endorsements - if they did they wouldn't have pushed so hard for this, and they wouldn't use it when it does come online.

peter_the_piper

Will help to cut out the ""We never received your letter"" that DVLA roll out regularly.

JasonLVC

So the DVLA will happily sell your details to a scam parking company fopr a few quid but the DVLA nevcer thought to share its data on driving penalties with insurance companies before?

Seems like they got their priorities the wrong way around to me.

I'm not sure I agree with the logic. Insurance companies are forever saying premiums will come down but they only ever seem to go up and a saving of £15 hardly seems like it was a big risk factor for the insurer anyway.

I suppose if you lie and you have an accident then you would not be covered by the insurance and so effectively an insured driver who has lied is effectively an unisured driver so I agree that such data would make road users better protected.

But I'd rather we have better systems that can allow uninsured drivers to be removed off the road instantly than a £15 saving a year on a motor insurance policy.