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Car insurance with a conviction

Dave Lister — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 09:00:35 GMT

Hi what experience have people had when applying for car insurance quotes whilst having a non-motoring conviction against their name? My current insurer is unable to offer me a quote this year so the race is on to find a decent price before the 1st November.

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

JASB — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 09:00:35 GMT

[quote]

[b]chang - 3 Jun 20 11:44 AM[/b]

Car / van insurance and getting it right is causing me issues.

Currently have both insured through a specialist broker, all good, except of course it is about 200% more expensive than what most folk pay.

I tried Churchill, asked using their "chat" if they needed to know about unspent criminal convictions and they said "no we do not need to know" - So with a huge smile on my face and a spring in my step I did online quote, car first : no problem at all, no questions about criminal records and nothing in the assumptions or policy document linked to online, saving us best part of £275.00

Fast forward to Van quote - this is not directly with Churchill all be it you are on their site and it does ask about criminal convictions, so having selected "yes" it then redirects you to their third party providers site and says "you will not be asked for anymore details" ... then bosh, quotes £1,600 for the year ! ... main stream insurers are £400 - £500

Now with tail firmly between legs I found this forum / website, and from what I read LV are a possibility. They do insure vans but the policy docs look identical to their car policy docs.

Online quote done for car and van .... only asks about financial convictions, nothing in assumptions about other criminal convictions, nothing in policy book, I rang them to confirm, the line was very poor and I assume working from home ... the guy said they do not need to know about any criminal convictions other than financial or fraud related

So this seemed a perfect solution for me, saving about £650 on the two policies, but why do I just have doubt in my mind, why can I not just go for it. I'm usually a decisive person, but I just still have this nagging doubt that I missed something or it will go wrong.

I know rules are rules, and a 7 year term can never be spent. I have 37 claim free years on all insurances since my release, full time employment all that time, married 35 years, two grown up children, 7 grandchildren, I'd of thought a pretty attractive proposition to any insurance provider - but I'm not, and it hurts.

[/quote]

Hi Chang,
I am also on the SOR.
I used SIS for a couple of years accepting higher costs. However after 4 years I some companies were changing their polices as so cheaper.
This year I have bought a VW T5 to convert to a campervan and SIS do not touch them.

After much searching and asking the dreaded question BEFORE I gave my details I find LV were only concerned with "financial" offences and have gone with them.

The insurance was cheaper than either my TT or Z4 :) however I am now trying to get the DVLA to accept the change of class from van to campervan to lower road tax. Problem is there are to many "white van businesses" who have messed the system up by putting windows in the back and claiming there are not work vehicles. Dam criminals :):)
Hope this helps.

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

chang — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 11:44:10 GMT

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

Simon1983 — Wed, 13 May 2020 06:58:31 GMT

Morning Rufus

There has been some good feed back on the links from unlocks hub on insurance so take a look at them

https://hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledgebase/list-insurance-brokers/

All the best

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

Rufus — Tue, 12 May 2020 20:31:32 GMT

I am looking for insurance info - well ahead of time as I dont get my license back for 6 months but I have 2 disqualifications and a criminal conviction - because of the drag through rules my criminal conviction that would be spent in 1 year now lasts 5 years due to the disqualification.

Anybody got any experience with companies that wont have my eyes out, so I can try for a quote.

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

JASB — Mon, 11 May 2020 13:47:18 GMT

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[b]alexh07 - 11 May 20 3:09 AM[/b]

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[b]JASB - 6 May 20 12:38 PM[/b]

Hi
Just as an update to this post which I hope will be of use to all.
I have been looking for insurance for a van that is to be converted to a campervan, nightmare...
After being rejected etc by many or quoted extortionate charges by others I phoned LV.

The process I followed was first; due to legal bits on converting a van made sure they would cover the van being modified.
Then prior to giving my personal details I asked about unspent convictions, and if provided insurance to EX SO's.
To my surprise I was informed that with vehicle insurance they will only reject those with "financial" convictions so EX SO's where not required to declare. :)
Also the quote cost was a lot lower than some that required a declaration. :)
As a footnote if I asked for home insurance the question would be asked and so a declaration would be required and informed they would reject offering a quote.

Hopefully this will be helpful to others and keep safe.

