Does having 3 points on your licence affect your car insurance costs?

[DT Ralge 10]

You are giving false information for some reason. The information I have given is correct and very easily verified. The information that you are giving is incorrect and cannot be verified.

 

Lots of quibbling over a number or two.

When a Police force is working to a 10%+2 "limit" it is when they are working to ACPO guidelines. Not all forces have signed up to these guidelines and they are often seen as guidelines for fixed cameras not necessarily for mobile units (the PC holding the unit is allowed some discretion).

So the 35 figure should not be seen as the limit below which you can get away with speeding. North Wales, for instance, is notorious for being rabidly anti-speed and no such tolerances are on offer generally.

The band of speeds clocked against which courses are offered varies from Force to Force and from one year to the next. The courses as an offer locally are quite new when compared to areas such as Thames Valley so there has been quite a lengthy bedding-in of the courses and the Constabularies needed to be convinced that the offer was worthwhile. There has also been a move towards a national model for the courses which again caused some details to change (content, length, cost, provider).

Quite recently the band of speeds clocked qualifying for an offer of a course was extended from 35/37-39 to 35/37-42. Googling it or talking to someone, even, doesn't necessarily get you accurate, uptodate information when things change on this scale.

[kermit103 10]

I don't need Google to tell me the facts. You can find any load of spurious rubbish you like on the internet.

As I said before...Having just sat through a speed awareness course where all 27 people in the room had tickets for driving between 33 and 35 mph in a 30 zone I don't need Google to tell me the rules. 30 plus 10% plus 2mph means every one of us was below your stated minimum prosecution speed. Even you should be able to work that one out.

 

I thought the 10% relaited to how much your speedometer could be out, so if your speedometer is out your gonna get caught

[sedith 19]

Do the awareness course otherwise you are likely to find that your insurance costs do rise quite considerably.

Mine didn't, first three on an SP30, they don't bother! However, six points is a different story!

[DT Ralge 10]

Mine didn't, first three on an SP30, they don't bother! However, six points is a different story!

 

You simply can't be sure that the underwriters of any individual insurance company won't change their assessment, rules, line in the sand at some time in the future. So you won't find a clause in your policy that says "we only give premiums a hike when you get to six points and when we change this we'll give you a month's notice." The reality is that ANY points may well cost you down the line and have you noticed premiums going downwards recently?

[Frank Sidney 11]

When I spoke to the insurance company, on renewal, about my points they said there were that many people with points that it doesn't effect it that much and having points doesn't make you a bigger risk of making a claim anyway...I'm sure that's not their official stance though. But its true, 3 points for going a few miles over the speed limit doesn't mean you're more of a risk than some of the numpties you see on the road these days toodling along causing all sorts of problems...

[swordfish1 10]

Nobody was doing 33mph, they just told you that and you were gullible enough to believe them. You was doing 35mph.

 

 

 

 

Erm.....I got fined for doing 33mph in a 30mph zone (near Homebase on Chesterfield Road).

I didn't get offered the choice of points or course.

[Cyclone 10]

Some insurers will increase the premium for a few points, others will not. Some insurers now recognise that the police are abusing the system to extort money and thus do not penalise. If you would like the name of an insurance company that does not penalise for a few points, PM me. I chose not to do the awareness course as it would have cost me about £250 altogether.

 

Getting points is unlikely to be anything to do with the police in 90% of cases.

[Cyclone 10]

I thought the 10% relaited to how much your speedometer could be out, so if your speedometer is out your gonna get caught

 

No, your speedo can only over read, not under. So if it says you're doing 33, you could really be doing 29.7 (10% under the reading), but never more.

[John1954 10]

I don't think I've ever seen a 32mph limit. Perhaps you need a reality check. Regarding the 42mph in a 30 limit and being offered a course, you are in Dream Land.There are an awful lot of people on speed awareness courses at speeds way below the ficticious numbers you are quoting.

 

I did the course this year after being clocked at 42mph in a 30mph speed limit. I did not dream it.

[TheGuy 10]

Have zero points on your licence and your car insurance premiums will still rise every year.

[DT Ralge 10]

Getting points is unlikely to be anything to do with the police in 90% of cases.

 

Sorry, I don't get what you are saying. (it's probably me being dim, though!)

[Cyclone 10]

Someone said that it was the police making easy money, as is typical they haven't yet twigged to the fact that the majority of cameras are not operated by the police now.

 

Some insurers now recognise that the police are abusing the system to extort money and thus do not penalise

That was the sentence I was responding to, paranoid nonsense.