Insurance Disclosure of Spent Convictions

wirralite

unforeseen wrote: »

All you need to know about when a conviction is spent and no longer needs to be declared can be found in http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/53

Im not reading THAT. I'd rather just pay the £180.

debtdebt

GingerBob wrote: »

Unfortunately you are unlikely to get a definitive answer on this board; it's choc full of finger-wagging know-nothings who take great delight in castigating people for not being perfect (you know the sort of thing - someone asks about a speeding ticket and they get loads of responses along the lines of "don't speed, simple as that").


I did read somewhere about the illegality of the question about spent convictions. Might be worth Googling it.

Castigating people for not being perfect? Not telling your insurer of a conviction is a material non disclosure and could result in your policy being voided from inception. I'd say that's a serious issue rather than a mere imperfection.

Car_54

wirralite wrote: »

It is that time of year again when I need to renew my insurance.

I had a conviction (MS90 Failure to Identify the Driver) which was 6 points, from 2013. The conviction is now spent and my licence is showing 0 points however it is still listed on my licence, apparently until later in 2017.

The conviction is not spent, unless you were under 18 at the time of conviction.

The endorsement no longer applies, but any conviction resulting in a fine only becomes spent after five years (30 months for minors).

See https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/216089/rehabilitation-offenders.pdf

Tiddlywinks

wirralite wrote: »

Im not reading THAT. I'd rather just pay the £180.

You've got the legislation but you want others to put the effort in instead?

wirralite

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

You've got the legislation but you want others to put the effort in instead?

Jesus! It was a tongue in cheek comment. Jump of your high horse. You've got so much time on your hands and nothing to contribute.

DoaM

Car_54 wrote: »

The conviction is not spent, unless you were under 18 at the time of conviction.

The endorsement no longer applies, but any conviction resulting in a fine only becomes spent after five years (30 months for minors).

See https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/216089/rehabilitation-offenders.pdf

Is the correct answer.

I was nicked for speeding in December 2012. The endorsement (3 points) ended in December just gone but the conviction will remain on my licence until December this year.

https://www.viewdrivingrecord.service.gov.uk/driving-record/licence-number

That site shows me having 0 points, which means the endorsement has ended.

Car_54

DoaM wrote: »

Is the correct answer.

I was nicked for speeding in December 2012. The endorsement (3 points) ended in December just gone but the conviction will remain on my licence until December this year.

https://www.viewdrivingrecord.service.gov.uk/driving-record/licence-number

That site shows me having 0 points, which means the endorsement has ended.

No, the endorsement stayed on your licence for four years only (Dec 2016).

However, the conviction isn't spent until five years from the date of conviction (not offence), but that has nothing to do with your licence.

Aretnap

Car_54 wrote: »

The conviction is not spent, unless you were under 18 at the time of conviction.

The endorsement no longer applies, but any conviction resulting in a fine only becomes spent after five years (30 months for minors).

See https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/216089/rehabilitation-offenders.pdf

This is not quite correct - The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act was substantially amended a few years ago and a fine now has a rehabilitation period of one year.

HOWEVER when the new legislation was brought into force, driving licence endorsements were specifically excluded from the changes. Under the old system a driving licence endorsement had a rehabilitation period of 5 years, however long it actually stayed on your licence, due to a catch-all "any other sentence" clause in the legislation. And the exclusion means that this is still the case.

So the end result is that insurers are still entitled to ask about most motoring convictions in the last 5 years, and you have to answer truthfully even if the endorsement is no longer on your licence, or risk having your policy voided for non-disclosure.

It's not actually unlawful for an insurer to ask about spent convictions, but (a) it would be unlawful for them to increase the customer's premium, or otherwise disadvantage them on the basis of the answer and (b) if a conviction is spent the customer has a legal right to reply to deny having it, even if asked. So the OP is broadly correct about his rights when the conviction does become spent - the problem is that he's mistaken about when it becomes spent (which will actually be some time in 2018).

Car_54

Aretnap wrote: »

This is not quite correct - The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act was substantially amended a few years ago and a fine now has a rehabilitation period of one year.

You're right. I foolishly assumed that what is on the gov.uk website would be current.

Rover_Driver

The .gov.uk website only gives general information, often, as in this case, not that accurate, and any information should never be relied on without verification.