Do I need to tell insurance company Ive been caught speeding

dllive

Hi

I was caught speeding a few weeks ago (27mph in a 20mph zone). Im attending the speed awareness course next week. Do I need to declare this to the insurance company?

Thanks

Car_54

It depends what it says in your policy docs. Most insurers don’t ask about SACs.

Bradden

If you've been offered a speed awareness course then you do not have to notify them, I did one a few weeks ago and the person running the course emphasised this saying some insurance companies do ask but you are not obliged to tell them.

Car_54

Bradden said:

If you've been offered a speed awareness course then you do not have to notify them, I did one a few weeks ago and the person running the course emphasised this saying some insurance companies do ask but you are not obliged to tell them.

Don’t believe all you hear on these courses.

Bradden

Car_54 said:

Bradden said:

If you've been offered a speed awareness course then you do not have to notify them, I did one a few weeks ago and the person running the course emphasised this saying some insurance companies do ask but you are not obliged to tell them.

Don’t believe all you hear on these courses.

I don't believe everything I'm told which is why I stated it was what I was told during the course rather than just stating is as a fact.

It would have been helpful if you had confirmed if I am correct or not?

Thanks

TooManyPoints

... the person running the course emphasised this saying some insurance companies do ask but you are not obliged to tell them.

If they ask then you are obliged to tell them. They can ask what they like and the only protection you have is the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. That says that most convictions become "spent" after a certain period (that period depending on the sentence imposed). If you have a "spent" conviction and you are asked about your record you do not have to disclose it to insurers. Awareness courses are not convictions and are not protected by the Act. Similarly having an insurance policy cancelled is also not a conviction and must be disclosed if an insurer asks that question. 

Few, if any major insurers ask about courses now. Admiral was the last major group to do so and they stopped asking a couple of years ago.

facade

If they ask at renewal, or they have a policy T&C that says they have to be notified immediately about SACs then you are obliged to tell them.

So the answer is check the T&Cs of your policy. Mine with Esure says they have to be informed before the next renewal of any motoring convictions & fixed penalties (A SAC is not a conviction or fixed penalty, so I wouldn't have to tell them)

They are not supposed to be able to find out about SACs though.....

Aretnap

Bradden said:

Car_54 said:

Bradden said:

If you've been offered a speed awareness course then you do not have to notify them, I did one a few weeks ago and the person running the course emphasised this saying some insurance companies do ask but you are not obliged to tell them.

Don’t believe all you hear on these courses.

I don't believe everything I'm told which is why I stated it was what I was told during the course rather than just stating is as a fact.

It would have been helpful if you had confirmed if I am correct or not?

Thanks

The answer is "it's complicated".

The starting point is that an insurance company can ask about anything it likes, and if it does ask them you have to answer their questions honestly. Speed awareness course attendance lists are not shared with insurers which means if you lied you would probably have a low chance of being caught out: however whether you'd get away with lying is a different question to whether you are allowed to tell the lie in the first place.

The exception to the above would be if there is a law which prevents an insurer asking about specific things. The Equalities Act for example prevents them asking about race or sex (or at least from using the answers to make any decisions about pricing) and the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act prevents them asking about most convictions that are more than 5 years old. There's no specific law which prevents them asking about Speed Awareness Courses.

That said, the latest amendments to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act DO allow "alternatives to prosecution" to become spent, like old convictions, and there is an argument that this would apply to speed awareness courses. But last time I checked the definition of "alternatives to prosecution" that the act used was so vague that it was unclear whether a SAC would be covered or not.

Fortunately the question is academic because AFAIK no insurer currently asks about speed awareness courses. Admiral used to ask but stopped a few years ago; that might have been what the instructor on the course was thinking of.

(When I did my course a few months ago the instructor told us that insurers generally didn't ask, but if they did ask we should declare it. So one of our instructors definitely got it wrong)

inspectorperez

Extract from comparethemarket.com website which you might find helpful. This article was updated October 2022 so should be the latest advice

"Do I have to tell my insurance provider?

You don’t legally have to tell your insurance provider that you’ve been on a speed awareness course unless they specifically ask you. If they do, you must be honest or you could invalidate your car insurance.

You won’t be asked when starting a quote with us, as a speed awareness course isn’t classed as a driving conviction. Course data is held by UKROEd and not the DVLA, so it won’t be on your driving record and can’t be checked by insurance providers.

However, you must declare any unspent driving convictions and points on your licence. If you don’t tell your insurance provider about any convictions in the past five years, it could invalidate your car insurance.

If you’re not sure if any past convictions are spent, you can check your licence information at GOV.UK."

dllive

Ah great - thanks guys!

@Bradden - out of interest, how did it go? Did you do the course over Zoom? (my course is - thankfully - going to be on Zoom an dis 8.30am - 11.30am). Did you have to answer questions? Was there a test at the end?

Jenni_D

The irony ... speed awareness courses held over Zoom. 🤣