We came across a news story in the Guardian where a journalist Miles Brignall had called Admiral whilst looking for car insurance. One of the questions was asking if he had been on any speed awareness courses. He replied “yes” and the quote increased by £50.

This seems ridiculous when the whole point of the courses is that they are an alternative to prosecution meaning that no official record is kept. Admiral defends its action saying that its data shows that drivers who attend a speed awareness course are more likely to have an accident in the following 12 months than those who committed no offence. “A speed awareness course will impact the premium, but shouldn’t impact it as much as a speeding endorsement".

Miles said that his course provider, DriveTech, says it does not share details as it is information not in the public domain.

It would appear from the information in the Guardian that as far as they know, at the moment at least! Admiral is the only insurer that asks this, Other big firms are still only asking about formal convictions.

Common sense therefore having come across this information would be to avoid admiral when its car insurance renewal time if you have attended a speed awareness course within the last 12 months.

Fore more on this story please see the Guardian