30.08.07 How honest are you when it comes to penalty points?
As a nation we may pride ourselves on "playing by the rules" but it seems that our scruples soon desert us when penalty points are the issue.
A surprising 10% of us have told researchers for Confused.com that we would be willing to ask someone else to take our penalty points for us (either out of the kindness of their hearts or for money) if it meant we could avoid losing our licence or facing a hefty increase in our insurance premium. We may have a job finding a willing partner in crime though, with 96% of us saying that we would not be willing to play ball. 62% of all "points dodgers" would ask their partners whilst 14% would approach a friend. 3% would ask a business colleague but perhaps most surprising is the revelation that 2% would ask their children and 10% a stranger!
The economic cost of penalty points is, of course, likely to be high. Three points are likely to attract a 7% rise in premium, six points a 25% rise and nine points an eye-watering 50%. Add to that the fact that with nine points you may well find it hard to get insurance in the first place and you can see how the murky market for taking someone else's points has arisen. It can certainly be lucrative (if illegal) business, with drivers willing to pay upwards of £100 per point.
You may well wonder how people can get away with all this in the first place. After all, aren't speed cameras meant to take a picture of the driver? Unfortunately, it seems that the accuracy of many pictures render the driver unrecognisable, especially if sunlight or shadows have reflected off the windscreen.
The big question is, therefore, would your insurance company ever find out if you simply kept quiet? The answer is a resounding "yes". As the managing director of Confused.com explains: "Providing false information can invalidate a policy and prevent a claims payout. This could not only see motorists severely out of pocket, but could result in them being listed as fraudulent on the insurance industry's central fraud database. This could not only affect an individual's future credit eligibility, but significantly increase insurance premiums and dramatically reduce the number of insurers willing to provide cover."
The obvious solution to the problem is to drive safely and not to get the points in the first place. If, however, you already have points on your licence, these tips may help you minimise your premium:
- Increase your voluntary excess.
- Shop around before committing to a policy.
- Consider changing your car to one with a lower insurance group.
- Pay the premium in one go rather than in instalments.
- Consider an Accelerator policy whereby you can earn a year's no-claims bonus in ten months.
Your Comments
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I paid my son to take my points, he's away at uni so he won't be driving much for the next few years.
I could never condone the passing on of speeding points to another person. I have had only three speeding charges in 40+ years, all in the same year, they all were less than 7miles over the limmit, one was only 3miles over the limit(being in my 70's I am not a speed merchant, far from it). Each time the police were hiding behind a tree. I know this is no excuse. My complaint is that 2 are now off my licence and the third will be off at the begining of October (3years) but insurance companies penalise people for 5 years( the last one will penalise me for 5years 11 months). Surely the Insurance companies could work in conjuntion with the D.V.L.A.
Dishonesty rules? So many people think it's 100% OK to cheat and lie and implicate innocent others concerning some aspect of driving. Not being responsible for their own actions and causing another person (albeit with that person's misjudged agreement) to be implicated in the errant driver's deception is seen by those perpetrators as acceptable behaviour. Being responsible for one's own actions seems to fly out of the window for some people when it comes to driving.