[/quote]

That's good to hear that a company didn't use your record as an opportunity to charge more. Personally my car insurance quotes are around £300 per year more with my conviction related to internet trolling

I have read a lot of stories about car insurance which don't make any sense or seem very unfair. As it is mandatory I'm surprised that the government hasn't overhauled the whole system to allow it to be fairer, but still allow statistics to play a part in their quotes

[/quote]

Hi
Yes it is good news. By approaching brokers and asking other insurance businesses I do feel you can see the hidden cost of an offence in this scenario. I hope my process helps others to gain the confidence to approach other firms rather than stick with the "default" who advertise as being supportive and forgiving but in reality see it as a good business market.

Insurance firms; like oil companies, pay a lot of tax to the government! Supporting ex-Offenders is not a vote winner. Why change the system lol.
Take care and good luck.

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

alexh07 — Mon, 11 May 2020 03:09:55 GMT

[quote]

[b]JASB - 6 May 20 12:38 PM[/b]

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RE: Car insurance with a conviction

JASB — Wed, 06 May 2020 12:38:56 GMT

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

Yankee — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 23:11:37 GMT

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[b]Zack - 19 Sep 18 6:11 PM[/b]

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[b]AB2014 - 7 Jun 18 11:02 AM[/b]

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[b]K-NW - 4 Jun 18 5:32 PM[/b]

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[b]Dave Lister - 5 Oct 16 7:24 PM[/b]

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Another insure is Direct Line, they do not ask the question at all and offer good rates. All the insurers share information so its best to not enter your personal details in relation to a conviction as once one knows the industry knows. Even if you have to pay a slightly higher rate for a few years until your conviction becomes spent its worth doing so to not have to declare and so let the industry know that you have convictions.

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There are a few motor insurers who are only interested in motoring convictions. So, if your convictions are for non-motoring offences, you can use one of them. Unlock has a list of them here. Direct Line is one of them.

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I'm with Direct Line, and just had my renewal which beside each drivers name states "No convictions, endorsements, fixed penalties or disqualifications including points in the last 5 years". I'd hope they were only interested in motoring convictions, but I think it's broader than that. Indeed in the policy booklet last year it only stated "motoring convictions". I'd rather not disclose any information, so may check out other insurance providers listed on the Unlock site. Curious if anyone has has any luck with Direct Line recently?

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I switched to Direct Line last year and was only asked on the proposal form about motoring convictions. I've just checked my policy documents and it has the same wording as you against myself as the main driver 'no convictions, endorsements,....' it then lists my SP30 speeding ticket.

This should all be OK - it would be pretty clear to a court of law or the insurance ombudsman that as the proposal only asked about motoring convictions these notes on the confirmation statement must do likewise. I've checked the fine print and cannot find any mention anywhere else about non-motoring convictions.

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

Hola — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 22:15:56 GMT

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[b]Zack - 19 Sep 18 6:11 PM[/b]

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[b]AB2014 - 7 Jun 18 11:02 AM[/b]

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[b]K-NW - 4 Jun 18 5:32 PM[/b]

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[b]Dave Lister - 5 Oct 16 7:24 PM[/b]

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Not recently but when orig convicted I just told DL and they said they were only interested in motoring convictions so I ws fine to go with them ( this was 6 yrs ago now )

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

Zack — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 18:11:45 GMT

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[b]AB2014 - 7 Jun 18 11:02 AM[/b]

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[b]K-NW - 4 Jun 18 5:32 PM[/b]

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[b]Dave Lister - 5 Oct 16 7:24 PM[/b]

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RE: Car insurance with a conviction

AB2014 — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 11:02:03 GMT

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[b]K-NW - 4 Jun 18 5:32 PM[/b]

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[b]Dave Lister - 5 Oct 16 7:24 PM[/b]

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RE: Car insurance with a conviction

K-NW — Mon, 04 Jun 2018 17:32:53 GMT

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[b]Dave Lister - 5 Oct 16 7:24 PM[/b]

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RE: Car insurance with a conviction

Deb S — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 08:19:56 GMT

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[b]Diogenese - 30 Mar 18 12:03 PM[/b]

I don't have a car myself but there are situations where I might borrow my son's car.

He called his insurance company to have me put on his insurance. He was asked no qualifying questions and my name on his policy actually reduced the premium - go figure.

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Hi Derek

Great to hear that the premium has been reduced. I'd just make sure that you double check the small print in the policy, especially the 'assumptions' page as this can sometimes include something along the lines of:

"This policy is issued on the basis that no driver has any unspent convictions"

You don't want to discover it if you're unlucky enough to have to make a claim.

Let us know how you get on.

