That quote is from 2013, so I suppose the figures could be even higher now!
This is what the calculations were based on. You will see that they quote higher insurance premiums for 11 years, which is incorrect as the conviction is spent, for insurance purposes, after 5 years.
It is also based on you being unemployed for 15 months, whereas if you lose your job, there is nothing to stop you getting another one.
Against that, if you went to “mr Loophole” - Nick Freeman - to represent you, his charges START at £10,000 not £4,800.
I suppose that ,is why they say £20-50k. - and they haven’t factored in writing off your car where the insurance company refuse to pay out, or they chase you for their costs to the other motorist. (I had one person on my course who had the settlement figure through that week from Admiral insurance who wanted £200,000. He said “ridiculous, I would have to sell my house to raise that” their answer was: “when are you putting it on the market?”)
Oh and don’t forget, since these figures were put together, the “maximum “ fine has been done away with, and it can now be unlimited, as Ant McPartlin found out last year when he was fined £86,000.
The IAM has calculated the cost of a drinking and driving conviction at £50,800 as follows:
- £5,000, the maximum fine (source: DfT)
- £4,800 in legal fees, the industry average charged by solicitors for a not guilty plea at trial (sourced by IAM)
- £8,000, the increase in insurance fees based on the average premium for a young man aged between 20 and 24 calculated over an 11-year period, the amount of time a drink driving conviction remains on your driving licence (source: moneysupermarket.com)
- £33,000 in lost earnings, based on a period of 15-months, the mean driving disqualification after conviction, for someone earning the average full-time salary of £26,500 (sources: ONS and DVLA)
