9 months till back on the road...

  • Thread starter Deleted member 8863
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Convicted Driver Insurance

Deleted member 8863

So I was caught about a year ago welllll over the limit after a boozy lunch. Took 5 months to go to court and was banned for 2 years, £400 fine and some community service. My lawyer cost the most (£8k!) and thankfully my insurance company paid out for my £95K car...

Anyhow, I have not touched a drop of alcohol since the incident and only been on the road in Spain (with my Spanish Drivers license I gained after being banned so I could at least drive somewhat, I LOVE CARS).

So I'm trying to think of the best legal loophole to get insurance for a nice car again after my license is back. Do get a Spanish reg car and import it? Im certainly not driving a little hatchback for the rest of my life in the UK. I would rather move country, which I would consider. Other aspects of life have not been effected, I can still fly my own plane in the UK, using my own boat in the UK and also motocross on my own land (but im getting a little to old for that).

So what am my options apart from paying loads per annum? I was paying £400 per year for a almost new Audi RS6 so if I bought the same again I think I may be paying the same plus a extra 0 which I would rather not do.

Alternatives...

Also, on the course to reduce my ban, everyone had there incident within a couple of months, why did mine take nearly 6 months (5 months and 20 days) to go to bloody court? My lawyer and I though I had slipped through the net somehow? Its not like it was a huge incident, only my car, quite road, flipped it, did everything the police said calmly...

I was in such a remote place I could of easily just left the car, sobered up and gone back. The only reason the police turned up is the bloody car calls the emergency services if it becomes inverted or nearly and gives GPS locations etc. There I was sat on the side of the road, no one around calmly having a cigarette next to a performance car (upside down) and all of a sudden police, ambulance and fire engine came racing to me...that gave me more of a fright than the dry stone part of the wall in the road that had fallen into the road causing me to crash.
 
In regards to loopholes there are none with UK insurers, I got a quote online for what it would be without my ban just to see the price difference and the insurer (Aviva) rang me to say that I had not declared my drink driving and was misrepresenting myself to gain cheaper insurance. I explained to the man on the phone that I was simply looking at the price difference and if he had looked at the quote I put in after that quote he would see that I had declared my drink driving, he explained that there is a system insurers have to keep track of driving offences. Drink driving has to be declared for 5 years, so it'll be 5 years in a hatchback then back to driving any car you like. It's also 5 years from the offence date. I was convicted on the 15/08/2018, I must declare my conviction until the 15/07/2023, 4 years after the end of my 1 year ban (reduced to 9 months by completing the course, blew 91)
 
In regards to loopholes there are none with UK insurers, I got a quote online for what it would be without my ban just to see the price difference and the insurer (Aviva) rang me to say that I had not declared my drink driving and was misrepresenting myself to gain cheaper insurance. I explained to the man on the phone that I was simply looking at the price difference and if he had looked at the quote I put in after that quote he would see that I had declared my drink driving, he explained that there is a system insurers have to keep track of driving offences. Drink driving has to be declared for 5 years, so it'll be 5 years in a hatchback then back to driving any car you like. It's also 5 years from the offence date. I was convicted on the 15/08/2018, I must declare my conviction until the 15/07/2023, 4 years after the end of my 1 year ban (reduced to 9 months by completing the course, blew 91)

Thank you, looks like abroad like be the option then.

When you say the offence date, you mean the day of the incident? Not the court date I hope?
 
It's from the court date unfortunately mate. My offence was on 20/07/2018. Convicted of the offence on the 15/08/2018, bans up on 15/05/2019 then I have to pass the medical and do my test again since we get shorted bans in NI compared to England but we have the re-do the test. With my breath reading I would have been on a 2 year ban in England but wouldn't have had to re-do the test.
 
In regards to loopholes there are none with UK insurers, I got a quote online for what it would be without my ban just to see the price difference and the insurer (Aviva) rang me to say that I had not declared my drink driving and was misrepresenting myself to gain cheaper insurance. I explained to the man on the phone that I was simply looking at the price difference and if he had looked at the quote I put in after that quote he would see that I had declared my drink driving, he explained that there is a system insurers have to keep track of driving offences. Drink driving has to be declared for 5 years, so it'll be 5 years in a hatchback then back to driving any car you like. It's also 5 years from the offence date. I was convicted on the 15/08/2018, I must declare my conviction until the 15/07/2023, 4 years after the end of my 1 year ban (reduced to 9 months by completing the course, blew 91)
For drink driving the relevant date for the conviction to become spent is 5 years from the date of CONVICTION, not the date of the offence. I see you have corrected this afterwards in another post but here is the confirmation for idiotdriver to see:

How long will a DR10 endorsement remain on my driving record?

