Driver Penalty Points Need Not Pump Up Premiums
Published: 30th March 2005
It’s just a question of choosing the right broker says the A&A Group
When six points on your driving licence can pump up your premium by a whopping 25% it makes sense to choose a broker with care says the A&A Group, the leading independent non-standard insurance intermediary whose brands include Hyperformance and Quoteacar.co.uk.
But whilst some insurers just count points, others are more careful to consider the nature of the offence and do not unjustly penalise motorists convicted of what may be considered less serious offences.
When the difference can cost several hundred pounds over the period the penalty points stay on your licence it’s important to know who does what says the company.
A good way to get the best deal is often to let a broker do the work. They deal with many different insurers and know how they view convictions and what methods they use to calculate premiums.
The A&A Group specialises in providing such a service to drivers and counts a great many ‘convicted’ motorists amongst its clients because it always takes the nature of their conviction into account when looking for an insurance policy that offers the best value.
Explaining the company’s approach, Chief Executive Tony Allen says: "There are a whole host of offences that attract penalty points. Just look on the DVLA website and you will find five pages of them. They range from the serious - causing death by careless/ dangerous driving and driving whilst drunk - to the less serious - using an unsuitable vehicle or one with parts that are in a dangerous condition.
"All attract points from 2 to 11 per offence according to how serious it is considered, but it is unfair for brokers to treat a driver with two small offences as they would a driver with a single more serious conviction if the result is that both have the same number of points on their licence.
"They need to be more responsible and consider the conviction, not the points tally, when calculating premiums. A driver convicted of a play street offence* (MS30-2 points) or defective windscreen wipers (CU20-3 points) or parking too near a pedestrian crossing (PC30-3 points) should not be penalised as much as a motorist caught speeding (SP30-3-6 points). Yet some brokers do just this.
"We don’t, and we believe it’s time those that do changed their methods. We can’t make them do this; we can just promise our customers that we will look at each proposal on an individual basis and be realistic about their convictions.
"It’s a service standard that is proven and provides policyholders with insurance that is good value for money and does not unfairly penalise them for previous relatively minor mistakes.
*Play Street Offences
* It is an offence to use a motor vehicle in a designated play street which is an area will be a with road signs either end to warn of when the road can be used by motor vehicles.
