insurance with points

How much an endorsement will cost you      
updated 24 December 2009

More than two million motorists' driving licences will be endorsed with penalty points over the next 12 months.

Back in 2004 we carried out our first survey of motor insurers to try and find out the real cost of those points on their licences would be to those motorists (see here). The results showed that with 6 points on your licence for two minor speeding offences you could expect to pay between 28% - 44% more for your car insurance than if you had no points.

In 2007 we carried out even more extensive research and despite some insurers' claims that they do not automatically load premiums for drivers who have points on their licence, our research confirmed that this is still the case.

Now in December 2009 we have just carried out some more up-to-date research which includes not only points on your licence, but also the effect of a short disqualification (eg for speeding) and also a ban for drink driving.

We got motor insurance quotes for the same fictitious person, the same car and the same type of cover, and then simply amended the initial "clean" application to include fictitious speeding offences resulting in fixed penalty punishments and/or disqualifications.

For those of you who have completed an insurance application form, either online or off, you will know that the insurers always ask if you have had any endorsements for motoring offences within the last 5 years. Failure to disclose such a conviction could result in your insurance being invalidated. It means that any endorsement you receive will affect the insurance premium you pay every year for at least 5 years. 

Here are the overall results

The average premium with no points on your licence was £382.74 (66 companies quoted) [34 year old male driving a Ford C Max worth £10,000 with a voluntary £150 excess]

With 6 points (all over 4 years old)
The overall increase was 7.91% to £406.23 (61 companies).

With 6 points (all over 3 years old)
The overall increase was very similar at 8.82% to £412.88 (63 companies).

With 6 points (3 more than 4 years and 3 less than 2 years)
With the more recent points being taken into account the increase was 14.31% to £433.48 (62 companies).

With 6 points (all within the last 2 years)
Every company increased their premium, usually by a double digit number. The highest increase was over 85%. The average rose by 24.35% to £472.79 (61 companies).

With 9 points (all within the last 2 years)
At this level you will be paying on average almost half as much again as someone in the same position with no points on their licence. The average premium rose by 46.94% to £542.33 (49 companies).

28 Day Disqualification for speeding
This seems to produce a similar result to having 6 recent points on your licence with an increase of 23.35% to £468.54 (51 companies).

Drink Drive Disqualification
Perhaps not surprisingly the average premium rose to £580.38, which is an average increase of 53.37% (38 companies).

There was a huge disparity in the way that various companies treated the motorist with points on their licence. Many not only increased their premiums, but also increased the excess payable if you had an accident. If you have points on your licence it pays to use a broker to shop around for you. Try this link to Quoteline Direct, the online arm of Wilsons Insurance Group. They specialise in "non-standard" motor insurance for car drivers and bike riders. 

If you'd like full details of our survey results please email us and we'd be pleased to email them back to you.

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