Ways to Save Money on Car Insurance with Convictions

It’s not secret that having convictions on your drivers license will negatively affect it, causing you to pay more of a premium for your policy.

Minor convictions such as a single SP30 are unlikely to make much of a difference to policy price. That’s because it can be viewed as a one off and accidental error. Should you get multiple SP30’s or other minor convictions, that will start to indicate a poor driving style. Multiple speeding convictions for instance will show you don’t care much for speed limits and that driving fast is a choice. This will have a greater negative impact on your policy price and will increase the need for convicted driving insurance.

If you have a drink driving conviction, this will have a much greater impact again and you will need to look at insurance for drink drivers.

There are a number of ways you can help reduce the cost of your premium. You’ll still have to bare the cost of you endorsements but there are other things you can control around the vehicle or the vehicles use.

You choice of car will impact your policy greatly. Things such as age, engine size, insurance group and price all have an impact.

When racking up multiple driving convictions, it’s important to try and present yourself as a rehabilitated driver. For instance, if you have a number of speeding convictions, it is unwise to try and insure a higher powered or fast car. Having a fast car and multiple speeding convictions suggests you will do the same again and therefore the risk is higher.

If you were convicted of drink or drug driving and have a DR10 or DG10, then you will have been handed a driving ban. If you need to purchase a new car for when you gain your licence back, it is wise to buy a sensible car.

It is important to know though that buying the cheapest car is not always the wisest idea. This is because people don’t value cheap cars and it is possible that you will offend again. You should look to purchase a car with a value of £1500 up if you want to be considered by most convicted driver insurers.

Adding a named driver who has a good claims history and is experienced can help bring down your policy.

This is because it suggests the car will be used by a better driver some of the time, therefore reducing the risk. For instance, if you are 24 and have a number of convictions, look to add a parent on the basis they have a clear driving history.

This will have a negative impact however where you’re an older driver trying to add a younger driver or an equally convicted driver.

Reducing your mileage can be a quick win when it comes to saving money on your convicted policy. With reduced mileage, there is reduced risk.

If you insure to driver 20 thousand miles normally but realistically you only drive 10 thousand, then reduce your miles to meet the 10 thousand. It is important though that you insure the right level of miles.

This is particularly good for more dangerous drivers or those who racked up lots of convictions and was given a TT99 conviction.

A rehabilitation course is often offered with many convictions in exchange for either not receiving points or reducing the length of a driving ban.

By completing a rehabilitation course, you demonstrate that you intend to be a safer driver. The successful completion of a course can also lead to discounts on your policy when applying for convicted driver insurance.

Courses are beneficial to all drivers, however, if you are a van driver and are driving more than most from job to job for instance, then they are particularly useful in helping keep your convicted van insurance down as it may be difficult to mitigate other areas of your policy.

As part of every policy, there is an excess payment in the event of claim. The excess is what you pay towards the claim with the insurer paying the remainder of the claim.

If you have an excess payment of £0, then your total premium will be higher as in the event of a claim, you won’t be paying anything putting the insurer at a great financial risk. If you increase the excess to say £500, your total premium will drop as you are offering to pay some money towards the claim and therefore less of a risk to the insurer.

It is though important to ensure you set the excess to an amount you can afford. If you can only afford a £100 excess, don’t set your excess to £500 as you won’t be able to afford to claim in the event of an accident.

Many people look to reduce the cost of their quotes for convicted driver insurance by changing their desired level of cover.

• Third Party Only. This is the bare minimum level of covered allowed to drive on the UK roads. It will cover the third party only. Your own vehicle will not be covered in the event of a fault claim or in the event of fire & theft.
• Third Party, Fire & Theft. This offers the same level of cover as Third Party only but will also cover you in the event of fire or theft of your vehicle.
• Comprehensive. This is the fullest and most robust level of cover. It covers everything as above but will also cover your own vehicle. Having fully comprehensive is always the wisest choice as it offers you the greatest level of insurance cover. It is also not as expensive as you.

How you intend to use your vehicle can have a direct impact on the cost of your premium. There are 4 main categories of vehicle use.

• Social, Domestic & Pleasure
• Social, Domestic & Please including Commuting
• Business Use – Self Employed
• Business Use – Employers Business Use

The first 2 options are much the same with the second option allowing for commuting. This is also the most common use when it comes to convicted car insurance. Adding ‘Business Use’ though will certainly increase the cost of the policy. It is also likely to be unavoidable if you need convicted van insurance.

Without shadow of a doubt, the best way to save money on convicted insurance is by shopping around.

Not all brokers are able to quote competitively on all types of conviction or policy as all brokers have different schemes. This is where we step in! We will help you compare convicted driver insurance, finding you the most beneficial brokers to you.

We will look at what conviction you have, whether you have a DR10, DG10, IN10 from being Impounded or a TT99. It makes no difference to us what convictions you have, we will be able to find you a broker who will provide you a quote.