Debs

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

Diogenese — Fri, 30 Mar 2018 12:03:08 GMT

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

Square — Sat, 27 Jan 2018 16:35:33 GMT

I always found it much cheaper to apply directly than using comparison sites. I thing the general 'Have you got any unspent convictions' tick boxes don't provide relevant information to the insurers and they class them as the 'worst of the worst' without knowing specifics.

I had an insurance policy through a broker - who put the premium up after disclosing. I challenged it (I have never made an insurance claim in all my years driving!) - the premium was dropped (I still left under principle!).

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

Deb S — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 09:10:49 GMT

Hi All

I'll be updating our list of motor insurers over the next couple of days as it looks as though both Direct Line and Churchill have changed their 'assumptions'.

For example Churchill used to ask

"Have you had any motoring offences including convictions, endorsements, fixed penalties, bans or points in the last 5 years"

Their assumptions now state:

"The total number of convictions, fixed penalties or disqualifications for all drivers does not exceed 3 in the last five years".

It's unclear whether they're still only interested in motoring convictions - I'll try to get some clarity from them.

If you've already got a policy with these insurers which automatically renews, please make sure that you check your new policy to make sure you're still fully covered.

From what I can currently make out, LV, More Than and the Co-op have made no changes.

Debs

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

CC — Wed, 24 Jan 2018 23:04:30 GMT

I use LV as well and am very happy with them. Before I went with LV a trick I used was to ring the insurer direct and ask them straight out if they needed to know about any conviction? If I didn't like the answer I put the phone down without giving them my name etc something along the lines of "Hi I am looking for insurance for *#:~?>< but I have a criminal conviction can you offer cover? It surprisingly worked quite well and avoided any embarrassment later on. Or another version was " before we start can you offer cover to someone with****?"
I would strongly advise not to use comparison websites as they all farm and sell your data on and you probably dont want that spread around.

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

Deb S — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 08:20:02 GMT

Hi Banjoman

Great news about LV - we actually include them on our list of motor insurers but always good to get some first hand experience.

As you say, always best to approach car insurers directly rather than go via a comparison website.

Thanks for the update.

Debs

banjoman — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 10:58:24 GMT

Like many I presumed my car insurance would rise after my conviction.
When I had the reminder from my existing policy, I went straight onto the
comparison websites, and sure enough, of the half dozen or so who provided a quotation,
most were at least double my normal price.
Out of desperation, I decided to try LV on a direct basis. I could not understand how it came
back so reasonable, I tried again with the same result!!
Knowing there is no point of any insurance if, when you might need to make a claim, the company
finds you have not answered correctly some of the questions and cancel your insurance you are left in a difficult position.
So I called to speak directly with LV and asked the question "Do I need to declare any convictions" Is it a motoring
conviction they asked, " No it is not a motoring conviction" I replied. Then that's OK they said.
I immediately took out quotation they offered, (which was about thirty pound LESS than my original policy offered on renewal)
I have since discovered, most if not all comparison web sites include the question, "do you have any criminal convictions" obviously
you have to say yes. But there is no option to say it is not a motoring conviction. Consequently any insurance company
signed up to the comparison web sites, presume you have a motoring conviction.

Dave Lister — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 12:26:16 GMT

Hi Yankee

Thanks for the reply

Yes I ended up going through LV as I didn't fancy having a conversation with them. After seeing the list that Debbie provided, and triple checking that there was no mention of non-motoring convictions in their policy details booklet. (the beauty of having the document in electronic format - you can just do a CTRL+F for the relevant terms rather than having to eyeball it all)

Cheers

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

Yankee — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 11:24:39 GMT

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[b]Deb S - 6 Oct 16 10:00 AM[/b]

Hi Dave,

When applying for any insurance you only have to disclose your conviction when asked.

If you are asked you only have to disclose your conviction if it is unspent. If your conviction is spent you do not have to disclose it.

At Unlock we have a list of car insurers where some only ask about motoring convictions. Therefore, if you only have a unspent non motoring conviction you do not have to disclose it as they are only concerned with motoring offences. I have attached a link to our information hub page 'List of motor insurers'.

https://hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledgebase/list-motor-insurers/

I hope this is of assistance to you in your search for car insurance.

Debs

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For me it was really easy. I had always used a broker but didn't fancy having a conversation about a conviction with them, so went online with companies who do not ask about non-motoring. I used LV= and ended up paying £30 less than via the broker.

As an aside - a broker will often be able to access deals/special pricing only available to the broker channel, so if you're prepared to have a conversation and provide conviction details, they can be very useful as well.

RE: Car insurance with a conviction

Deb S — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 10:00:18 GMT