After you have received a criminal conviction, driving conviction, or finished a driving ban, it can be difficult to find insurance. This is because all types of insurance prices are based on risk and the likelihood that the insurer would have to pay out a claim during the policy.
Whether it is travel, home, motor insurance, or any type of insurance, the insurer will check out the details the customer has submitted and work out the likelihood of a claim occurring. The higher the chance they feel of a claim occurring, the higher the premium. However, if they feel the chance of a claim occurring is too high, they will not offer insurance at all.
This is where it can be difficult for drivers with bans and convictions, as a lot of insurance companies will refuse to cover a driver if they have, for example, a drunk driving conviction. If the insurer feels the risk is too high for them, they can simply not offer a price, or in some cases, they will offer an incredibly high price, which is just unrealistic. However, there are insurers out there, and as we are a specialised driving convictions broker, we can find the right insurance for you.
Will my insurance always be more expensive?
No, not necessarily. Unfortunately, we cannot avoid that your first year’s insurance after your driving conviction will probably be more expensive than usual due to the higher risk explained earlier. Insurers will consider your conviction when pricing up the policy and may deem this a higher risk, and the price will match that. It is also worth knowing that some convictions will be deemed a higher risk than others; for example, a drunk driving conviction, i.e. a DR40, will be a higher risk than a speeding conviction, i.e. an SP30.
However, you should start seeing your premiums decrease over the years if you continue to complete year-long insurance policies incident-free. If you complete a year incident-free, you should see your no-claims bonus go up by one year, plus your driving convictions will be a year older, which insurers do take into account when pricing up the policy and assessing the risk.
After so many years, your convictions will not need to be disclosed to insurers anymore, so unfortunately for us at Insurance Revolution, you will not need to seek specialist insurers anymore, which opens you up to more options. We do still insure clean-risk drivers, though, so we will always try to find you the best policy for your needs.
Tips for purchasing convicted driver insurance
As mentioned above, the price of insurance for a driver with convictions or a driving ban may be more expensive than you are accustomed to. There are, however, tips for bringing the price down for the first year or so before you may see prices decrease.
If you usually purchase Comprehensive insurance, consider switching to Third Party, Fire & Theft or Third Party only. This may bring the price down. You can eventually switch back to comprehensive insurance if you like, in a year or two if the price has started to come down or if you have remained incident-free.
Consider switching your car if the car you currently own is deemed a higher risk. As well as the driver’s history being risk assessed when pricing the policy, there are many other factors that determine the risk and therefore price of the policy, and the vehicle itself is a big factor.
Usually, a more expensive vehicle with a more powerful engine would be considered a bigger risk than a less powerful vehicle. You may want to consider trying multiple quotes with a few different vehicles to see the price differences. Purchasing convicted driver insurance may be hard enough as it is, but a customer with a drink driving ban and a high-powered sports car will be risked very highly by insurers! You may have to sacrifice your dream car for the short term…
Please get in touch if you would like to speak to us about your convicted driver insurance needs.