Re insuring car - points v driving course

[IanS320]

I was really annoyed today doing the reinsurance of my car that Admiral and a few others insist on being told about attending driver awareness courses in lieu of points.

This wasn't 'the deal'.

The admiral insurance jumped 25% on disclosure of a 2yr old speed awareness (35 in 30 as usual..shawshank redemption....everyone on here is innocent)

Of course they didn't get the business but it's not really the point.

 

[geraldrobins]

Annoying but you were speeding so guilty. Same thing happened to me and I didn't realise I was speeding as the limits change from 30-40-30 etc and its so easy to miss a sign especially in an area you don't know.

Personally I've had points before for speeding and it didn't affect my insurance. However Admiral etc can set their own rules. To give some people good rates they must penalise others with minor infringements.

What was the deal anyway?

 

[wongl]

I tend to stay clear of Admiral, not only do they increase the insurance premium for driver awareness courses, they also charge extra for factory fitted options like heated seats, folding mirrors, any thing that is above the standard spec!

Oh, they also charge extra if you are not born in the UK! LV is much better in my experience.

 

[IanS320]

still seething.

340 for w221 320

Or

470 if admiral accepts my wife's attendance at a speed awareness course in Jan 2013

Absolutely no logic about driver type, repair costs etc

 

[mat8n]

Admiral.

That's the problem.

I would never ever use them even if they were the cheapest. My quote went up about 50 quid because I got my wife's date of birth 2 years out(I gave them my birth year by mistake) , she was 44 not 42 so they upped it!

That was one of many hikes through the quote procedure.
I have 0 faith if I wear to claim through them.

Direct line for me now, realistic price and fantastic UK based service. Can't fault them.

 

[Giantvanman]

We ditched Admiral some time back for several reasons and do not ever anticipate returning. My philosophy with insurance companies is not to go with the cheapest unless they coincidentally offer the best service and any company who charges over the standard call rate for speaking to customer services can take a run and jump.

Generally, we now extend the same level of loyalty to insurance companies as they offer which is to say none at all.

 

[mat8n]

Oh and direct line don't ask about a driving course, I too was like you're wife and had an awareness course and Admiral asked?? Another nail in their coffin for me.

The deal is you do the course and pay the fine and no further costs should incurr, you've been taught the error of your way so now you are a lower risk as a driver not a higher risk as with the points.

 

[geraldrobins]

Unfortunately the deal is with the police or courts, not the insurance companies.

 

[BTB 500]

The point of the SAC is that you don't get points on your licence, which could make the difference between losing it or not if you have previous offences. Many of the insurance companies do require you to declare SACs now (on initial quotation and/or on annual renewal) as they presumably consider them a risk factor (as already mentioned, you have been caught speeding ... just the same as if you elected to take the points).

As always you need to shop around. I left Elephant (part of Admiral) because they hiked the premium for my SL up when my wife had a single no-fault accident (no claim on her insurance) in her own car. The best new quote I got was from ... Admiral!!

 

[mat8n]

Direct line still count 3 of my points, which I no longer have on my licence(I had to get a new licence due to change of address).

How can this be?

They count points going back 5 years.

 

[BTB 500]

Insurance companies can 'count' whatever they like. If they ask you to declare all speeding convictions you've had in the last 10 years you'd have to provide that info. to get a quote.

 

[wongl]

Best to avoid insurance companies that deploy doggy practices to increase the insurance premium. If enough people vote with their feet, these practices will soon disappear.

 

[John]

I understand the annoyance at insurance companies asking about speed awareness but the fact anyone penalised has been able to get away with not telling insurance companies is good luck until now.

Fact is, you were still done for speeding and insurance companies need to know.

It was only a matter of time before they started asking although this has been the case for a while now with some companies.

Best to avoid insurance companies that deploy doggy practices to increase the insurance premium.

That's only companies that offer pet insurance I think...

 

[Dryce]

Insurance companies can 'count' whatever they like. If they ask you to declare all speeding convictions you've had in the last 10 years you'd have to provide that info. to get a quote.

They are rather odd about these things though.

SWMBO provided details of some points to her insurer and her renewal went up substantially. However getting a new quote online from same insurer? Another - rather cheaper story. Hardly any difference whether she had or did not have the points. Insurer decided to keep her as a customer without the renewal hike.

A cynic (me? oh my who'd have guessed) might think that the insurers have figured that smaller numbers of points or speed awareness courses are nice little earners if they can use them to leverage the renewals of a reasonable % of customers.

I would also add that if I'm wromg to be so suspicious then if the insurance industry really thinks that speed awareness courses increase the risk then they have a duty to produce the evidence to the HMG and the Police on public safety grounds so that these courses can be either be suitably amended and improved - or withdrawn.

 

[st13phil]

I would also add that if I'm wromg to be so suspicious then if the insurance industry really thinks that speed awareness courses increase the risk then they have a duty to produce the evidence to the HMG and the Police on public safety grounds so that these courses can be either be suitably amended and improved - or withdrawn.

Pretty much my take on it.

As an aside, I have the feeling that most insurance companies include spurious risk factors that they consider to be "plausible" to justify additional premiums. A good example is Travel Insurance policies and drug-controlled hypertension. Now, more people suffer medical events as a result of undiagnosed hypertension than those who are on a drug control regime, yet as soon as you mention that you take any medication to control hypertension you get hit with an additional premium. Hmmm...

 

[BTB 500]

I would also add that if I'm wromg to be so suspicious then if the insurance industry really thinks that speed awareness courses increase the risk then they have a duty to produce the evidence to the HMG and the Police on public safety grounds so that these courses can be either be suitably amended and improved - or withdrawn.

It's speeding that increases the risk (allegedly).

The question is whether attending a SAC reduces that additional risk to any significant extent, compared to just taking the points.

Would be interesting to play with those options when getting an online quote, to see what difference (if any) it made.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

I would also add that if I'm wromg to be so suspicious then if the insurance industry really thinks that speed awareness courses increase the risk then they have a duty to produce the evidence to the HMG and the Police on public safety grounds so that these courses can be either be suitably amended and improved - or withdrawn.

a) They're not saying that attending an SAC increases the risk, just that in their opinion getting caught speeding puts the driver into a higher risk category.

b) They can charge what they like - it's a competitive marketplace. We're all free to go elsewhere.

 

[RhysC63?]

I have absolutely no doubt that attending a SAC made me a better and safer driver. Of course, I can't speak for everyone and I'm sure some people sit through them with the wrong attitude but I would think that the vast majority learn something and adjust their driving accordingly.

I guess it's up to the individual insurance companies if they want to recognize the opportunity to court safer drivers or not, it's a commercial decision at the end of the day, I for one will on principle never insure any of my or my family's vehicles with Admiral due to their idiotic policy on SACs.

 

[BandyAndy]

SWMBO got caught speeding twice in a week. For the first offence she took the SAC (and thought it worthwhile) and took three points for the second one. Both were for exceeding 30mph. We've just had the insurance renewal through and I phoned them to declare this. Guess what, no change to the premium. We're with LV and have been for a few years.
Maybe customer/brand loyalty is not dead yet

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Best to avoid insurance companies that deploy doggy practices to increase the insurance premium. If enough people vote with their feet, these practices will soon disappear.

So that rules out Churchill then?