According to campaigners, the police are conning motorists in regards to speed awareness courses, as they fail to make it clear that people who take part may end up being uninsured.
This is after insurers admitted to considering speed awareness courses as being the same as penalty points, resulting in fears that failing to inform your car insurance provider about this information may lead to your policy being invalidated.
This is because they often have a ‘catch all’ clause in their insurance policies, which keeps them informed about different factors that could affect your driving. Experts said that failure to declare participation in a course may result in them cancelling your cover in the event of an accident.
Ian Belchamber, a campaigner, said: “The police’s actions are potentially resulting in people driving about uninsured because they haven’t told motorists to tell their insurers about the speed awareness course. I would make sure your insurer knows you’ve been on a course regardless of whether they specifically ask for that information.”
“If you are involved in an accident and the insurer looks into your history and sees you’ve been on a speeding course, they could say ‘You didn’t tell us about this, you’re not covered’,” he added.
Speed awareness courses cost from £80 to £150, and can be taken by drivers in order to avoid receiving penalty points on their licences.
Insurance companies are perfectly entitled to increase the cost of their premiums for drivers who attend a speed awareness course, Tim Ryan, of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association, stated.
He said: “They have still broken the law on the road but are just taking their medicine differently.”