Motorists on Course to Avoid Paying the Price for Speeding

News provided by

moneysupermarket.com

05 Sep, 2011, 18:00 GMT

CHESTER, England, September 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Over 70 per cent of drivers caught speeding would opt to take the National Speed Awareness course if offered, to avoid penalty points

- A speeding conviction adds on average 17 per cent to the cost of a premium

With hefty penalties in place for those who are convicted of speeding, research reveals motorists are increasingly opting to take the National Speed Awareness course, if they're given the choice, to avoid paying the £60 fine and three points on their license.

Research from moneysupermarket.com, Britain's number one comparison site, reveals over 26 million motorists (72 per cent) would opt to take the National Speed Awareness course if they were caught speeding and offered it, to avoid paying a £60 penalty and having three points added to their license.[1] This compares to 16 per cent of motorists who would just accept the fine and points. Over half (53 per cent) claim they would take the course to prevent their insurance premiums going up, and a further 14 per cent would take it as they feel they would learn something from it. On the other hand however, the 12 per cent who would just accept the penalty points and the fine, would do so because it's the quickest resolution.

Pete Harrison, car insurance expert at moneysupermarket.com said: "The National Speed Awareness Course was introduced to give motorists caught speeding the opportunity to re-educate themselves on the effects and dangers involved. By attending the course, motorists will avoid the three points on their license and the £60 fine providing it is either the first time they are caught, or that haven't taken the course within the last three years.

"It's no surprise the course option is proving to be the most popular with motorists. Insurers clearly take a dim view on policy holders who speed and this is reflected in higher car insurance premiums. Motorists can expect to see their premiums rise by around 17 per cent on average for the first offence,[2] and this will continue to increase the more convictions you get. For repeat offenders, some insurers may even refuse to cover you.

"Not only are motorists who flout the law by speeding risking the lives of other road users and pedestrians as well as their own, they also run the risk of adding to the existing headache of sky high car insurance premiums. My advice to motorists concerned by the cost of their car insurance is to always scour the market for the best deal for your circumstances."

Notes to Editors:

[1] Research undertaken by Opinium Research based on an online poll of 2,019 UK drivers from 9th 11th August 2011. Results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria. http://www.opiniumresearch.com. According the ONS there are 49,529,000 adults (18+) in the United Kingdom in 2011. According to the research 74% (1489 drivers / sample pop 2019) of UK adults (18+) drive some form of vehicle, therefore there are approximately 36,651,460 (36.6 million adult drivers in the United Kingdom).

[2] Examples of insurance premium changes for speeding

30 year old male teacher in Manchester driving a 2006 Ford Focus, 10,000 miles a year with 5 years NCD. Parked on driveway.

                                Licence with a
                       Clean         SP30
    Provider          Licence     conviction
    AXA              GBP611.32    GBP737.44
    Swiftcover       GBP623.92    GBP623.92
    Privilege        GBP698.54    GBP986.86
    esure            GBP743.83    GBP830.12
    LV=              GBP781.37    GBP873.84
    Sheilas' Wheels  GBP828.84    GBP914.42
    insure           GBP828.94  GBP1,023.79
    Average          GBP730.97    GBP855.77

Sourced by http://www.moneysupermarket.com 25.08.2011

moneysupermarket.com's customer commitment

  • No other site compares more prices or products
  • We are independent so only find the best deals for you   
  • The price you see is the price you pay - you don't need to go direct and you won't get a better deal doing so   
  • Your details are safe with us and we won't sell them to anybody

moneysupermarket.com compares (at 28th July 2011)

  • 101 car insurance providers and 77 home insurance providers
  • 12 broadband providers and 19 energy providers   
  • 28 unsecured loan and 5 secured loan providers
  • 64 mortgage lenders and 31 credit card providers
  • 69 savings providers and 34 current account providers.
  • Over 880,000 mobile phone deals

We promise to be clear and impartial

  • All the products in our full search results tables are displayed in a completely unbiased manner.
  • We don't add fees or commissions on to the prices we compare.
  • There may be times when another site compares more companies than us on a particular product, perhaps because of market changes or technical issues. You'll be able to see this and know we are working hard to fix it.

We promise to be trustworthy

  • We never use your data to make unwanted sales calls or send you spam.
  • We never pass your personal information to third parties unless you give us permission to do so.
  • Even if you choose to receive additional information from us, you can opt out at any time. 
  • We promise to be supportive.
  • You can use our community forum to get information and help from other customers.

If you need further help or support, you can contact our sales advisors, customer services agents.

For further information, please contact: 

Nicki Parry
PR Officer
+44(0)1244 370318
nicki.parry@moneysupermarket.com