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Why penalty points won't drive up your insurance premiums
By RAY MASSEY
Last updated at 22:38pm on 16th May 2007
Drivers with penalty points could see their insurance premiums fall, it emerged last night.
Insurers said speeding fines are so common that they no longer signify a motorist is a greater risk on the roads.
Swinton, one of Britain's biggest insurers, announced last night that those with six or nine penalty points will now be treated almost as if they had unblemished records.
Previously these drivers would have faced premiums up to four times higher than those with clean licences.
The Association of British Insurers, which represents more than 400 firms, said its members were likely to follow Swinton's example.
A spokesman said that licence endorsements were almost an occupational hazard and were no longer a sign of a poor or reckless driver.
Swinton said penalty points could no longer be used as a yardstick to assess drivers.
The Government's critics say the move is an indictment of policies which have seen millions punished by roadside cameras.
Motoring groups point out that the automated devices do nothing to pick up drunk drivers and very little to rein in those with uninsured, untaxed or unroadworthy cars.
More than a million motorists are only one conviction away from losing their driving licences, according to insurance industry figures. The figure has grown by 215,000 in the past 12 months.
Swinton said it had seen a dramatic rise in the number of customers with penalty points.
With more than 6,000 speed cameras on the roads catching an estimated two million drivers a year, clean licences are becoming less and less common.
Drivers are also at risk of endorsements for using a mobile phone at the wheel.
A Swinton spokesman said: "Penalty points used to be the yardstick for dangerous drivers, but with up to 10million 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 insurer has set up a special unit to deal with a 12 per cent rise in inquiries from those with endorsements.
Neil Ackinclose, who heads the new section, said: "We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of drivers with penalty points requesting insurance.
"A few years ago insurers might have assumed that a motorist with six or more points on their licence was a reckless driver, but that is no longer necessarily the case.
"It is estimated that more than one in six drivers now have points on their licence.
"As that figure continues to grow insurance providers are having to accept that points alone can no longer be used as a yardstick for driver evaluation.
"We will look at full driving history, such as their address and the car they drive when deciding the cost of a policy." Swinton said a 30-year-old man driving a Ford Mondeo might on average pay £302 a year for motoring insurance.
Three, six and nine points would have pushed that premium up to £515, £877 and £1,420 respectively. Under the new charges, these costs will be cut to £305, £308 and £332.
Malcolm Tarling of the Association of British Insurers said: "There has been a shift. The boom in speed cameras means many more motorists, who consider themselves to be safe drivers, are picking up speeding convictions.
"Against this background, we have to ask 'Does getting points mean we are more dangerous than ever before?' Not necessarily. What it does show is that there are more speed cameras, so a speeding conviction is much more likely.
"Having points doesn't necessarily mean you are a worse risk in insurance terms. Insurers have to reflect what's happening."
Paul Smith, founder of the road safety lobby group SafeSpeed, 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."
He added that the cash-from-cameras policy was starting to fracture the relationship between the police and law-abiding citizens.
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