How Do Driving Convictions Affect Car Insurance?

How A Driving Conviction Changes Your Car Insurance

Insurers ask about driving convictions when you apply, and your answer can affect your price, your excess and which insurers offer cover. What counts depends on the code, how long ago it happened and whether it's spent.

Government guidance on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act says most insurance companies will ask about convictions, and they're entitled to. If an insurer doesn't ask, you don't need to declare it. A spent conviction doesn't have to be declared to insurers.

Which Convictions Do Insurers Ask About?

Most insurers ask about convictions, but it depends on the exact question on the form.

Motoring endorsements. GOV.UK says each endorsement has a special code and carries penalty points on a scale from 1 to 11.

Driving bans. Check whether the form asks about bans separately. GOV.UK says a ban is spent once it ends, but if you also got points, the conviction isn't spent until the longest period ends. In England and Wales, that's 5 years from conviction for an adult's endorsement, or longer if the ban runs longer.

Criminal convictions. Some forms also ask about unspent criminal convictions. See car insurance with a criminal conviction.

Speed awareness courses. Before you answer, check whether a speed awareness course counts.

New drivers. GOV.UK's rules for new drivers say your licence is cancelled if you get 6 or more points within 2 years of passing your test. Points still on your provisional licence carry over and count towards the 6. After a cancellation, you apply and pay for a new provisional licence and pass both the theory and practical tests again.

How Long Do Convictions Affect Your Insurance?

It depends on the code. GOV.UK says endorsements stay on your driving record for 4 or 11 years, and the 11-year codes are for drink and drug driving offences.

Three clocks run at once, and they're easy to mix up. One is how long the code stays on your record. The others are how long insurers may be able to find out about it, and when the conviction becomes spent.

How Long The Code Stays On Your Record

GOV.UK's guide to how long endorsements stay lists DR10, DR20, DR30, DR31, DR61, DR80 and CD40 to CD70 as 11-year codes. GOV.UK's endorsement codes list also puts the drug driving codes DG10 and DG60 at 11 years. All of these run from the date of conviction.

Dangerous driving codes (DD40, DD60 and DD80) and any offence that leads to a ban stay 4 years from conviction. Every other code stays 4 years from the offence.

You'll also see "valid" on GOV.UK. It's a court term. A court can count a 4-year endorsement for its first 3 years, or an 11-year one for its first 10, if you offend again (for example, when adding up points towards a ban). It says nothing about whether your insurance is valid.

When A Conviction Becomes Spent

A conviction becomes spent once its rehabilitation period ends. After that, in most cases, the law no longer requires you to mention it, including to insurers. GOV.UK's rehabilitation periods guidance gives these dates for England and Wales:

• Endorsement (points): spent 5 years from conviction, or 2 years 6 months if you were under 18.
• Ban: spent when it ends. A ban until you pass a further test isn't spent until you've passed it.
• Fine (adults): spent 12 months from conviction.

If you got more than one of these, such as points and a ban, the longest one decides. Other things can push the date back:

• a compensation order (spent once it's paid in full)
• a community order (spent when it ends, or 2 years from conviction if it has no end date, but one made "indefinitely" or "until further order" stays unspent)
• a prison sentence, even a suspended one (a longer period that starts once the sentence ends)
• another conviction before the first is spent (usually neither is spent until both periods are over)

Scotland also uses 5 years for an endorsement and 12 months for a fine, but some other rules differ. Northern Ireland has its own law: a fine there takes 5 years to become spent. For more on dates and forms, read how long to declare driving convictions.

Which Convictions Affect Insurance Most?

Drink and drug driving codes count for longest: they stay on your record for 11 years. The table shows points and record lengths from GOV.UK's endorsement codes and penalty points list (checked 12 October 2026), not a ranking. For points on their own, see how penalty points affect insurance.

GOV.UK says drink driving (DR10) and drug driving (DG10) can also mean a ban of at least 1 year (3 years for DR10 if convicted twice in 10 years). GOV.UK's drug driving guide says car insurance costs will increase significantly. GOV.UK's mobile phone rules say holding and using a phone while driving (CU80) can mean 6 points and a £200 fine. For BA10, see After A Driving Ban, below.

