Points on a driving licence can have an impact on an individual’s car insurance costs.
The cost of motoring convictions can be high when looked at from many different angles – and one of these relates to the price of car insurance.
New research from MoneySuperMarket has taken a closer look at the matter and has calculated the impact people can expect a conviction to have on their premiums. As part of the study, the comparison site looked at almost 12 million car insurance quotes that have been run on the site over a 12-month period.
It was found that 10.3 per cent of searches were carried out by motorists with a prior driving conviction – a figure that was lower than the 12.1 per cent recorded for the previous year.
Although the number of drivers on the UK's roads with driving convictions appears to be falling, those who do have points on their licence are finding that the cost of premiums is rising markedly as a result.
Indeed, a driver with four to six points on their licence might expect the cost of their annual car insurance to increase by 24.9 per cent as a consequence, which equates to an average rise of almost £100.
For those with ten or 11 points on their licence, they can expect a climb of 89.8 per cent on their premiums, which works out at around £353.75.
The most common driving convictions were shown to be speeding and speed-related offences. These accounted for two-thirds of all recorded offences, with the total proportion standing at 66.1 per cent.
It was shown that careless, reckless and unfit driving/crashes represented 13.3 per cent, with drink or drug-related offences making up 4.2 per cent.
Kevin Pratt, car insurance expert at MoneySuperMarket, said it is of great concern that one in every ten UK motorists has a conviction on their licence.
He stated: "The nation's speed demons continue to rev their way to the top of the chart, with this type of conviction accounting for the majority of recorded driving offences."
Posted by Emma Grange