Yahoo Finance Committing a driving offence adds £139 to your car insurance costs
Committing a driving offence adds £139 ($182) to your car insurance costs, research suggests.
Car insurance premiums rise the more offences are committed, with the average amount an offence adds onto a drivers' premium standing at £139, according to MoneySuperMarket.
The comparison site analysed 6 million car insurance enquiries and combined them with driving licence data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
The data shows a second offence adds a further 15%, costing £145 more on average, while three penalty points on your driving licence adds about £160 to car insurance costs.
Across the country, one in 10 enquirers have at least one driving offence against their name, the data shows.
Halifax has the highest percentage of enquirers who have committed at least one driving offence, at 16.5%.
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At the other end of the scale, Jersey has the lowest proportion, with just 3.3% of enquirers having an offence.
Those who have committed offences also have fewer car insurance options available to them, MoneySuperMarket said.
It reported that on its website, enquirers with no driving offences see up to 80 quotes returned. However, after three offences, there is a significant decrease in the number of results shown.
In fact, those with four-to-five offences are likely to only see between six and 10 insurance options – potentially a 93% decrease in available products.
The research also found that the price of premiums may not go back down to the original cost after the points are cleared either — something that typically takes four years.
In fact, there is only a 14% — £147 — decrease when moving from three to zero points, the data shows.
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“Driving offences that lead to points on a driver’s license can have a big impact on car insurance costs, as well as impacting the number of car insurance options to choose from,” said Dave Merrick, car insurance expert at MoneySuperMarket.
“Our research shows 10% of enquirers have committed at least one driving offence, which means one in 10 drivers may be seeing fewer car insurance options.
He added: “But even if you do have points or offences, there are things you can do to help to bring premiums down. Keeping your car secure, increasing the excess on your policy and, in certain cases, installing a telematics device can all help to lower the cost.
“And as always the best way to ensure the cheapest deal is to shop around.”
Watch: How to make your car insurance more expensive
