In the world of car insurance, licence endorsements or penalty points are something that have always been frowned upon, with premiums for such drivers generally being anything up to four times higher than those with squeaky clean licences.
This could all be set to change though.
According to a spokesman from Swinton -Car,Business & Motor Insurance , one of the UKs biggest motor insurances companies -
“Penalty points used to be the yardstick for dangerous drivers, but with up to 10million drivers collecting them, they are so common place that they have almost become pointless”.
Instead of penalising motorists, Swinton say that they intend to treat motorists with six or nine points on their licence, the same as those with no points.
“We will be looking at each driver as an individual and not automatically upping the cost of their premium if they have six penalty points on their licence,” Swinton added.
Such measures may be viewed as unfair by motorists that have kept their licences clean. However, with the boom in speed cameras (more than 6,000) over the past few years, it’s now easier than ever for motorists to pick up penalty points.
This is reflected in the fact that the number of UK motorists just one point away from loosing their licence has increased by 215,000 in the past 12 months to a total of just over 1 million this year.
“… Insurance providers are having to accept that points alone can no longer be used as a yardstick for driver evaluation,” said Neil Ackinclose, head of Swinton’s new section devoted to insurance applications for motorists with endorsements.
According to the Association of British Insurers, many more motor insurance companies are expected to follow suit and adopt this new method.
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Tags: auto, car, insurance, moto
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