Check GOV.UK for the current rules on your code before you rely on any figure here.

What Cover Can You Get With A Conviction?

By law, you need insurance that covers your use of the car on a road or in a public place, and GOV.UK says third party is the legal minimum. MoneyHelper describes three levels of cover. What you're offered depends on each insurer.

MoneyHelper also says third party is the least cover you can have, but that doesn't mean it costs the least. So ask for quotes at more than one level. The ABI says to make sure the level of cover matches your needs.

A conviction may also change the excess, the fixed amount you pay if you claim. MoneyHelper says the insurer sets the compulsory part, and the accidental damage excess can cost more if you have driving convictions.

What Might Not Be Covered?

Usually, anyone the policy doesn't name and any use it doesn't allow. The ABI says standard motor insurance doesn't usually cover people who aren't on the policy, or business use without business cover.

Most of these checks come from MoneyHelper's car insurance guide:

• Named drivers. These are extra people who can drive the car under the same policy. Check who's covered before anyone else uses the car.
• Driving other cars. The ABI says that to be covered by someone else's policy, you must be a named driver on it. Your own policy may include Driving Other Cars cover, but that may only be third party.
• Business use. Tell your insurer if you use the car for business, and check your certificate lists every use you need.
• New points. Tell your insurer if you get points added to your licence. Your policy terms say when (see What If You Don't Declare A Conviction?).
• Modifications. Tell your insurer if you modify your car, for example by fitting alloy wheels.
• Accidents at renewal. Declare any accidents or damage when you renew, even if you didn't claim.
• Where the car is kept. Give your address and where you park accurately, and tell your insurer if either changes.

MoneyHelper says that if you don't give accurate, up-to-date details, your policy might not be valid, so a claim may not be paid. Future insurance may also be harder and more expensive to get.

If you're unsure what a question means, find out before you answer. The Financial Ombudsman Service says that's what it would reasonably expect you to do.

Add-Ons Worth A Look

Here's what MoneyHelper says each one does. Add one only if you'd use it, and check the policy wording for what it includes.

• Legal expenses cover. Legal help to recover uninsured losses, such as personal injury or car hire costs, after an accident that wasn't your fault.
• No claims discount protection. A paid add-on that usually lets you make one claim in a year, or two in three years, without losing your no claims discount. It protects the discount, not the price itself.
• Breakdown cover. Help if your car breaks down and needs repairing or taking to a garage. Replacement parts aren't covered.
• Courtesy car. Another car while yours is repaired after an accident. It can be limited to a set number of days, and often isn't given if your car is written off.

What If You Don't Declare A Conviction?

Not answering honestly can put your cover at risk. The law expects you to take reasonable care with your answers.

A wrong answer on the form is called a misrepresentation. Under the 2012 law in the box, an insurer can only act if you didn't take reasonable care. It also has to show that with the right answer it wouldn't have covered you, or would have used different terms. Any wrong answer that isn't deliberate or reckless counts as careless. What the insurer can do depends on why the answer was wrong:

• Deliberate or reckless. You knew the answer was untrue or didn't care, and knew or didn't care that it mattered. The insurer may cancel the policy as if it never existed, refuse all claims and keep what you paid, unless keeping it would be unfair.
• Careless, and it wouldn't have covered you. It may cancel the policy as if it never existed and refuse claims, but must give back what you paid.
• Careless, and it would have used different terms. The policy can be treated as if it had those terms, if the insurer requires.
• Careless, and it would have charged more. It may pay only part of a claim, as well as any different terms.

The insurer has to show an answer was deliberate or reckless. The Financial Ombudsman Service says that if it isn't satisfied with the insurer's reasons, it's likely to treat the answer as careless.

Convicted partway through a policy? The ombudsman says you usually only have to give your insurer information when you buy or renew, unless your policy terms say to tell them sooner. Not telling them mid-term isn't a misrepresentation under the 2012 Act, but the ombudsman will consider whether any action the insurer takes is fair. At renewal it's different. If the insurer asks you to confirm or correct your details and you don't, that can count as a misrepresentation.