A DR10 endorsement will remain on a persons driving record for a period of 11 years beginning from the date on which they were convicted. “
 
In regards to loopholes there are none with UK insurers, I got a quote online for what it would be without my ban just to see the price difference and the insurer (Aviva) rang me to say that I had not declared my drink driving and was misrepresenting myself to gain cheaper insurance. I explained to the man on the phone that I was simply looking at the price difference and if he had looked at the quote I put in after that quote he would see that I had declared my drink driving, he explained that there is a system insurers have to keep track of driving offences. Drink driving has to be declared for 5 years, so it'll be 5 years in a hatchback then back to driving any car you like. It's also 5 years from the offence date. I was convicted on the 15/08/2018, I must declare my conviction until the 15/07/2023, 4 years after the end of my 1 year ban (reduced to 9 months by completing the course, blew 91)

"he explained that there is a system insurers have to keep track of driving offences".

is this correct? unless the person declares it how will insurance company can find out driving offences? do they have access to DVLA license system?

i understand insurers have access to claim database which is shared between insurance companies.
 
I don't know if it works differently here in NI but Aviva is an English company and knew of my DD conviction. I was caught driving a friend's car in 2014 and was given an IN10 for driving without insurance and my insurer at the time AXA cancelled my policy for not declaring my IN10, AXA has never quoted me since for misrepresenting myself so I've effectively been banned from the largest and cheapest insurance company in NI for not declaring a conviction. You play a dangerous game if you're considering going down the road of not declaring your conviction, you run the risk of at the very least having your insurance cancelled and in the worst case scenario having your insurer pursue you in court to recuperate the costs in the event of a claim. In the insurance game non deceleration of convictions is looked at just the same as driving a car without insurance.
 
Get your partner to be insured then add your name to policy with conviction gaurentee its half the price
 
If you want a nice car I would put my hand in my pocket and do it properly. Some police have long memories and if they see you driving something expensive they might want to pull you and find out how you got an affordable quote.

You can't use a Spanish registered car permanently because it would need a UK insurer. You could insure it in Spain and drive it the maximum number of days they allow overseas. Obviously check the application carefully, if they are asking for any convictions rather than just Spanish ones. If its not watertight it could be 6pts, seized vehicle and long walk home.
 
So I was caught about a year ago welllll over the limit after a boozy lunch. Took 5 months to go to court and was banned for 2 years, £400 fine and some community service. My lawyer cost the most (£8k!) and thankfully my insurance company paid out for my £95K car...

Anyhow, I have not touched a drop of alcohol since the incident and only been on the road in Spain (with my Spanish Drivers license I gained after being banned so I could at least drive somewhat, I LOVE CARS).

So I'm trying to think of the best legal loophole to get insurance for a nice car again after my license is back. Do get a Spanish reg car and import it? Im certainly not driving a little hatchback for the rest of my life in the UK. I would rather move country, which I would consider. Other aspects of life have not been effected, I can still fly my own plane in the UK, using my own boat in the UK and also motocross on my own land (but im getting a little to old for that).

So what am my options apart from paying loads per annum? I was paying £400 per year for a almost new Audi RS6 so if I bought the same again I think I may be paying the same plus a extra 0 which I would rather not do.

Alternatives...

Also, on the course to reduce my ban, everyone had there incident within a couple of months, why did mine take nearly 6 months (5 months and 20 days) to go to bloody court? My lawyer and I though I had slipped through the net somehow? Its not like it was a huge incident, only my car, quite road, flipped it, did everything the police said calmly...

I was in such a remote place I could of easily just left the car, sobered up and gone back. The only reason the police turned up is the bloody car calls the emergency services if it becomes inverted or nearly and gives GPS locations etc. There I was sat on the side of the road, no one around calmly having a cigarette next to a performance car (upside down) and all of a sudden police, ambulance and fire engine came racing to me...that gave me more of a fright than the dry stone part of the wall in the road that had fallen into the road causing me to crash.
So I was caught about a year ago welllll over the limit after a boozy lunch. Took 5 months to go to court and was banned for 2 years, £400 fine and some community service. My lawyer cost the most (£8k!) and thankfully my insurance company paid out for my £95K car...

Anyhow, I have not touched a drop of alcohol since the incident and only been on the road in Spain (with my Spanish Drivers license I gained after being banned so I could at least drive somewhat, I LOVE CARS).

