Drivers with penalty points at risk of significantly heightened premium costs – Forbes Advisor

Motorists with penalty points on their license could face premium price increases of up to 74% when looking to obtain cover from top UK insurers, new data from price comparison and financial guidance platform Forbes Advisor has revealed.

In a statement released yesterday (18 July 2023), Forbes Advisor highlighted that drivers with nine penalty points for speeding offences could end up paying between 15% and 74% more for car insurance.

Drivers with one point, on the other hand, could see premium prices increase by an average of 27%.

Kevin Pratt, car insurance expert at Forbes Advisor, said that “although many may think that insurance prices rise proportionally to the number of penalty points on a license, our data shows drastic a increase from just one to three points”.

Forbes Advisor also highlighted that some insurers refused to offer a quote to anyone with six or more points.

Driving offences

The firm compiled the data between 28 and 29 June 2023 using quotes obtained online from Admiral, Direct Line, Aviva, LV= and eSure.

The research also revealed that two thirds of insurers refused to offer a quote to anyone convicted of drink-driving.

Those insurers that did offer cover to someone convicted of drink-driving charged up to 58% more compared to an insured with a clean licence.

Motorists convicted of driving with no insurance or without a valid licence were also declined when looking to obtain cover by one third of insurers.

Insurers that did provide cover in that instance charged on average 23% more for those convicted of driving without insurance and 37% more on average for drivers convicted of driving without a licence.

Claiming for an accident that was the driver’s fault, meanwhile, saw future insurance quotes increase by around 24%.

Whereas claiming for an accident that was not the driver’s fault, saw premium prices increase between 10% and 21%.