Will my Insurance Premium Increase with Speeding Points?

If you’ve been caught speeding, you may be concerned about the effect that points on your licence will have on your insurance premium. In this article, we’ll look at how speeding can affect your premium and what you can do to avoid the rising cost of insurance.

If you’ve been caught speeding, you may be concerned about the effect that points on your licence will have on your insurance premium. In this article, we’ll look at how speeding can affect your premium and what you can do to avoid the rising cost of insurance.

Getting caught speeding is a fairly common occurrence – according to the RAC, one in seven drivers in the UK have been caught speeding since 2009. For minor offences, you can usually expect points on your licence and a penalty of up to £100. For more serious offences, you may be looking at attending court, be issued with a hefty fine of up to £2500 or be temporarily banned from driving.

It goes without saying, but the best thing to do is to avoid speeding at all costs. It is the easiest way to avoid adding points to your licence and having a difficult conversation with your insurance company.

If it’s too late, and you are already facing points on your licence, you should inform your insurance company straight away. The only way to avoid this is by going on a speeding awareness course, rather than accepting points on your licence. Generally, speeding awareness courses are only available to people who have committed fairly minor speeding offences.

The majority of insurance companies do not require that you declare your speed awareness course – but do double check any small print – as a small number of insurance companies now are now requesting disclosure of speed awareness courses, and your premium may rise accordingly. If the insurer does not state that they require you to declare a speed awareness course, you are not obliged to inform them (under The Consumer Insurance Act 2012 – Disclosure and Representations).  

An independent study, carried out by The Association of British Police Officers (Acpo) has found that 99 per cent of drivers change their driving behaviours following a speed awareness course. If you’re hoping to avoid points on your licence in future, a speed awareness course could be a worthwhile investment.

If you receive a fixed penalty notice and will obtain points on your licence, it is likely that your car insurance premium will rise. This is because the data that insurers use to assess a drivers risk shows that drivers with speeding offences are more likely to make a claim. The amount that your premium will rise by can vary, and depends on the severity of your speeding offence, and whether or not you have previous offences to add to this.

The amount that your insurance premium could rise will depend on your insurance company. Some companies take a tougher approach than others to speeding. There may be very little penalty for a first time speeding offence from one insurance firm, while some firms don’t tolerate speeding at all, and may refuse to insure a driver with penalty points on their licence.

It may be tempting to consider keeping your speeding offence from your insurer, to avoid a rise in your premium. This is not recommended. Not only could it invalidate any claims that you may need to make – you could also face sizable bill, and the possibility of not being able to get insurance on your car in the future.

Share this article