Non- car insurance

M

Matt Stevenson

First Team
Just got some strange car insurance quotes and wondering if anyone knew why.

I got an SP50 (going 52 on the motorway at midnight where the limit had come down to 40 for a couple of miles :mad:) and was trying to work out whether I should do the speed awareness course or not. I was factoring in a day of my time vs potential insurance premium increases. I was at zero points.

Running my numbers through 3 comparison websites. If I take the points, the premiums are about £380 and if I don't the premiums are about £470. The lower quotes, which calculate my mileage, aren't available with a clean licence. So I'm drawn towards taking the points.

Has anyone got an idea why the premiums go down if I take 3 points?
 
can’t shed any light on the premium question but it might be helpful to know that the speed awareness courses are mostly online now and you get to pick a date/time that suits. so it’s 3 hours at a time of your choice rather than a day in Dorchester or somewhere
 
Matt Stevenson said:
Just got some strange car insurance quotes and wondering if anyone knew why.

I got an SP50 (going 52 on the motorway at midnight where the limit had come down to 40 for a couple of miles :mad:) and was trying to work out whether I should do the speed awareness course or not. I was factoring in a day of my time vs potential insurance premium increases. I was at zero points.

Running my numbers through 3 comparison websites. If I take the points, the premiums are about £380 and if I don't the premiums are about £470. The lower quotes, which calculate my mileage, aren't available with a clean licence. So I'm drawn towards taking the points.

Has anyone got an idea why the premiums go down if I take 3 points?
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No idea about premiums, but it might be worth bearing in mind that if you get trapped again you might find yourself with 6 points and premiums heading for the moon. I'd be inclined to take the points even if there is an insurance hit (this year) of £90.
 
dsr-burnley said:
No idea about premiums, but it might be worth bearing in mind that if you get trapped again you might find yourself with 6 points and premiums heading for the moon. I'd be inclined to take the points even if there is an insurance hit (this year) of £90.
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Yes I'd take the course, no points and higher premium every time.

Unless you're certain from here on you'll never go a few mph above the limit...
 
Thanks all so far. I did a course about 10 years ago, and it now being online is definitely a bonus. It's the lower premiums (this year) that is puzzling me most. Hopefully someone out there will know why.

Re further offences, I'd still have the speed awareness course that I didn't use to fall back on as I'd only be slightly over the limit if trapped.

I'm now really undecided in what to do!
 
Matt Stevenson said:
Thanks all so far. I did a course about 10 years ago, and it now being online is definitely a bonus. It's the lower premiums (this year) that is puzzling me most. Hopefully someone out there will know why.

Re further offences, I'd still have the speed awareness course that I didn't use to fall back on as I'd only be slightly over the limit if trapped.

I'm now really undecided in what to do!
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Did you declare this incident to insurers but said no points on some of the quotes?
 
Also worth pointing out that I was recently offered a motorway awareness course (MWAC) even though I had already completed a speed awareness course in the last 3 years (tut tut). So I think they come under different categories depending on where the offence was committed. I don't think this was the case in the past.

No idea why taking the points would cause your premium to come down. If anything the courses are extremely valuable and were a good refresher for me!
 
Matt Stevenson said:
Yes, the only difference in the quotes were whether I declared a SPF50 with £100 fine and 3 points, or whether I declared an SPF50 with £0 fine and 0 points.
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I didnt think you had to disclose it at all if points not on license.... I could be wrong of course and may need to call my insurers or risk them refusing to pay out if ever needed.
 
MB1980 said:
I didnt think you had to disclose it at all if points not on license.... I could be wrong of course and may need to call my insurers or risk them refusing to pay out if ever needed.
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There's certainly questions relating to convictions that allow you to enter no points & no fines (which is essentially a speed awareness course). After researching I've got the gap between the two quotes down to £34 (still cheaper to have points) but I think that will sway me.

Good luck with your insurers!
 
NornIron said:
can’t shed any light on the premium question but it might be helpful to know that the speed awareness courses are mostly online now and you get to pick a date/time that suits. so it’s 3 hours at a time of your choice rather than a day in Dorchester or somewhere
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That’s good to know. I’ve been to Bovington speed awareness centre that many times I’ve got my own mug in the canteen.
 
New Forest Cherry said:
not really a badge of honour though
far too many bellends in bellend cars doing silly speeds especially in rubbish weather
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Agreed but there's not always a good correlation between those acting dangerously and those caught speeding.

As for the original question, the only thing I can think of is if you don't take the points they don't know the severity of the offense and as it was a 3-pointer (which I think is the minimum) then statistically it would be assumed to be bigger. This assumes that you need to inform them of the offense though.
 
New Forest Cherry said:
not really a badge of honour though
far too many bellends in bellend cars doing silly speeds especially in rubbish weather
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That’s a bit of an over generalisation. I’ve been caught twice more recently though don’t know what you mean by a ‘bellend car’ so won’t comment on that.

The first occasion was at 1130pm where I was doing 56 in a 50 mph average speed check zone - I was driving back home having just lost my mother that day. My fault as my mind was elsewhere, but hardly a silly speed.

The second time was in a country lane, I was exiting a hamlet where there was a 30mph limit and there was a police camera vehicle parked in the entrance of a farm around a bend, about 20 meters before the limit changed to 60. I was doing 35. My fault of course but again hardly a silly speed.
 
Neil Dawson said:
That’s good to know. I’ve been to Bovington speed awareness centre that many times I’ve got my own mug in the canteen.
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And I thought you could only do one.
Back to the insurance premiums. My Insurance dropped £20 this year. Don't know why, didn't shop around and happily accepted it.
 
afcb_rednblack said:
That’s a bit of an over generalisation. I’ve been caught twice more recently though don’t know what you mean by a ‘bellend car’ so won’t comment on that.

The first occasion was at 1130pm where I was doing 56 in a 50 mph average speed check zone - I was driving back home having just lost my mother that day. My fault as my mind was elsewhere, but hardly a silly speed.

The second time was in a country lane, I was exiting a hamlet where there was a 30mph limit and there was a police camera vehicle parked in the entrance of a farm around a bend, about 20 meters before the limit changed to 60. I was doing 35. My fault of course but again hardly a silly speed.
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Yes I was barely over the limit three times and have done three driving courses as a result. You can only go every three years though. I do 35000 miles a year so there is a slight inevitability about it. Good chance for Newforestcherry to call me a bellend though! :grinning:
 
Matt Stevenson said:
Yes, the only difference in the quotes were whether I declared a SPF50 with £100 fine and 3 points, or whether I declared an SPF50 with £0 fine and 0 points.
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You don't declare anything for a driving course. It's as if the offence never happened.

As for insurance generally, there are some weird algorithms. My nephew in York got a cheapest quote of £2,000 for a Nissan Micra. But when he added his parents to the quote, correctly giving their address as Anglesey and correctly declaring the car would be kept in York with nephew as main driver, it came down to £1,000.

Absolutely nothing wrong with declaring drivers who won't be driving. As long as the main driver is correct, it's fully legit.
 
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