Driver Awareness Course.

[onefortheroad]

Went down for some lug and got done on Redcar Lane 35mph just took the points buggered if I'm going to give them another £20
I blame wor lass never stops yabering in the car affects me concentration like

and your insurance goes up a circa £50 to £ 100 a year for the next 5 years

[nunthorpe mag]

Pretty sure SP30s make little difference to insurance there so common these days........last time I had one 10 years ago it didn't

[5150]

Just for your attention,if your insurance company ask if you been on a speed awareness course you have to inform them.

I'm not so sure about that, by attending the course the charge is dropped completely (along with the points and fine), I can see some might ask but since you've not been charged with any offence then it shouldn't be relative.
The whole point of doing the course is to avoid the points, fine and increased insurance premiums.

[5150]

Hmm, that said I've just read a few sites and the viewpoint seems to have changed since I did my course. Example below from Frequently Asked Questions about the Speed Awareness Course

Do I need to tell my insurance company that I’ve attended a Speed Awareness Course?
The following guidance comes from the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS), who are responsible for developing the National Speed Awareness Course.

The insurance industry is becoming increasingly interested in NDORS attendance and completion. A frequently asked question from people being offered and attending courses is whether or not an NDORS course offer and attendance should be notified to their insurers. Legal advice is that attendance on an NDORS course is not a conviction, nor should it be treated as a conviction, unlike a fixed penalty. However, as always, the detail is in the small print.
There appears to be a very inconsistent approach by the industry to NDORS, with some insurers adjusting premiums once notified and others displaying no interest whatsoever. If an insurance company has asked, on its proposal form, at the time the insurance policy is first taken out, whether a driver has attended or is about to attend an NDORS course, then an honest answer must be given. Failure to do so would render the policy void. Similarly if, having answered “no” to such a question, the driver subsequently accepts an offer of a course, it is advisable to notify the insurance company as, by asking the question at the time the policy began, the insurance company has shown that they consider the answer to be material. Conversely if the insurance company has asked no questions about a course and has limited their questions purely to accidents and convictions within specified periods, then it is difficult to see how they could later suggest that attendance at a course designed to improve driver skills represents a material change.

This situation is currently being looked at on a national level between the Course providers (NDORS) and the insurance industry governing body.
Until a satisfactory resolution is developed, we recommend that you keep your insurance company appraised of any re-education courses that you’ve attended. Failure to do so could invalidate your policy with some companies.

Yet on Speed awareness courses - Gocompare.com they state "Insurers will not be informed by the police or local authority of your speed awareness course completion, so the onus is on you to inform them in good faith. This needs to be done by the renewal of your policy at the very latest.".... which leaves it a bit in the air, do people who start smoking after taking out a policy then ring their insurers and say "hi, just to let you know I've taken up smoking fags, please increase my premiums!". Very grey area.

[g.ordon]

I did mine at Cramlington years ago, boring to say the least. I got snapped by a mobile van in Newcastle on Barracks road where the speed limit keeps chopping and changing, same deal - 35 in a 30
If I remember rightly you're only allowed to do the course once every 3yrs.

That's correct mate, gap of 3 years and 1 month between my 2, hehehe

[dale19]

nice day out

been on one few years back boring boring boring tea & coffee like cats pee you don't even get to keep the highway code book given to you when you register on the day.
expensive half day but better than points on your licence m8.
just sit there take it in say nowt then go home at 30 mph
( no more speeding tickets)

[5150]

expensive half day but better than points on your licence

From what I was reading around a lot of motoring forums earlier, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. If you're asked and declare it to the insurers (or just declare because you're a fine honest citizen) then the insurers seem to be treating attendance of the course in the same way they treat having the offence on your license.

Seems a bit daft to me, it's making the course moot but also means that if you get a parking ticket for parking on a double yellow then you should be declaring that, since you've broke the highway code in both cases. How many people are going to renew their insurance and declare that they were naughty doing 80mph down the M6 etc etc etc?!

[fishingmark]

I had six points on my licence back in 2004 and it didn't affect my insurance premiums at all. I got two SP30s in the space of a month and that was it for me speeding, I've stayed below the speed limit ever since and I'm still never late for anything. Speed awareness courses are all well and good but there's nothing like six points in a month to slow you down.
Our lass got a ticket last year and didn't bother with the course and again no insurance penalties. Looks to me like profiting out of people's unwarranted fears of points on their licence.

[The Jester]

Just got back from the course and my ar$e is numb....4 hours sat on a rock hard chair..

A couple points that have been brought up on here.......you only get to do the course once in three 3 years..

Apparently there is only one insurance company that asks if you have been on the course, he wouldnt say which one, but said that they should not penalise you as you have been on a course to make you a safer driver, so in reality you should be offered a lower premium really......

Was it worth doing....yes....i would have been soaked through working out on site, instead i was in a warm room with tea and coffee at hand and sat beside a pretty fit bird....

[easyfish1]

defiantly worth it then....

[The Jester]

defiantly worth it then....

Aye but not for seventy quid

[easyfish1]

she charges £70 ....

[The Jester]

she charges £70 ....

Nah...£35.....