Caught drink driving second time 3 years - am I even insurable over the next decade?. (Got suspended prison sentence)

[Idiotic]

Hi all I will to try to be brief as possible.

One year ago (Xmas 2022) I drank over the limit and totalled my van (no one injured thank god)

I was taken to hospital and was 2.5x over limit after I got my own blood tested.

They took my blood test at the hospital, and the first case took a year for it to get to court. (Which I attended Around 4 weeks ago)

I crashed again drink driving 2 weeks before the the court date for the incident the year earlier...

Had I not drank and drove again I probably would have been given 12 months - 16 months, and offered a drink drive course

They merged both cases together the offence from last year, and this year's offence.

Here is what I got a few weeks ago in court:

* 2 months prison suspended for 12 months.

* 3 year driving ban.

DR10 (driving over the limit last year) " to be held on licence for 4 years"

DR30 (refusing to provide a sample of breath this year) "held on licence for 11 years" (wow)

In10 (driving without insurance as my licence was currently suspended) "held on my licence for 4 years)

LC20 (Driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence) as it was already under revocation as the police officer wrote to the DVLA saying I may have an alcohol addiction... They wrote to my doctor who confirmed, so I had my licence revoked.

They did not let me take the course.

When I get my licence back in 3 years, how uninsurable am I with all those codes above.

Plus I now have an at fault accident with a parked vehicle (5 years in which I have to declare)

I was at the finishing line and would have ended up with just a dr10 if I didn't drink and drive 2 weeks prior to a year long waited court date,and would be back out to work In 12 months from now.

I've had to close my business because of this. My username check out!

I will get my licence back In 3 years, but with all those driving offence codes, will I even be insurable by anyone at any price for a small van...

That's a lot of offences I was hit with in one go.

I'm 35 and needed my van for work purposes in full so I feel like I've totally ended all future career prospects.

Thanks

 

[BigTom]

Unfortunately DR10 is kept on licence for 11 years also not 4! Your hardest thing will be getting licence back in the first place. You will have to undergo DVLA medical before they even consider giving you a licence. You will have lost any No Claims that you have accrued, maximum length of time they remain valid is 2 or 3 years depending on insurer. You HAVE to declare your convictions for 5 years, so the answer to your question is Yes, there will be someone out there who will insure you, but it will not be cheap!!!!

 

[Idiotic]

I should have blown at the station. I didn't realise it would stay on for 11 years.

Completely at a loss of what to do in life.

Maybe I should do a quote check. But it looks like I've thrown my life away and my business... For nothing.

 

[Idiotic]

Am I definitely now considered a high risk offender? The court case was about 15 minutes long. They didn't say if I will have to have medical.. they didn't say if I have to retake my test or anything else for instance.

I've really messed up my life and career through a year of stupidity through alcoholism

All I can say is that I would never drink drive again... There's so many offence codes list i feel like just curling into a ball and never getting back up again as even if/when I get my licenece back I'm still gonna be screwed until my mid 40's.

*Sigh*
.

 

[Xeronema]

Am I definitely now considered a high risk offender? The court case was about 15 minutes long. They didn't say if I will have to have medical.. they didn't say if I have to retake my test or anything else for instance.

I've really messed up my life and career through a year of stupidity through alcoholism

All I can say is that I would never drink drive again... There's so many offence codes list i feel like just curling into a ball and never getting back up again as even if/when I get my licenece back I'm still gonna be screwed until my mid 40's.

*Sigh*
.

The DR30 alone would make you a HRO (not experienced this one so I'm happy to be corrected). Having two drink driving convictions in the space of 10 years also means you're classified as a HRO.

Also, if your reading was over 87.5 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of breath, that may also make you a HRO (again, not experienced this one myself).

Edit: I'd just like to add that for the DR30, I think it would be case by case (just in case someone else is looking for guidance from this thread). If someone had a DR30 but had grounds to challenge, for example breathing problems etc. From what you've said I think it's a mute point anyway, given the two drink drive convictions in 10 years is pretty damning when it comes to being classified as a HRO.

 

[Idiotic]

I did a quick mock check with all the above convictions on a 1.9 litre medium sized van.

Coming back at about £1700 - £2500 a year,

Which is 4 to 5 x what I had currently been paying per year.

It's just 3 to 5 years of waiting now, I moved to quite a remote area where public transport is crap before the ban, which means 6 hour round trips to visit my mum by taxi, then train, then bus
... I feel so isolated. I attempted suicide and was put into a coma recently, then sectioned under the mental health act.... I come from very bad beginnings in life, turned my life around, then destroyed everything I'd built within a year of drinking.

I won't have a business to go back to and will have to build up some other type of business from scratch (I'm in cleaning industry) as I have lost all of my customers over the last year as I've not been able to reach them,.

This has literally ruined my pride and dignity, and my poor mum who I barely see now who is getting old.

I wish this was a bad dream I could awaken from.

 

[BigTom]

I did a quick mock check with all the above convictions on a 1.9 litre medium sized van.

Coming back at about £1700 - £2500 a year,

Which is 4 to 5 x what I had currently been paying per year.

It's just 3 to 5 years of waiting now, I moved to quite a remote area where public transport is crap before the ban, which means 6 hour round trips to visit my mum by taxi, then train, then bus
... I feel so isolated. I attempted suicide and was put into a coma recently, then sectioned under the mental health act.... I come from very bad beginnings in life, turned my life around, then destroyed everything I'd built within a year of drinking.

I won't have a business to go back to and will have to build up some other type of business from scratch (I'm in cleaning industry) as I have lost all of my customers over the last year as I've not been able to reach them,.

This has literally ruined my pride and dignity, and my poor mum who I barely see now who is getting old.

