Stupid mistake destined to haunt me forever

LegacyUser

Okay,

Need to rant and maybe get some advice suggestions. I'm 25f. When I was 20 I did a very very very stupid thing, that i'm deeply ashamed of and regret to my teeth. I drove my car without insurance and was caught. I'm making no excuses for what I did but i'm not the type of person that does things like this. I had to take my car to get to work I had just built up the money in the bank and had got a quote from and insurance company, I had misplaced my license so was just waiting on a copy of it. 5 years on and this is still haunting me every time my insurance is up for renewal there's always red tape and awkwardness and i'm reminded every time of my stupidity. I just feel like i'll never be able to make this something stupid thing I did when I was younger.

Firetrap

So how long will it be before this mark on your record is erased? It was 5 years ago now. It surely won't be haunting you forever?

tenchi-fan

I'd my own mishap a few years ago..

When my insurance is up for renewal my insurance company says "lovely, take our normal quote and double it."

I don't know why you're so upset, op. Stop worrying about what could have happened & move on.

aidan24326

Skeletonsinthecloset wrote: »

Okay,

Need to rant and maybe get some advice suggestions. I'm 25f. When I was 20 I did a very very very stupid thing, that i'm deeply ashamed of and regret to my teeth. I drove my car without insurance and was caught. I'm making no excuses for what I did but i'm not the type of person that does things like this. I had to take my car to get to work I had just built up the money in the bank and had got a quote from and insurance company, I had misplaced my license so was just waiting on a copy of it. 5 years on and this is still haunting me every time my insurance is up for renewal there's always red tape and awkwardness and i'm reminded every time of my stupidity. I just feel like i'll never be able to make this something stupid thing I did when I was younger.

Come on now a bit of perspective please, you didn't murder anyone. You didn't get locked up for drug dealing.

In the greater scheme of things driving without insurance is hardly a crime to be 'deeply ashamed of'. It's unfortunate that it is coming back to haunt you still, but bear in mind that insurance companies will use any excuse they can to screw more money out of you, and that's all they're doing.

Shop around as much as possible and if your current insurer are awkward to deal with go with someone else. After a number of clean years on your driving record this should become less of an issue eventually.

LegacyUser

tenchi-fan wrote: »

I'd my own mishap a few years ago..

When my insurance is up for renewal my insurance company says "lovely, take our normal quote and double it."

I don't know why you're so upset, op. Stop worrying about what could have happened & move on.

Eh I got a conviction that I will have to declare every time I get insurance, i'm upset by what has happened not what could have.

LegacyUser

sunflower27 wrote: »

Look, there is nothing anyone can do to fix this. It happened. What is being 'haunted' going to do to change that? Nothing!

You are 25 with your life ahead of you. You either park this now and move on or continue to upset yourself over something that in the big scheme of things is not worth it.

I do hope you can forgive yourself and get on with your life. You won't get your youth back so keep that in mind because when you get to 50 you will be mortified that you wasted so long obsessing over it.

It's not as simple as obsessing over it everytime I renew my insurance it affects me in terms of price, having to explain myself etc

elbee

OP, no one is going to condone what you did, it was silly and it was risky, but you obviously regret it and learned from it and it doesn't make you a bad person. It makes you someone who learned from a mistake, which is good.

Yes, you have a conviction and it will follow you around. But there is no sense in making that worse by feeling bad about something you regret and won't do again. And as a previous poster said, you didn't kill anyone!

Also, you don't know how things will change, an insurance company may look at you more fairly in ten years - you don't know what changes will happen in any market at the moment.

Give yourself a break

LegacyUser

Thanks guys,

Yeah you're right there's no point getting too upset over this. It's not constantly upset over it or anything it's just the time of year when my renewal is up and i've to go through explaining myself etc. could be worse I guess, I just fee embarrassed by it.

whirlpool

OP you asked for suggestions and then when they were given to you you responded with what appears to me to be hostility. So maybe you just wanted to get it off your chest? Well now you have.

If I was in your position I think I'd probably be banging myself on the head as well. If you find that it's something that interrupts your thoughts on a regular basis, I think you need to drill into your own head that nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes and it is perfectly okay to make mistakes, it's perfectly acceptable and we are ALL entitled to make mistakes - and we ALL do. So it's time to get over it now and move on. In the scheme of things it was a relatively tiny mistake to make.

But otherwise, if it's just something you wanted to get off your chest, well you've done that now and I hope you feel better.

Seriously. Small mistake. You were 20. It's time to forgive 20 year-old you and stop punishing him for his mistake. He has said he's sorry, he's paid the price. Let him get on with his life.

Good luck.