09 November 2007

Government Plan to Double Penalty Points | Cheap Car Insurance and Home Insurance from Confused.com

In response to the news that the government is planning to double the fixed penalty for people caught exceeding the speed limit excessively, Debra Williams, Managing Director of the UK's leading insurance price comparison service Confused.com, said:

We support the Government's plan to improve road safety by introducing a harsher fixed penalty for drivers who excessively speed.

What this means in practice is that the chance of getting a £100 fine and a ban for speeding, resulting from the addition of six points on your license, is instantly much higher. But speeding also carries another cost, as penalty points drive up the cost of your car insurance premium.

Confused.com's research reveals that six points on your license increases car insurance premiums by an average 25% and 50% for nine points.

While some drivers may be tempted not to inform their insurer of these points, Confused.com warns strongly against providing false information, as this will almost certainly invalidate a policy and prevent a payout in the event of a claim. Motorists could also see themselves being listed as fraudulent on the insurance industry's central fraud database, which will impact a driver's credit rating.

Speeding clearly remains a serious issue. Confused.com's research¹ reveals that approximately 21% of drivers have speeding convictions of one sort or another and calculates that approximately 600,000² drivers are one excessive speeding conviction away from a total ban. Moreover, as a result of the relaxed regulations introduced in April of this year, speed cameras no longer need to be highly visible and can blend in with the their environment, thereby significantly increasing the chance of drivers being caught for such offences.

Our advice is to ease off the gas and drive more responsibly if you want to avoid a fine and spiraling insurance costs.



Editor's notes:

• ¹ Confused.com research of 900,000 drivers over a nine month period from January - September 2007.
• ² Based on an analysis of five million customers over the last twelve months.
• Confused.com is the UK's leading insurance price comparison service, allowing people to search and compare the best premiums for car, home and travel insurance.
• Confused.com provides real-time, fully-underwritten quotes in less than two minutes - this means the price you see is the price you pay, guaranteed.
• On average, drivers using Confused.com save £215.

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