Declaring attendance on a speed awareness course?

[DT Ralge]

I agree, I have just looked at the wording on my Admiral policy and it doesn't say anything about having to declare a speeding cause, but it does say you have to declare points on licence.

The big question is how they would know if you didn't declare it, I wouldn’t think the police create a list of attendees.

 

The Police hold a nationwide list of attendees - don't forget you are only allowed one course per 3-year period, so they have to keep records.

[DT Ralge]

An update:

 

ACPO have circulated the below to service providers, which was part of a larger message emailed earlier today:

 

"The insurance industry is becoming increasingly interested in NDORS attendance and completion. A frequently asked question from people being offered and attending courses is whether or not an NDORS course offer and attendance should be notified to their insurers. Legal advice is that attendance on an NDORS course is not a conviction, nor should it be treated as a conviction, unlike a fixed penalty. However, as always, the detail is in the small print.

 

There appears to be a very inconsistent approach by the industry to NDORS, with some insurers adjusting premiums once notified and others displaying no interest whatsoever. If an insurance company has asked, on its proposal form, at the time the insurance policy is first taken out, whether a driver has attended or is about to attend an NDORS course, then an honest answer must be given. Failure to do so would render the policy void. Similarly if, having answered “no” to such a question, the driver subsequently accepts an offer of a course, it is advisable to notify the insurance company as, by asking the question at the time the policy began, the insurance company has shown that they consider the answer to be material. Conversely if the insurance company has asked no questions about a course and has limited their questions purely to accidents and convictions within specified periods, then it is difficult to see how they could later suggest that attendance at a course designed to improve driver skills represents a material change.

 

We are now working with the industry in an attempt to agree a common approach by the industry to this issue."

 

Positive statement surrounding the courses from Dr Fiona Fylan, a leading academic and researcher into driver training:

 

"NDORS courses are developed carefully by psychologists and make use of techniques that can help people to change the way they behave. These include things such as telling people about the risks associated with speeding or going through red lights, and showing people how to tell what the speed limit is, or what particular road markings mean. They also include activities such as helping people to identify what might stop them from driving in a safe and responsible way and how they can overcome these barriers. All the courses aim to make people feel good about changing, and this includes them gaining some benefits from driving in a safer more responsible way. One of these benefits is that people do not get penalty points on their licence because they have attended the course in lieu of a prosecution.

Insurance companies use the points on a person’s licence as a way of estimating how risky their driving is. The trouble with increasing their premiums because they have attended an NDORS course is that is assumes that the course does not affect their level of risk. But we have evidence from the national evaluation of the speed awareness course that drivers are less risky after they have been on the course because they want to drive slower. They understand why speed limits are set how they are and they want to reduce the risk both to themselves and other road users.

Increasing their insurance premiums despite them actually presenting less of a risk is not only unfair but it could also decrease the effectiveness of the courses, because rather than feeling good about being a safer driver, people attending the course could feel that they are being unfairly punished."

[DT Ralge]

AA-Drivetech's response:

 

AA: INSURERS SHOULD RECOGNISE SAFETY CONTRIBUTION OF SPEED AWARENESS COURSES

 

AA ‘astonished’ at insurer premium hikes for course attendees

Insurers’ ‘moral responsibility’ to encourage drivers to reduce risk

86% of drivers say driver awareness courses should be offered

‘Resentful’ driver: ‘My whole attitude to safety changed’

 

The AA has reacted with astonishment at news1 that at least one motor insurer increases its customers’ car insurance premiums if they have attended a speed awareness course, treating them in a similar way to those accepting a statutory three-point penalty and £60 fine.

 

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance says: “The view of most insurers, including the AA, is that attending a course is a responsible approach and should not be penalised by increasing premiums in the same way as a fixed penalty. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that insurers have a moral responsibility to encourage drivers to take actions that will reduce their risk of causing accidents”

 

Speed awareness courses are offered by police forces for minor speed infringements and typically cost around £90. More serious motoring offenders are not offered them while those who go on to re-offend can’t take a second course for three years.

 

Mr Douglas points out that drivers who have a single speeding conviction are 10% to 12% more likely to make a claim than those who have a clean licence.2

 

“Offenders who have not seriously exceeded the speed limit can expect to be offered a speed awareness course and there is considerable evidence that doing so changes driver attitudes and makes them less likely to both re-offend or claim.

 

“However, offend again and that good work is undone: drivers won’t get a second chance to attend a course for some time,” says Mr Douglas. “Second speed offenders are 18% more likely to make a claim2 following a crash than a driver with just one offence.”

 

According to an AA/Populus poll of 11,548 AA members3, 86% agreed that driver improvement courses should be offered as an alternative to prosecution. 71% thought that such courses should be offered for minor speeding offences while only 34% thought they should be made available to serious offenders.

 

Research commissioned by Thames Valley Police4 found that, six months after attending a course, drivers were 50% less likely to re-offend than those who opted to pay a fine and accept points on their licence. Similar research from Northumbria Police suggested that 95% of drivers changed the way that they drive as a result of the course.

 

David Richards, spokesperson for AA DriveTech which runs driver rehabilitation courses for police forces, says that being caught for speeding is a wake-up call for most drivers and if they’re offered a course, they should take advantage of it.

 

“Most drivers go on a course reluctantly and simply to keep points off their licence. The likelihood of not seeing their car insurance premiums rise, as will happen if they accept a penalty, is a further incentive.

 

“But once they are on the course the majority of drivers quickly find that they make better informed driving decisions which brings about real improvements in their attitude towards speed and other driving tasks.

 

“It’s absolutely clear that such courses reduce the likelihood of re-offending and therefore attendees are less likely to be involved in a crash, which in turn contributes to improved road safety for everyone,” he added.

 

“I hope that other insurers don’t start penalising those who do attend them: it will undermine much of the important progress being made to improve road safety.”

 

What attendees say

 

Typical comments from drivers who have attended a speed awareness course:

“I must admit, I went with very limited expectations, feeling slightly resentful…I feel a bit ashamed to say that I now feel reacquainted with some of the Highway code! My whole attitude towards speeding and general road safety has changed…I have taken a fresh interest in driving as a result.”

“I entered this course knowing I had been speeding and the policeman was 100% correct. I thought I knew nearly everything after 40 years driving and had never previously been stopped for anything. As the course went on, I realised by the minute the less I really knew…probably the best money I could have spent…”

“I have to admit … I was not looking forward to it, viewing it as a chore that had to be done, and going with the attitude that I would probably be bored stiff and would be wasting four hours of my precious time. Was I wrong!”