Drink Driving Insurance Quotes
Drink Driver Insurance
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A driving licence endorsement is classed as a conviction. The rehabilitation period for driving licence endorsements is a period of five years, after which they will be classed as 'spent'. You must declare all 'unspent' convictions to insurers when required to do so.
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All insurers are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Compare insurance quotes from insurance companies who specialise in offering affordable insurance cover to drivers with DR10 licence endorsements and drink driving convictions.
When asked how long have you held your driving licence by insurers you should enter the date you passed your test to gain the licence you hold rather than the date you got your driving licence back after your disqualification.
Why compare insurance quotes with us?
We can help you find affordable insurance cover after a drink driving ban. It can be difficult to find affordable car insurance cover with a drink driving conviction.
Drinkdriving.org has partnered with several specialist insurance providers and brokers who all specialise in providing affordable insurance cover to drivers who have previously been banned from driving for committing offences such as drink driving.
Unlike other insurance comparison sites who provide quotes from companies who prefer to insure drivers with clean driving records and increase their premiums for drivers with convictions considerably, all insurance companies who provide you with a quote specialise in insuring drivers with convictions.
Companies that specialise in insuring convicted drivers are able to spread the cost of the higher risk across all drivers they insure with convictions allowing them to offer more affordable insurance policies to drivers with criminal and motoring convictions.
You will receive quotations from select convicted driver insurers that can best meet your requirements from a panel of insurers that include:
- A plan insurance
- Performance direct
- Brightside group
- GSI insurance services
- Quoteline direct
- and more...
Simply click the get quote button above, fill out a short insurance quote form and you will receive quotes from multiple insurers who all specialise in insuring drivers with criminal convictions such as drink driving.
Compare Drink Driving Insurance Quotes Today
Drivers who have been convicted of drink driving will encounter significantly higher insurance premiums compared to what they were previously paying.
Some insurance companies will simply not even consider insuring drivers with drink driving convictions! The bad news is this is unavoidable.
The good news is many insurance companies specialise in providing cover for drivers with convictions and it may not actually cost as much as you think to insure a car if you are a convicted drink driver with an endorsement on your driving licence.
It pays to shop around for car insurance, especially when you are a drink driver convicted of a motoring offence such as drink driving.
The difference between prices from one insurance company to another can be vast, literally hundreds of pounds!
The insurance comparison service we use allows convicted drivers to obtain insurance quotes from multiple insurance companies who specialise in providing non-standard, high risk insurance policies for convicted drink drivers.
Research has shown that many drink drivers learn from past mistakes and the chances of re-offending are often slim. Only around 12% of offenders are convicted of a second offence within 10 years.
How long do I have to declare a drink driving conviction to insurers?
You have to declare a drink driving conviction to insurers for a period of five years beginning from the date you were convicted. After five years your drink driving conviction will be classed as 'spent' under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
Spent convictions do not need to be declared to insurance companies and any insurance company who relies on endorsements relating to spent convictions in order to disadvantage a driver and increase premiums is committing an unlawful breach of their statutory duty.
All driving licence endorsements have a five year rehabilitation period before they are classed as spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.
Drink Driving Conviction Codes
Drink driving is not the only motoring offence that can increase the cost of insurance premiums. Convicted drivers who have any of the following endorsements on their driving licence could also face increased costs for car insurance:
Tips to reduce cost of car insurance After Drink Driving Conviction
Many insurance companies recognise and take into account the completion of The Drink Driving Rehabilitation Course.
Completing the drink driving course could see a reduction in insurance premiums and will decrease the length of your driving ban by up to twenty five percent.
As well as attending the drink driving rehabilitation course here are a few more tips to help you decrease your car insurance premiums:
- Accept a higher voluntary excess. Virtually all car insurance companies will require you pay a minimum voluntary excess, this is the amount you pay towards the cost of any claim made on your insurance policy. The higher this is, the less your insurance premium will be.
