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Speed Awareness Courses What they arent telling you
Article by: Darren Griffin
Date: 5 May 2016
My editorial piece in last week's newsletter about Speed Awareness Courses got a lot of interest with a number of you emailing in with your experiences.
My distaste for these courses arises because they are a profit making business with a a few select companies making a lot of money. Speeding fines go to central government but the fees for these courses are shared between the companies that are contracted to run them and the police, conflict of interest anyone? And many drivers choose the course over a fine and endorsement because they assume it will avoid an insurance premium penalty, and that's not always true.
The quality of the tuition that is being provided on these courses is also a concern. For example on one an attendee asked why black-and-white chevrons erected on bends varied in numbers and was told by the tutor that the number of chevrons indicated how many accidents there had been on that bend! Laughable were it not so serious and of course complete bunkum.
Here are the facts surrounding the insurance issue. Attending a course avoids a conviction so you do not need to volunteer the information when taking out or renewing a vehicle insurance policy. But a number of insurers have grown wise to this and are now specifically asking if you have attended a speed awareness course and then loading premiums where this is the case. I don't yet have an exhaustive list of which companies do ask but Admiral and Elephant are two who do. If you know of others then post in the thread below.
Course attendees are still being told that attendance means no increase in premium and on one course where an attendee asked the question her instructor said that, as there was no national database of attendees, if she chose not to tell tell her insurers they would never know.
So if you are unlucky and receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution with the conditional offer of a speed awareness course instead of a fine I advise you to do some research before accepting one or the other.
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| Comments
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 Posted by M8TJT on Thu May 05, 2016 8:59 am |
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| News Team Wrote: | | {snip} as there was no national database of attendees, if she chose not to tell tell her insurers they would never know. |
What crap advice!
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| Posted by box2k2 on Thu May 05, 2016 10:11 am |
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| Quote: | | {snip} as there was no national database of attendees, if she chose not to tell tell her insurers they would never know. |
More importantly, if they found out, it would invalidate your insurance!
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| Posted by M8TJT on Thu May 05, 2016 12:53 pm |
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That's why I suggested that the advice was not exactly the best practice.
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| Posted by Kremmen on Thu May 05, 2016 2:26 pm |
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With multi company access to data now always best to be 100% up front.
DashCam:
Viofo A119 V3 |
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| Posted by g7rmg on Fri May 06, 2016 7:47 am |
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Firstly a speeding ticket is not a conviction ie you have never been before a magistrates court or higher ...its your acceptance of a fine in lieu of appearing before the above.
This was explained to me by a member of my local police force when having to make a declaration on another matter !
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| Posted by timsim on Fri May 06, 2016 8:23 am |
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After being in the same situation as the editor's daughter, I opted for the course. I don't know who owned the company who ran the course, but it was a very good course. No guilt trips at all.
The instructor was an advanced driving instructor and highly knowledgeable. One attendee refused to accept that he was guilty (he was) and repeatedly tried to trip the instructor up with tricky questions that he looked up on the internet. He did not succeed.
At the end of the course I asked if I needed to tell my insurance company about the course and the answer was an emphatic "NO, if you take the course, you have not been convicted of speeding, and your details are not held in the normal police database."
Based on this imformation, I did not tell my insurance company (DirectLine), nor did they ask. The instructor did say that one company (Oh Yus), had been asking about course attendance, but the were forced to stop asking by the Insurance Ombudsman.
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| Posted by M8TJT on Fri May 06, 2016 8:46 am |
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| timsim Wrote: | | At the end of the course I asked if I needed to tell my insurance company about the course and the answer was an emphatic "NO, if you take the course, you have not been convicted of speeding, and your details are not held in the normal police database." |
But surely you have implicitly admitted that you were driving at excess speed, even though you have not actually been convicted of it.
I wonder what would happen if, when applying for motor insurance, you told them that "you habitually blast around the country at high speed ignoring all speed limits but have not yet been caught doing it."
When was, and where is the ombudsman's ruling? See what that well known paper had to say about it earlier this year HERE
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| Posted by PeirreOBollox on Fri May 06, 2016 8:47 am |
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My take on this subject is:
AFAIK speed awareness courses and safety camera partnerships are self funding, so if those people receiving an NIP opted to take the points rather than the course. The speed awareness courses and SCP's would be deprived of funding, which without topping up by central government funding would mean a decrease in equipment available & manpower used to catch people speeding
I accept no responsibility for swearing, drinking, motorcycle riding or your pregnant teenage daughter. |
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| Posted by navtrav on Fri May 06, 2016 9:10 am |
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I don't know whether there are rip-offs going on (likely as they happen in every sphere of life) but the course I went on was excellent and changed my driving habits.
Also, those licence points: it's not only insurers who check, it's also car hire firms should one need, say, an overseas holiday vehicle.
Tim
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Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy Tablet S, TomTom. Osmand+ and Sygic. Ex-TomTom Go 1000 Live, ex-TomTom Go 700, ex-TomTom truck, ex Navman/Ipaq |
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| Posted by raymondo247 on Fri May 06, 2016 9:13 am |
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HI,
I take a ROSPA Advanced retest every 3 years since 1986 to remain a member & maintain my gold Standard.
I repeatedly get told by the class 1 police drivers (retired or serving) that speed cameras should be set a 10% plus 3 miles an hour above the limit.
so at 36 mph you are bang on the allowance limit, 37 mph you are speeding.
Having said this I do stick to the speed limits as trained.
What do people out there think of this.
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| Posted by navtrav on Fri May 06, 2016 9:17 am |
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| raymondo247 Wrote: | HI,
so at 36 mph you are bang on the allowance limit, 37 mph you are speeding.
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Not so. 36 mph in 30 mph village is what caught me. And a friend who also went on a course too.
Tim
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Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy Tablet S, TomTom. Osmand+ and Sygic. Ex-TomTom Go 1000 Live, ex-TomTom Go 700, ex-TomTom truck, ex Navman/Ipaq |
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