It's never too early to look for a course

Convicted Driver Insurance

ZZTopWereHere

Well Known Member
Hi all,

I was lucky enough to be heard by a court selecting the provider closest to where I live, after asking me which one I would choose while I hadn't really looked for any provider earlier on.

The location of their local courses would be literally halfway between my home and my office. However, it turns out that they won't offer any course in my town except for one which would end two days after the deadline imposed by the court.

I could still find a course a few train stations away from home, and they say that they plan for course locations about a year ahead so it's unlikely that a course would suddenly reappear closer to home.

While looking at all posts before my court hearing, I thought that even being just allowed to be given the opportunity to attend a course that would have reduced my disqualification by 25% would have been a privilege, so I hadn't really looked for any specific provider.

In hindsight, I think that it would have been much better to look for course dates and locations before my hearing. I can't really complain about what happened to me, but I truly believe that looking for a course provider before entering the court doesn't hurt.

in my case, I've found out that the court didn't even notify the course provider suggested by the court in the first place, and if I had already knew about specific course dates I would have probably contacted my provider earlier on. The provider needs to have all prosecution details before accepting new attendees, so telling them about the arrest and conviction is not enough. They need to get in touch with the court before allowing for any reservation.

Long story short, I would suggest anyone on bail and waiting for a first offence hearing to look as soon as possible for course dates and locations so that you can react promptly when asked to pick a course provider, and later on when waiting for a letter from that provider. It might happen, as in my case, that actually the court did not inform the provider and therefore the provider got my details from the court only after I contacted them to book my course.

All the best,
Z
 
I would point out that you do not have to stick wi the provider that you nominated in court. You are free to contact any of the 18 or so providers and ask to be transferred to them. You can search on the website for some of the providers, but some require you to log in first to look at their course availability. (so you have to register to do a course with them before you can look)
You can find the list of providers at the link below. As you have already owned out, some providers say they run courses in your town... Until you actually want to do a course locally within your time frame, they you find the reality of what ey actually offer.
When the course was restructured a couple of years ago, one new provider claimed to be the biggest provider of courses in the UK, but in reality they had not actually run a single course, they did, however, list more towns that any other provider, hence their claim. As we run 30% of all the courses provided we challenged that claim and it quietly was removed. We still regularly get people calling us saying "we were registered with xxx provider, but 5 months later they cannot provide a course near me, and I only have 8 weeks left, can you help?"

https://www.gov.uk/ddrs-course
 
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Thanks Price.

In my case it turns out that the provider I chose at the end of my hearing is anyway appropriate because they cover only an area west/north-west of London, so even without having a location available at walking distance I can still pick multiple locations within easy reach via train or bus.

I settled on a location where they run two courses before my deadline, all on Saturdays, so I could afford one cancellation while still being able to complete the course on time and without taking any time off at work.

The main point of my post was that, while multiple posts here emphasise the fact that being given the opportunity of attending a course is at the discretion of the court, most if not all the posts from first time offenders show that their convictions come with the offer of a course. And, more importantly, you can be given the opportunity to choose your provider during the hearing.

It's indeed true that you can always change later on, but honestly I didn't bother at all doing some research before the hearing while, in hindsight, it would have made perfectly sense. Again, I've been quite lucky also in this regard, but at the court I was given only a couple of leaflets while, as you point out, there are many more options available.

I might also add that my luck was probably due to the fact that the court dealing with my case was also very close to home, as I was arrested in a location 10 minutes away from home. If anyone is arrested far from home, the local court might not suggest a provider close to where the convicted person lives.

Thanks again and best regards,
Z
 
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