Careless driving - Licence History

swimming in a sea · 27-08-2014 11:03am #1

Hi,

I'm in my thirties and getting car insurance for the first time :eek: (company cars all my working life)

I was involved in a crash about 10 years ago, where I may or may not have been convicted of careless driving. I got a summons all right but my boss at the time told me he would take care of it and never heard of it again (didn't want to know, as i thought he would have been pissed paying for fine\solicitor).

So now I'm trying to find out did I get one as the insurance companies are asking. I rang the number about how many points you have and they said they could not look into the history.

So can Insurance companies look into history? if so where so I can look myself as I want to make sure I'm properly insured and there is no comeback.

BigEejit · 27-08-2014 11:29am

Isnt there a maximum number of years after which you do not have to admit to driving convictions?

ironclaw · 27-08-2014 11:56am

Kinda hinges on whether you were at fault or not for the crash a few years ago. You don't get a summons for nothing and it doesn't just go away. I'd look into that in a serious manner.

djimi · 27-08-2014 11:57am

You got a court summons and didnt think it necessary to ask how it went for you?

blade1 · 27-08-2014 12:05pm

Is it only the last 5 years they ask.

jhegarty · 27-08-2014 12:07pm

If you never held a license you may still have a ban pending.

blade1 · 27-08-2014 12:10pm

jhegarty wrote: »

If you never held a license you may still have a ban pending.

Surely he needed a licence for a company car.

swimming in a sea · 27-08-2014 12:15pm

I have a licence, always had one. I think I may have got the conviction but I definitely never got points for it, (probably an administration blunder)..

Also I was a nervous 21 year old, wondering if I was going to get fired so not asking was me burying my head in the sand and hoping it would go away and to be fair it did.

Is that 5 year limitation true?

oldyouth · 27-08-2014 12:18pm

blade1 wrote: »

Is it only the last 5 years they ask.

A lot of insurers don't put a limit on how far back you must declare convictions. However, they rarely do anything with minor ones over 5 years. It must be declared if asked

blade1 · 27-08-2014 12:30pm

oldyouth wrote: »

A lot of insurers don't put a limit on how far back you must declare convictions. However, they rarely do anything with minor ones over 5 years. It must be declared if asked

I wouldn't say a lot, in my experience.
Never been asked online for more than 5 years!
And I change insurance company nearly every year.

I'll probably be changing again next week.

djimi · 27-08-2014 12:34pm

Some quotes I have gotten have left the question open ended (ie no time frame).

Also, just quickly checked Axa (first company that came to mind), and while their quote does not actually ask about convictions, their assumptions has the following:

In the last 10 years you, or any persons driving the car, have not:
Been convicted of a motoring offence or received any criminal conviction relating to motor vehicles

jhegarty · 27-08-2014 12:39pm

blade1 wrote: »

Surely he needed a licence for a company car.

Unless he was ordered to surrender it at the court case he didn't attend.

blade1 · 27-08-2014 1:02pm

Just tried 123.ie there and all they asked was there any claim in the last 4 years.

blade1 · 27-08-2014 1:24pm

While 123 only ask about a claim , No Nonsense do ask have you been convicted of any motoring offence in the last 5 years.

blade1 · 27-08-2014 1:57pm

OSI wrote: »

It's not just a case of what they ask. The online quotes require you to agree that you meet a certain set of assumed criteria. One of these is usually that you've never been convicted of a motoring offence.

EDIT:

I just checked it myself. To obtain a quote you have to agree to their assumptions, as below:

Is that 123?
What about No Nonsense?

wonski · 27-08-2014 2:30pm

These assumptions do not form any contract, This is to obtain a quote that normally are not given to people who fall into one of the categories.

The wording would mean that if you were done for something 30 years ago they wouldn't insure you which is, well, untrue;)

Chimaera · 27-08-2014 2:41pm

@OP I think you're going to need to go back to that boss who 'took care' of this at the time and find out what happened, and be prepared for whatever consequences arise. If you happened to have a copy of the original summons, you could also track things down via the Gardaí and/or the court records.

djimi · 27-08-2014 2:55pm

wonski wrote: »

These assumptions do not form any contract, This is to obtain a quote that normally are not given to people who fall into one of the categories.

The wording would mean that if you were done for something 30 years ago they wouldn't insure you which is, well, untrue;)

Of course. However, the fact that the criteria exists in the assumptions means that it is taken into account when quoting on the risk. In the case of Axa or 123 as posted above, when you speak to someone on the phone they will almost certainly ask about convictions in the past 10 years.

blade1 · 27-08-2014 2:59pm

Check out No Nonsense so OP!
As far as I can see they only look for convictions in the last 5 years.

wonski · 27-08-2014 3:04pm

djimi wrote: »

Of course. However, the fact that the criteria exists in the assumptions means that it is taken into account when quoting on the risk. In the case of Axa or 123 as posted above, when you speak to someone on the phone they will almost certainly ask about convictions in the past 10 years.

I agree, that's why you don't use online quotes when you have any convictions. I just meant that it wouldn't stop you from obtaining the policy but you would have to speak to them or a broker directly to obtain the policy, giving them all the info needed.

oldyouth · 27-08-2014 3:36pm

blade1 wrote: »

While 123 only ask about a claim , No Nonsense do ask have you been convicted of any motoring offence in the last 5 years.

123.ie is above and No Nonsense have the following when you proceed to purchase

And finally:
Have you or anyone who may drive this car been convicted of any driving or criminal offence, or are there any prosecutions pending?

bladebrew · 27-08-2014 6:36pm

I had the same problem. I was told I had a careless driving conviction, as the actual charge was dangerous on the summons, then was convicted of careless driving and years later when going to Australia the Garda report said dangerous driving, I was insuring my car with Aviva this year and rang them and asked about the convictions they said I can't have a conviction in the last 5 years or an endorsement in the last 10, I have 5 years no claims bonus and the conviction was 6 years ago,
A conviction means automatic penalty points, which I never got! I contacted the RSA aswell and was told I have a clean licence! I brought my licence into the courthouse a few years back and handed it in after advice from people on here that I may have an endorsement waiting to go onto my licence, they handed it back to me and said I have no endorsement!
I'm not looking for trouble but I want everything above board when it comes to the insurance, I reckon the only place with information is the court but they might not have records back that far, the RSA are no help unless it's penalty points, and the Gardai can only check if you get a Garda report done on yourself!

Careless driving - Licence History

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