- Limit the policy to cover to only specific named drivers as opposed to allowing anyone to drive the insured car with your permission.
- Try to lower your annual mileage. The less you drive, the less likely you are to be involved in an accident.
- Increase vehicle security. Motor vehicles available in the UK market are assessed by the insurance industry's research centre Thatcham to establish the level of standard fit security. Owners of vehicles that are fitted with security systems that meet the Thatcham criteria may well benefit from reduced premiums. Older cars may also benefit if subsequently fitted with a security system that meets the criteria.
- Keep your car in a secure location such as a garage or driveway when not in use.
Adding a responsible driver to the policy who has a good clean driving record with no convictions or claims could also help to keep premiums low, especially if the driver in question will drive the car quite a lot in which case it may work out even cheaper if they were on the policy as the main driver.
Another factor to consider is the insurance group rating of your car. All cars are listed under a particular insurance group. The greater the cost of a car to repair and the greater the engine size & speed of a car usually means it will fall into a higher insurance group rating. The higher the insurance group rating, the higher the insurance premium will be. The reverse is also true.
Consider getting a car with a low insurance group rating when you first take to the roads after a driving ban, this will help reduce your premium until your driving record improves again (this will usually be five years after any driving conviction/offence).
Useful links:
FCA - Financial Conduct Authority - The Financial Conduct Authority regulates the financial services industry in the UK, including motor insurance companies.
Motor Insurers' Bureau - The MIB provides compensation to people who are unable to pursue a valid claim against another driver following a road traffic accident because the other party is either a) not insured b) not known/traceable or c) was insured by an insurance company who is now in liquidation.
Financial Ombudsman - The financial ombudsman were set up by Parliament in order to help settle any complaints or disputes between consumers and businesses that provide financial services (insurance companies) free of charge.
View your driving licence online - View your driving licence information online. Includes details of all disqualifications, penalty points & driving licence endorsements.
Drinkdriving.org is a trading name of DFT Media Limited, a company registered in England & Wales (company #07976649). All insurance companies & brokers are regulated & authorised by the financial services authority.
Frequently asked questions
Will I be able to find car insurance if I have a drink driving conviction?
Where can I find details of driving convictions, penalty points, endorsement codes and disqualifications on my driving licence?
It used to be that details of driving convictions, penalty points, disqualifications and endorsement codes were recorded on the paper counterpart of photo-card driving licences. The paper counterpart was deemed redundant and abolished on 8th June 2015.
All driving licence details including convictions, penalty points, disqualifications and endorsement codes are now held electronically. You can access this information online by using the "view or share your driving licence information" service.
You will need:
- Your driving licence number; and
- Your national insurance number; and
- Your postcode
In order to share your driving licence information with a third party such as an insurance company or hire car company you can generate a check code (which will be valid for 21 days) using the service above and give it to the third party in question along with the last 8 characters of your driving licence number. They will then be able to view your driving licence information by using the "check someone's driving driving licence information" service.
There are several other ways that you can apply for your driving licence information, these are listed here.
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If I have an accident and I was over the Legal drink drive limit will my motor car insurance be invalid and void?
Many people are under the false impression that if they have an accident while over the legal drink drive limit their car insurance policy will become completely invalid and void. This is untrue.
All insurance companies are obligated to cover the costs incurred to any third parties that the insured is liable for under the The Road Traffic Act 1988, regardless of whether the insured was over the legal limit or not.
An insurance policy may have a drink and drugs clause whereby in the event of any claim the insured was convicted of an offence relating to drink or drugs their fully comprehensive status will be invalid (not the entire policy). This means they cant claim for any loss or damage incurred to themselves. However, a third party can still claim off a drink drivers insurance policy for any loss or damage incurred to them.
The drink and drugs clause may also state that the insurance company reserve the right to recover the cost of the settlement of any such claim off the insured. However, in practice this right is not always exercised as it is not always cost effective.
