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Would car insurance system ever change?

Just a question for everyone, I've realised that you can have drink driving and speeding fines but still manage to get insurance quotes but when you have cancelled or voided insurance which could because of direct debit mess ups, telematics and just simply forgetting to provide your documents can get your insurance cancelled. Obviously I understand people who commit insurance fraud and don't state everything on their insurance, to be honest that's why the cancelled insurance exists for these type of people but when you comes down to silly things I just don't get that you get punished for nearly all your driving life for very minor things but you can get insurance with a ****ed up record any thoughts?

Reply 1

999tigger

Original post by Mo78698

Think you are confusing issues. If by law you are allowed to drive then you can always get insurance. the question is how much they want to charge you. For people who do not represent a good risk then you will be charged higher almost to the level of being refused.

You will pay less of a premium for minor transgressions, but its up to the insurance company. If you have difficulty then consider using a broker specialising in your sort of business as they may know more options than appear on comparison websites.

Reply 2

flaurie

Volunteer Team

Moved to cars and motoring :smile:

Reply 3

RoyalSheepy

Original post by Mo78698

Drink driving, speeding fines and other penalties will still raise your premiums. The same with getting your policy voided.

However, the insurer decides how much of a risk it'd be to insure yourself. Committing insurance fraud, realistically, is going to look worse than getting a couple of points for speeding accidentally.

Reply 4

nevershear

Some insurers will let it go after 5 years, it's on your record for life but you're not necessarily screwed for life; you're just making the foreseeable future extremely expensive for yourself.

Would agree however that an 18 year old should not still be declaring it by the age of 40, people do dumb things. You can get screwed for drink driving and it won't matter, eventually that disqualification and the points are wiped - even your criminal record it'll become spent and a say no more aspect of your life; however I would agree that having a policy cancellation still needing to be declared to like 90% of insurers 20 years after you had that one cancellation for oversleeping a box installation on the last day you had to do it is not right.

Reply 5

8472

I personally think the driving test should be graded like other exams, in turn providing better initial quotes much like uni offers. I had one minor so that would be an A. For each time you fail you lose the ability to get the top grade. Surely me passing first time with no minors indicates i'm a better driver than that guy down the road who failed 4 times then scraped a pass with 8 minors....
I'd also like to see police records automatically sent to insurance firms so that they have more accurate data and no cheating the system.

Reply 6

nevershear

Original post by 8472

The driving test is archaic and outdated and hardly proves how good of a driver you actually are. Some of the routes are also a joke.

Reply 7

Dheorl

Original post by 8472

Surely me passing first time with no minors indicates i'm a better driver than that guy down the road who failed 4 times then scraped a pass with 8 minors....

Likely all it indicates is you get less stressed driving in text conditions, something you only have to do once in your life.

I've known plenty of people who have passed first time after minimal lessons, got cocky and written off a car within the first six months. Equally I know people who took a few attempts, are possibly a bit more cautious, and don't have a claim on their insurance after ten years.

All insurance companies care about at the end of the day is profit. They want to ensure what they charge someone, statistically puts enough into the pot to cover the accidents they may have. Out of the two examples above, who would you charge more?

Reply 8

8472

Original post by Dheorl

According to the study mentioned, 15% less likely to have a crash if you pass first time.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8030080/Drivers-who-pass-test-first-time-safer.html

though other ones seem to indicate 3rd time.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 9

Dheorl

Original post by 8472

So basically what you're saying is from what you've found it makes no credible difference how likely you are to have an accident... so why should insurance companies be charging people less?

Reply 10

nevershear

Original post by 8472

This is an 8 year old study, but I'll humor you because you clearly didn't read it anyway lol. This article contradicts itself, calls first time passers safer, then says they're also the more aggressive drivers, as well as more likely to have more on the-road violations in general (assuming that's a highway code reference or just general laws), it then goes on to say those who have taken multiple tests are more attentive and careful. When a "study" is analysed as terribly as that, I wouldn't say it holds any weight lol.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 11

RogerOxon

Original post by 8472

I personally think the driving test should be graded like other exams, in turn providing better initial quotes much like uni offers.

There should be different levels of test rather than a grade on basic driving IMO.

The bigger issue is the drivers that haven't taken a test in decades (which includes me), and / or have picked-up a lot of bad habits (no comment). I'm a big fan of compulsorary retesting - I'd like ot see it every 5-10 years.

Surely me passing first time with no minors indicates i'm a better driver than that guy down the road who failed 4 times then scraped a pass with 8 minors....

Or that you had a better teacher, were lucky with traffic conditions, or took your test in an area with inherently easier traffic.

The driving test is not a complete assesment of your driving. You certainly shouldn't stop improving once you've passed it.