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Needlessly telling insurance firms about expired penalty points for speeding and other offences adds £57 to premiums, yet insurers continue to ask about old convictions
Millions of motorists are needlessly paying £57 extra for car insurance because they are “over-declaring” old convictions and penalty points, Telegraph Money has learnt.
Speeding penalties, car parking fines and convictions for careless driving typically stay on motorists’ driving records for four years even though there is no obligation to inform insurance firms.
But 2.8 million drivers with clean driving slates, or 7pc of motorists, continue to “over-declare” past offences, according to the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
This is partly due to mixing up the dates of convictions or providing more detail than asked for on application forms.
But major insurance firms also play a part.
Some will demand customers disclose convictions – even if they are spent – before providing a quote. Others leave questions about convictions “open-ended” to encourage a customer to “over-declare”.
by Kate Palmer
See Full Story at telegraph.co.uk
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