The ombudsman also says it can be acceptable not to tell an insurer something covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, the law on spent convictions.

If you think an insurer has treated an answer unfairly, complain to the insurer first. If it doesn't send a final response within eight weeks, or you're unhappy with it, the ombudsman says you can go to it. You have 6 months from the date on the final response, and the service is free. For the full picture, read what happens if you don't declare.

Where To Get Quotes With A Conviction

You can get quotes from specialist brokers as well as standard insurers. Clean Green Cars introduces you to specialist brokers who consider drivers with convictions. It isn't an insurer, and it doesn't advise, arrange or recommend cover.

Have these ready before you ask for quotes:

• Your conviction code, such as DR10 or SP30
• The date of the offence and the date of conviction
• The points, and any fine
• The start and end dates of any ban
• Details of any other drivers on the policy

Not sure of your codes or dates? If your licence was issued in England, Wales or Scotland, GOV.UK's View or share your driving licence information service shows your penalty points and any bans. For a Northern Ireland licence, use nidirect's View or share your NI driving licence information service instead (you'll need a verified nidirect account).

Susan's note: A conviction can feel like it shuts every door, but there's no single 5-year rule for declaring it. Get your code and dates in front of you first, then read each question on the form carefully and answer it accurately.

You can compare convicted driver insurance quotes when you're ready.

After A Driving Ban

You can look for cover again once you're allowed to drive. GOV.UK's guide to driving disqualifications says that if you're banned for 56 days or more, you must apply for a new licence before driving again.

For some drink-driving bans, GOV.UK says a 'high risk offender' won't get a new licence until they pass a medical with one of DVLA's appointed doctors. GOV.UK's rules on drink-driving bans explain who counts as one.

How long a totting-up ban lasts. Totting up means adding up your points. GOV.UK says you can be banned if you reach 12 or more points within 3 years. The ban is at least 6 months, or at least 1 year if one earlier ban counts, and at least 2 years if more than one does. An earlier ban only counts if it was for 56 days or more and was given in the 3 years before the latest offence.

A court can give a shorter ban, or none, in some cases, but hardship only counts if it's exceptional. If you were convicted of driving while banned, see BA10 driving while disqualified insurance.

Vans, Motorbikes, Taxis And Work Driving

The questions and cover differ by vehicle and job. Your policy has to cover how you use the vehicle, such as deliveries or carrying paying passengers.

• Vans. Work and personal vans are covered in van insurance with a conviction.
• Motorbikes. Riders can read about motorbike insurance with a conviction.
• Taxi and private hire. Drivers carrying paying passengers can check taxi insurance with a conviction.
• Courier and delivery. If you're paid to deliver, see courier insurance for delivery drivers.
• Company cars and fleets. GOV.UK says employers, like insurers, may be able to find out about an endorsement during the periods shown earlier. If you also drive your own car, declare the conviction on your personal policy if the form asks.

What You Can Do About The Cost

• Ask specialists as well. Specialist brokers and standard insurers can both quote.
• Ask about a black box. Some insurers may offer a telematics policy. The ABI says it may use a box fitted by the insurer, a computer built into the car or a smartphone app. Most insurers look at miles driven, types of road, time of day, and speed and braking.
• Keep the excess affordable. MoneyHelper says a higher voluntary excess can reduce your premium, but you get less back if you claim. Only pick an amount you could afford to pay if you claim.
• Note your spent date. In England and Wales, an adult's endorsement is spent 5 years from conviction, unless another sentence runs longer. Get fresh quotes once it's spent.

Mistakes To Avoid

Run through these before you send any form.

• Check the exact question. Answer the one in front of you, using the period it asks about.
• Use the right date. Some codes run from the offence and others from the conviction, so check which applies to yours.
• Check your record if you're unsure. If you don't know whether a conviction is spent, check your driving record and the exact question before you answer.
• Do not drive uninsured. GOV.UK's guide to driving without insurance says the police could give you a £300 fixed penalty and 6 points (checked 12 October 2026). If it goes to court, you could face an unlimited fine and a ban.

FAQs