Insurance

Gasherbraun

Hi. Not sure if anyone can help.

I drive a 1.4 Fiat Grande Punto with no modifications. I have 9 years NCB and well out of the age bracket that worries insurers.

I have been insured via the AA for yrars.

Last year I was convicted of speeding (87 in an 80 on the Lucan bypass) and fined €150.00. I did not receive any points and have no other convictions or points.

The AA are now saying they cannot offer me cover because of the conviction?

Anyone have any idea of an insurer that is worth trying?

I accept that I did wrong and expect to pay but being refused cover for a speeding offence seems extreme?

Thanks.

duffman3833

i cant see why they wont cover you, i was insured with them 2 years ago and i got 3 points for speeding and there was no problems.
Just shop around, get better deals

pa990

When you say convicted... was there a court case, or did you just pay a fine.

Gasherbraun

pa990 wrote: »

When you say convicted... was there a court case, or did you just pay a fine.

Court case. Long story but I never received the FPN and then the original summons was also wrongly delivered. Would have happily paid the FPN if I had received it but had to go to court. Judge fined me but did not give points.

bazz26

I'd say your best bet is to contact a number of insurance brokers.

pa990

Gasherbraun wrote: »

Court case. Long story but I never received the FPN and then the original summons was also wrongly delivered. Would have happily paid the FPN if I had received it but had to go to court. Judge fined me but did not give points.

Judge has no option not to give points, unless you received the probation act, which in itself isn't really a conviction.

mgbgt1978

^^^^^ As above. Are you sure you didn't just pay €150 into the Poor Box and escaped a conviction ?
District Court Judges do not have the discretion to convict without appying penalty points.....the points are automatically applied upon conviction for a speeding offence.


edit; Or is it the case that you received the points but didn't get any form of notification ?
From Citizens Information:
To find out how many penalty points are on your driving licence record, contact the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS) at 076 108 7880 or email info@ndls.ie, and quote your driving licence number

Gasherbraun

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

^^^^^ As above. Are you sure you didn't just pay €150 into the Poor Box and escaped a conviction ?
District Court Judges do not have the discretion to convict without appying penalty points.....the points are automatically applied upon conviction for a speeding offence.


edit; Or is it the case that you received the points but didn't get any form of notification ?
From Citizens Information:
To find out how many penalty points are on your driving licence record, contact the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS) at 076 108 7880 or email info@ndls.ie, and quote your driving licence number

Thanks. The paperwork is called a 'notice of imposition of penalty'. It refers to conviction in only one paragraph where it states 'if you need further information on this conviction refer to the relevant court'. No mention of points though and the judge also did not mention them. Will email as suggested.

mgbgt1978

As you say, you were convicted for speeding after failing to pay a FCN (not saying that this was deliberate on your part)
As the 5 points are automatically applied in cases such as this the Judge wouldn't mention them as he would not be the one dishing them out.
Unless you got "lost" in the system it would be normal for the 5 points to be connected with your licence.
When enquiring about whether or not you have any points it would probably be wiser not to mention the fact that you should have 5 . Just in case.....
All (or nearly all) Insurers now have access to the points database by the way, so if they are on your licence you will have to disclose this when looking for quotes unfortunately.

Edit; most Insurers will still cover you with up to 6 points....although some will increase your premium by a few hundred Euros.

Gasherbraun

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

As you say, you were convicted for speeding after failing to pay a FCN (not saying that this was deliberate on your part)
As the 5 points are automatically applied in cases such as this the Judge wouldn't mention them as he would not be the one dishing them out.
Unless you got "lost" in the system it would be normal for the 5 points to be connected with your licence.
When enquiring about whether or not you have any points it would probably be wiser not to mention the fact that you should have 5 . Just in case.....
All (or nearly all) Insurers now have access to the points database by the way, so if they are on your licence you will have to disclose this when looking for quotes unfortunately.

Edit; most Insurers will still cover you with up to 6 points....although some will increase your premium by a few hundred Euros.

Thanks. Ultimately I know this will cost me and I need to declare the offence to ensure I am legal. The whole process was farcical though - never received the original FCN, subsequent summons sent to wrong address which meant I could not make the court date. Then the letter from the Gards with new court date was wrongly addressed to a house a few doors away from me.

Re the points it just struck me that the fact I have a UK license may have something to do with it.

Either way thanks for the info.

mgbgt1978

As you have a UK licence the points are probably stored on a "ghost" licence. If/when you convert to an Irish licence they will be applied to it.....Starting from the date that licence is issued AFAIK.

tanko

Gasherbraun wrote: »

Thanks. Ultimately I know this will cost me and I need to declare the offence to ensure I am legal. The whole process was farcical though - never received the original FCN, subsequent summons sent to wrong address which meant I could not make the court date. Then the letter from the Gards with new court date was wrongly addressed to a house a few doors away from me.

Re the points it just struck me that the fact I have a UK license may have something to do with it.

Either way thanks for the info.

This mightn't cost you anything. Are you sure the judge didn't throw out the case and you made a contribution to the poor box? Did you have a solicitor representing you in court, they could give you a letter saying that no conviction was given which you could show the insurance company.

mgbgt1978

Have a look at post #8. The Op was convicted for speeding.

Gasherbraun

Have now confirmed I have 5 points issued by court. I think I am correct in saying I got 5 and not 3 because this went to court which really p*sses me off because if I had received the original notice I would have paid it. I had no solicitor in court (naively believed that the evidence I had would convince the judge I was telling the truth) but a solicitor outside the court pulled me over and said he was amazed it went against me. Said I was fully plausible and he believed me.

The more I think about this the more I think I should have appealed the decision if it was an option.

Thanks once again for advice.