DRIVERS see their insurance premiums soar by more than 75 per cent when they tot up six points on their licence, research shows.
In a clear sign that insurers view speeders and other bad drivers as a much bigger risk, the The average policy costs jump from £432 to £760 for motorists when they reach six points in a clear sign speeding drivers are viewed by insurers as a far bigger risk.
The increase adds up to combined additional premiums of £152 million per year, according to data from price comparison site Compare The Market.
One driver is caught speeding every nine minutes in Scotland and the site collated figures from motorists using its facility to buy car insurance to estimate how it could particularly affect men in the 40 to 49-year-old age bracket. It said they are most likely to break the limit.
Simon McCulloch, of Compare The Market, said: “Motorists who drive over the legal speed limits are now facing harsher penalties, but what drivers perhaps don’t always realise is they could also face additional costs in the form of more expensive insurance premiums.
“Our data shows drivers who are handed six points can see their premiums jump by nearly 76 per cent.
“The expense alone should be a strong incentive for motorists to watch their speed when driving. The average motor insurance premium has risen by £47 to £729 over the past year so, as driving gets more and more expensive. Watching your speed can help keep the cost of motoring down.”
As of February last year, there were 463,230 drivers with six points on their licence, said the site. New rules suggest that figure may now rise.
Driving licences can be endorsed with penalty points for offences such as speeding or using a mobile phone while driving, as well as more serious crimes such as drink-driving or driving without due care and attention.
Police in Scotland and England have adopted tougher stances on speeding and other offences in recent years, with new legislation also seeking to punish those who drive while fiddling with mobile phones or satnavs.
Fines for this offence doubled in March and talking on your mobile phone while driving can now also get you six points, not just three.
One in six motorists recently told a poll they were not put off by the rule and continued to use their phones while behind the wheel.
New speeding laws, introduced last week, mean a driver can be fined, get six points on his or her licence and face a ban of up to 56 days for driving at more than 100mph on a road with a 70mph limit.
Speeders who drive at up to 40mph in a 30mph zone will still get the three-point penalty but the fine could now be up to half their weekly income.
A poll carried out by another insurance firm found 58 per cent of drivers did not know about the tougher penalties for speeding.
Men aged between 40 and 49 are most likely to receive points on their licence, the latest figures cited by the firm show. There were 8,681 drivers in this demographic that received six points in March 2016 – the last available data.
By contrast, only 3,170 women in this age group received six points.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here