21 yr old son just been caught, blew 45, any advice?

[rose78]

Any helpful advice for my 21 yr old son who has just been caught, silly sod. Naturally feeling very down and cross with himself, as are his parents! Usual story, he thought he was ok blah blah, despite knowing full well he shouldn't have drunk when driving. Blew 45 so hoping for lesser end of the ban with option for 25% reduction with the course. He's not had his licence for 2 years so is also expecting to have to retake test afterwards too. Not sure we can afford a solicitor,or even if its worth it as it seems fairly straight forward, although a bit odd how he was caught. Basically looks like the town council stalked him via cctv as he was seen with a bottle of beer on the high st and then enter the car park. The police were driving past him on the road (he wasn't driving suspiciously they just had his number plate on their system hence they stopped him). He's about to go back to college and was looking forward to a fresh start career wise, and will now have to catch 3 buses to get there, and has had to give notice at his part time job as he will no longer be able to get there. Any words of wisdom how to get through it would be much appreciated! NB He's already had a bad year; last summer he had a minor bump into the back of a car at traffic lights. His fault, but black box recorded impact at 7mph. No visible damage. However, other driver is claiming for £5k for whiplash etc. Insurance company are fighting it and he has to go to court as a witness for that too! And to think we were most worried about how it could impact his insurance renewal

 

[Recovered22]

Your son made a mistake, these things happen and he's very lucky there was no crash involved in the loss of his licence. With a breath reading of 45 he will find himself in the lowest sentencing bracket expecting a ban of 12-18 months and a low level fine. Personally I used a solicitor, local solicitor came to me with court on the day and I paid £190. I certainly think that with hindsight I did not need a solicitor but having one may secure your son a ban on the lower side of the sentencing scale. Make sure to ask the court for the drink driving awareness course on the day as this can only be granted before sentencing. The new drivers act states that accumulating 6 points in the first 2 years will invalidate the licence. Drink driving carries a ban and no points so the new drivers act does not apply. It is at the courts discretion wether they order him to retake his test or not apart from in Northern Ireland where all banned drivers must retake their test.

I'm slightly older than your son at 23, but I can tell you what happened with my insurance after my ban recently. Before the ban my insurance was £700 for the year, now with the ban and a £3862 at fault claim against my name my insurance was quoted by almost all providers at £2100 for the year. I'm not looking forward to paying this premium for the next 4 years but this premium hike comes part and parcel with a ban for a young driver.

 

[Mr-stupid]

I’d like to add to that, I paid for a solicitor cost me about £300 but in my experience was worth every penny. I was in the higher bracket so my penalties could’ve been community service, tag. With my job I couldn’t afford to do either of those due to being on shifts. So I was prepared to pay a larger fine. And the Soliciter worked that for me. Also meant I didn’t have to read anything out as I wouldn’t have been able to do that tbh. Due to being a nervous wreck on court day. I’d never been in trouble before.

I was banned for 19 months. Hardest few months of my life tbh. First few are the worst as I was constantly putting myself down. But as said we’re all human and all make mistakes. My parents were angry at first just because I should’ve/ could’ve got a taxi. But then after that initial anger they were there for me more than I could’ve ever expected. Giving me constant lifts and mainly never judging me. I told one of my best friends and that was it. Just got on with my life and put it firmly in the past and just learned from it. You really do value a piece of plastic.

I’m now out of my ban, my insurance was pretty much the same as before I lost my license. But I have 7 years NCB. Also my insurance is on an e46 m3 3.2L so it is possible. Shop around when that time comes.

hopefully his ban is on the lower scale as it should be. I was so happy when court was over as I could just concentrate on moving on.

my one big tip and something that got me through was having holidays ( I went to Ibiza twice the first year, certainly forgot about it there) things to look forward to. And counting down. Getting to the milestones.

 

[Recovered22]

You're very lucky on the insurance front, I have 4 years no claims bonus as I had protected no claims when I crashed but it made no difference. I put in quotes with and without it and the difference was only about £70! Just out of curiosity what age are you for your insurance to be unaffected by a ban?

I spent 3 months shopping around almost every insurer to no avail unfortunately. I have ended up buying a classic car and going with classic insurance as I could get that for £900 which is still steeper than what I was paying before on a 2.7cdi c class. Totally agree with you that you need things to look forward to during the ban or it'll do your head in as you so spend a lot of time thinking about it in the early days.

 

[Mr-stupid]

I’m now 26 now. Managed to get a good deal through an insurers and it’s slightly modified to. So was well chuffed when it come out as that.

 

[rose78]

I’d like to add to that, I paid for a solicitor cost me about £300 but in my experience was worth every penny. I was in the higher bracket so my penalties could’ve been community service, tag. With my job I couldn’t afford to do either of those due to being on shifts. So I was prepared to pay a larger fine. And the Soliciter worked that for me. Also meant I didn’t have to read anything out as I wouldn’t have been able to do that tbh. Due to being a nervous wreck on court day. I’d never been in trouble before.

I was banned for 19 months. Hardest few months of my life tbh. First few are the worst as I was constantly putting myself down. But as said we’re all human and all make mistakes. My parents were angry at first just because I should’ve/ could’ve got a taxi. But then after that initial anger they were there for me more than I could’ve ever expected. Giving me constant lifts and mainly never judging me. I told one of my best friends and that was it. Just got on with my life and put it firmly in the past and just learned from it. You really do value a piece of plastic.

I’m now out of my ban, my insurance was pretty much the same as before I lost my license. But I have 7 years NCB. Also my insurance is on an e46 m3 3.2L so it is possible. Shop around when that time comes.

hopefully his ban is on the lower scale as it should be. I was so happy when court was over as I could just concentrate on moving on.

my one big tip and something that got me through was having holidays ( I went to Ibiza twice the first year, certainly forgot about it there) things to look forward to. And counting down. Getting to the milestones.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately he is a long way from affording a holiday as he just has a minimum wage job in a bar; hence the career re-boot and college. Maybe this time next year things will be looking brighter hopefully.

 

[rose78]

Your son made a mistake, these things happen and he's very lucky there was no crash involved in the loss of his licence. With a breath reading of 45 he will find himself in the lowest sentencing bracket expecting a ban of 12-18 months and a low level fine. Personally I used a solicitor, local solicitor came to me with court on the day and I paid £190. I certainly think that with hindsight I did not need a solicitor but having one may secure your son a ban on the lower side of the sentencing scale. Make sure to ask the court for the drink driving awareness course on the day as this can only be granted before sentencing. The new drivers act states that accumulating 6 points in the first 2 years will invalidate the licence. Drink driving carries a ban and no points so the new drivers act does not apply. It is at the courts discretion wether they order him to retake his test or not apart from in Northern Ireland where all banned drivers must retake their test.

I'm slightly older than your son at 23, but I can tell you what happened with my insurance after my ban recently. Before the ban my insurance was £700 for the year, now with the ban and a £3862 at fault claim against my name my insurance was quoted by almost all providers at £2100 for the year. I'm not looking forward to paying this premium for the next 4 years but this premium hike comes part and parcel with a ban for a young driver.

thanks for the advice