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I was disqualified from driving after being convicted of drink driving. will my no claims bonus / discount still be valid?
Whether or not your no claims discount will still be valid depends on the insurance company and how long you were disqualified from driving for.
The majority of insurance companies will accept proof of any no claims discount as long as your previous insurance policy expired less than 2 years ago and your NCB/NCD is less than 2 years old.
Some insurance companies may only accept proof of any no claims discount if it is less than 12 months old and some may accept proof of any no claims discount up to 3 years old.
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Will I be able to Find car insurance if I have a drink driving conviction?
Yes. Some insurance companies will not insure drivers who have a drink driving conviction. However a lot of insurance companies will and some insurance companies actually specialise in providing car insurance to people who have been convicted of drink driving and other motoring offences. You can compare insurance quotes for convicted drink drivers here.
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How long do I need to declare my motoring conviction / driving licence endorsement to insurance companies?
Driving licence endorsements carry a rehabilitation period of five years!
The Rehabilitation period for endorsements is the same in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
Many people are confused with the amendments made to The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 [1] (ROA 1974), covering England and Wales, which came into effect on 10th March 2014.
The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 [2] (LASPO Act 2012) reformed the ROA 1974 which, in most cases, resulted in reduced rehabilitation periods for offenders. You can view the updated rehabilitation periods for sentences commonly imposed for drink driving related offences here.
This reform resulted in a lot of people mistakenly believing that if they were disqualified from driving for 12 months (rehabilitation period for disqualification is the length of disqualification) and fined (rehabilitation period for fines is 12 months) then their conviction would be classed as 'spent' under the ROA 1974 after 12 months. This is incorrect.
A statutory instrument was made that included a saving provision in relation to road traffic offences and the changes made to rehabilitation periods by the LASPO Act 2012.
1 Citation and interpretation
...
(2) In this order --
- "the 1974 Act" means the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974;
- "the 2012 Act" means the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; and
- "road traffic endorsement" means an order for endorsement made by a court in relation to an offence mentioned in Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 (which is a sentence in relation to which the last entry in Table A in section 5(2) of the 1974 Act applies).
...
3 Saving provision in relation to road traffic endorsements
The provisions brought into force by virtue of article 2 except section 139(5)(b) of the 2012 Act (which omits sections 6(6) of the 1974 Act) are of no effect in relation to a road traffic endorsement.
The principle effect of the saving provision outlined above is that road traffic endorsements must be declared to insurers when asked about convictions until they become 'spent' and road traffic endorsements do not become 'spent' until the rehabilitation period has passed, the rehabilitation period for road traffic endorsements is five years, unless the offender is under the age of 18 at the time of conviction in which case the rehabilitation period is halved to 2.5 years. The rehabilitation period for road traffic endorsements is the same in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
Insurance contracts are issued on the basis of the utmost good faith of all parties involved. As long as neither party misleads the other and answers any and all questions accurately and fully then there will be no risk of the insurer avoiding the contract in the result of any claim.
Failure to disclose any material facts relating to the risk being proposed when asked to do so can result in an insurance policy taken out being voided by the insurer. A void contract of insurance means no contract of insurance exists at all and no claims will be payable by the insurer.
If any non-disclosure of material facts are classed as fraudulent misrepresentation or concealment, the insurance company may keep the insurance premium and sue for damages.
The duty of disclosure of material facts such as convictions and endorsements for motor insurance policies is revived at each renewal date. Some insurance policies specifically state that any convictions received during the policy must be disclosed mid-term. You should always read the small print of any insurance policy taken out in order to understand your duty of disclosure.
If you are unsure of whether or not your conviction is classed as 'spent' under the ROA 1974 (applicable in England and Wales only) you can use this online tool to help you establish whether or not your conviction is classed as 'spent' or 'unspent'.
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Reference:
[1] Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
[2] Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012
[3] Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Commencement No 9, Saving Provision and Specification of Commencement Date) Order 2014