Car insurers set to disregard points on licence

Posted :17-05-2007

Car insurers could be set to slash premiums for thousands of drivers with points on their licences, it has emerged.

Speed cameras have made driving endorsements so widespread that they are no longer an accurate guide to the risk posed by a driver, companies are increasingly acknowledging.

A general shift in practice looks likely, after car insurance provider Swinton announced earlier this week that it will treat drivers with six or nine points on their licences as if they were clean.

A spokesperson said: "Penalty points used to be the yardstick for dangerous drivers, but with up to ten million drivers collecting them, they are so common place that they have almost become pointless.

"We will be looking at each driver as an individual and not automatically upping the cost of their premium if they have six penalty points on their licence."

The Association of British Insurers has indicated that many of its members could now follow suit.

There are one million drivers in the UK with nine points on their licences, who are one more speeding fine away from a ban.

That figure has risen by 215,000 in the last year.

Pressure group SafeSpeed welcomed the decision. Founder Paul Smith said: "This announcement is all the proof we need to know that driving licence points no longer indicate risky drivers. The vast majority of licence points are for speeding offences detected by camera."


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