So I'm trying to think of the best legal loophole to get insurance for a nice car again after my license is back. Do get a Spanish reg car and import it? Im certainly not driving a little hatchback for the rest of my life in the UK. I would rather move country, which I would consider. Other aspects of life have not been effected, I can still fly my own plane in the UK, using my own boat in the UK and also motocross on my own land (but im getting a little to old for that).

So what am my options apart from paying loads per annum? I was paying £400 per year for a almost new Audi RS6 so if I bought the same again I think I may be paying the same plus a extra 0 which I would rather not do.

Alternatives...

Also, on the course to reduce my ban, everyone had there incident within a couple of months, why did mine take nearly 6 months (5 months and 20 days) to go to bloody court? My lawyer and I though I had slipped through the net somehow? Its not like it was a huge incident, only my car, quite road, flipped it, did everything the police said calmly...

I was in such a remote place I could of easily just left the car, sobered up and gone back. The only reason the police turned up is the bloody car calls the emergency services if it becomes inverted or nearly and gives GPS locations etc. There I was sat on the side of the road, no one around calmly having a cigarette next to a performance car (upside down) and all of a sudden police, ambulance and fire engine came racing to me...that gave me more of a fright than the dry stone part of the wall in the road that had fallen into the road causing me to crash.
Why does anyone even bother replying to these ridiculous attention seeking posts?
My 95k car
My plane
My boat
What an idiot.
 
Why does anyone even bother replying to these ridiculous attention seeking posts?
My 95k car
My plane
My boat
What an idiot.

Well like it or not its true. Sorry 'Alf' I shall remove the post and myself from this bloody forum if it annoys you.

Enjoy you life,

Ha
 
You did go into your personal finances a bit hard on your post, 99% of this forum don't have the luxury of simply moving country because they want to still drive a nice car. That being said you're entitled to post here just like anyone else because you needed advice, although you should have sought advice here before paying 8k to a solicitor. I had one free phone call with mine and it cost £125 for her to come to court to represent me, I blew a 91, got a £200 fine and a 12 month ban, my solicitor asked for the drink driving awareness course and my ban was reduced to 9 months. It seems your legal team really took the piss out of your wallet as 8k is an astronomical price to pay for representation for drink driving as most solicitors will advise you, you were caught plead guilty and say you're sorry and the judge might not put you in the top sentencing bracket which was the case with me. Also you have to declare previous claims to your Spanish insurance and your claim was conviction related if they decide to look into it, they more than likely won't look into it unless you have a smash, but if you have a smash and they do an investigation you'll almost certainly be out of pocket
 
Grice96, you had the good fortune to be done in Northern Ireland, where 12 month bans are quite common, even for pretty high readings. Of course the downfall in NI is that all drink drivers have to resit their test...!
 
In my TTC driving course in NI there was a range of bans, someone who blew less than me got a 18 month ban and so on. But everyone who was convicted in the same court (Newry) as me got a 12 month ban and a £200 fine all from the same judge so this must be what he sentences everyone in our area, but people who were Convicted in the Armagh and Belfast court got significantly higher bans and fines than the Newry bunch. There's the extra expense of the theory test and the practical again but that's £150 as apposed to an extra length on the ban. Out of curiosity what sort of ban and fine would I have got in England for blowing 91 and it being my first criminal offence?
 
In my TTC driving course in NI there was a range of bans, someone who blew less than me got a 18 month ban and so on. But everyone who was convicted in the same court (Newry) as me got a 12 month ban and a £200 fine all from the same judge so this must be what he sentences everyone in our area, but people who were Convicted in the Armagh and Belfast court got significantly higher bans and fines than the Newry bunch. There's the extra expense of the theory test and the practical again but that's £150 as apposed to an extra length on the ban. Out of curiosity what sort of ban and fine would I have got in England for blowing 91 and it being my first criminal offence?
The sentencing guidelines are online - but essentially community service and a circa 26 month ban. Previous criminal offences don't really play a role, except for second/third drink drive offences where you get hauled over the coals and potentially imprisoned if the magistrates feel you are at risk of doing the same again.

https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.u...s-alcohol-driveattempt-to-drive-revised-2017/

there is meant to be a move in Northern Ireland to have sentencing guidelines as well. The initial draft suggests either eighteen months disqualification, OR twenty four months. So possibly the other people on your course had a judge using the new sentencing guidelines?

https://judiciaryni.uk/sites/judiciary-ni.gov.uk/files/media-files/Driving with Excess Alcohol.pdf
 
The guidelines here are 23-28 months for a reading of between 90-119, and the likelihood of a community penalty of anything up to 300 hours.
 
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