Declaring Speeding Convictions

laissez-faire · 6 Dec 2006 at 12:32

I have two SP50s on my licence. The first I was convicted by a court; 5 points and £150 fine (100mph). The second was a fixed penalty (85mph); wording as follows:

'In certain circumstances a fixed penalty is offered as an alternative to prosecution. Payment of the fixed penalty, and endorsement of your Driving Licence, means you cannot be convicted of the offence.

Insurance policy wording:
'You must declare any motoring convictions'

Insurance quote wording:
'Do you have any motoring convictions in the last 5 years?'

As far as I can see I only need to declare the conviction in court, which makes no difference to my premium?

Oblivious · 6 Dec 2006 at 12:37

Just declare both.

laissez-faire · 6 Dec 2006 at 12:40

Oblivious said:
Just declare both.

That would be an extra £50. When I so clearly have a case if the insurance company ever take me to court I would win.

There may very well be a legal protection preventing people from having to declare fixed penalties that the insurance companies don't want to make clear.

JRS · 6 Dec 2006 at 13:04

laissez-faire said:
That would be an extra £50. When I so clearly have a case if the insurance company ever take me to court I would win.

If you reckon it's worth the risk for £50....

Guv · 6 Dec 2006 at 13:12

Just ring and ask them if you need to declare it.

Liquid_Entity · 6 Dec 2006 at 13:14

Question:

Do you need to declare points received immediately after you got them or do you wait til your next renewal ?

I got some back in July and havent declared them yet ??

Guv · 6 Dec 2006 at 13:16

Liquid_Entity said:
Question:

Do you need to declare points received immediately after you got them or do you wait til your next renewal ?

I got some back in July and havent declared them yet ??

I think it depends on the insurance company. It should say in your policy documents.
Some (probably most) want you to declare straight away, others at renewal time. The safest way is to declare them straight away.

Liquid_Entity · 6 Dec 2006 at 13:19

Guv said:
I think it depends on the insurance company. It should say in your policy documents.
Some (probably most) want you to declare straight away, others at renewal time. The safest way is to declare them straight away.

I'll get on the dog n bone today then

thanks

Avalon · 6 Dec 2006 at 18:13

£50 or give them the smallest chance to invalidate your policy or demand additional premiums for failure to advise them .... i'd give them the 13.6p a day. That said I know a driver with more than 12 points (and thanks to a very nice judge still has his licence) who called his insurance company to notify them of his new additions and was told to call back when his renewal was due but to start saving now! Some want to know some don't but they all want to screw you come renewal.

teaboy5 · 6 Dec 2006 at 19:06

Are points not cleared after a number of years?

Dogbreath · 6 Dec 2006 at 20:51

teaboy5 said:
Are points not cleared after a number of years?

Yes, you can get them removed from your licence (for a fee!) after 4 years, but most insurance companies want to know about them for 5 years. They only count for "totting up" for 3 years.

PMKeates · 6 Dec 2006 at 20:53

I wouldn't tell them of the latter. Make as many recordings of that as you can, check the T&C's on their website thoroughly. As, funnily enough, you've caught the insurance company on a technicality.

Geoff · 6 Dec 2006 at 22:16

laissez-faire said:
...

As far as I can see I only need to declare the conviction in court, which makes no difference to my premium?

Unfortunately, all insurance contracts fall into a class called uberrimae fidei, which is a fancy Latin phrase meaning "of utmost good faith". The practical upshot of this is that you (and they) are required to disclose anything that the other party may find relevant. Failing to disclose convictions by trying to squeak through some technicality won't actually work, and failing to disclose something that you know or expect would cause the other party to either decline to insure, or alter their premium, would be a clear sign of bad faith and may well be enough for them to avoid payment on your claims.

It may not seem logical, but you need to tell them of things they'd want to know, whether you know they want to know it or not.