I wish this was a bad dream I could awaken from.

Just try to put it behind you, don't worry about the past - just concentrate on the future. Sure life will be a bit more difficult, but £2,500 a year isn't that much really - my 17 year old daughter has just paid that for her first insurance!

Those who love you will forgive you, those who don't love you really don't care! Honestly, the majority of negative thoughts about how others perceive us are in our own heads.

You can't shape the past in any way, so as I say concentrate on the future - you can shape that. Learn from your mistakes and don't let this make you someone that you are not!

Time is a great healer, and although you will probably never forgive yourself, you can and will move on from this and will achieve greater and better things!

 

[Xeronema]

Just try to put it behind you, don't worry about the past - just concentrate on the future. Sure life will be a bit more difficult, but £2,500 a year isn't that much really - my 17 year old daughter has just paid that for her first insurance!

Those who love you will forgive you, those who don't love you really don't care! Honestly, the majority of negative thoughts about how others perceive us are in our own heads.

You can't shape the past in any way, so as I say concentrate on the future - you can shape that. Learn from your mistakes and don't let this make you someone that you are not!

Time is a great healer, and although you will probably never forgive yourself, you can and will move on from this and will achieve greater and better things!

I agree, 100%. In the grand scheme of things, you're not that old, you still have time to get back on track. If alcohol is a problem for you, start now by working towards dealing with said problem. If you need support regarding your drinking, speak to your GP. If you choose to abstain from alcohol, make sure to make your doctor aware of this (write down the date you visited your doctor and the date you had your last alcholic drink) - when reapplying for your licence, if that date is several years ago, it will look better for you.

I think that most of us on here thought that the world had come to a stop when we got convicted (from the point of first being arrested and having to wait weeks or even months to find out what punishment we'd be handed - in my opinion we punish ourselves way worse than any court can).

Please don't be a stranger, there are plenty of people on here that have been through similar and are more than happy to chat with you. I'm a 30 something recovering alcoholic with two DR10's - my door (so to speak) is always open, I'm about most of the time. Feel free to DM/private message me, even if it's just to talk.

Edit: *even if it's just to talk and vent about stuff that isn't really related to the incident(s) or conviction(s).

 

[Honestman]

Hi all I will to try to be brief as possible.

One year ago (Xmas 2022) I drank over the limit and totalled my van (no one injured thank god)

I was taken to hospital and was 2.5x over limit after I got my own blood tested.

They took my blood test at the hospital, and the first case took a year for it to get to court. (Which I attended Around 4 weeks ago)

I crashed again drink driving 2 weeks before the the court date for the incident the year earlier...

Had I not drank and drove again I probably would have been given 12 months - 16 months, and offered a drink drive course

They merged both cases together the offence from last year, and this year's offence.

Here is what I got a few weeks ago in court:

* 2 months prison suspended for 12 months.

* 3 year driving ban.

DR10 (driving over the limit last year) " to be held on licence for 4 years"

DR30 (refusing to provide a sample of breath this year) "held on licence for 11 years" (wow)

In10 (driving without insurance as my licence was currently suspended) "held on my licence for 4 years)

LC20 (Driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence) as it was already under revocation as the police officer wrote to the DVLA saying I may have an alcohol addiction... They wrote to my doctor who confirmed, so I had my licence revoked.

They did not let me take the course.

When I get my licence back in 3 years, how uninsurable am I with all those codes above.

Plus I now have an at fault accident with a parked vehicle (5 years in which I have to declare)

I was at the finishing line and would have ended up with just a dr10 if I didn't drink and drive 2 weeks prior to a year long waited court date,and would be back out to work In 12 months from now.

I've had to close my business because of this. My username check out!

I will get my licence back In 3 years, but with all those driving offence codes, will I even be insurable by anyone at any price for a small van...

That's a lot of offences I was hit with in one go.

I'm 35 and needed my van for work purposes in full so I feel like I've totally ended all future career prospects.

Thanks

As has been pointed out just getting a licence back will be a hell of a job on its own due to a revoke, you will need to pass the dvla medical which in turn means that you need to dry out and abstain from the booze to demonstrate to dvla that you do meet the requirements for fitness to drive/hold such a licence, and on top of that they will write out to your Gp on a regular basis to see if there are any concerns regarding your relationship with alcohol, so I wouldn’t worry about the convictions just yet, if you don’t meet the standards for safety when applying for a licence dvla won’t issue one …..

 

[Bad_karma]

I was involved in an accident and ended up being charged with more offences than what you were as well as several driving bans. Yet, here I am a few years later, insured and have moved past it all - as you will too.

There is a bit of confusion on this thread and I’m not sure you fully understand the longevity of your convictions.

There is a distinct difference between motoring endorsements and convictions.

Motoring endorsements
You can largely forget these exist. Your licence is endorsed for 11 years (DR10, for example) but this is really only so they can keep track if people get multiple convictions within the 10 years. Equally, IN10 will remain an endorsement for 4 years yet you are required to disclose the conviction for 5 years. The only time you will ever really need to think about motoring endorsements is if you are hiring a car or you will be driving a company vehicle for an employer - basically any occasion where you are required to share your driving licence record.

Convictions
For all intents and purposes this is the only thing you need to think about, ie jobs and insurance. You are required to disclose all your convictions for 5 years from when you got convicted in court, irrespective whether your licence is endorsed for 4 or 11 years. In 5 years time you will be able to say you have no convictions or accidents to declare to employers and insurers. You will be back to normal by the time you are 40, not mid-40s.

If your accident was ‘22 that means you can stop mentioning it after 5 years in December ‘27 - a year before you have to stop declaring the convictions, which will hopefully have a positive impact on your premiums.