Drivers warned not to mislead insurers about penalty points

DRIVERS have been warned that failing to disclose penalty points could result in the forfeiture of their insurance policies.

There are tens of thousands of drivers with penalty points but none of the car insurance companies, with the exception of Hibernian, can readily check.

But the Irish Insurance Federation warned drivers who lied about their penalty points to avoid hefty insurance rises were putting their policy at risk.

Corporate affairs spokesman Niall Doyle said: “Failure to disclose is a very dodgy practice and has serious, serious consequences. It can lead to the forfeiture of the policy and you’ll have to pick up the whole cost of the claim.

He said the insurance companies were still allowed to request proof that a driver had no penalty points if a claim was submitted.

“If we’re suspicious, we can ask and we can get a look at the licence,” he said.

The focus on penalty points will increase in April when a range of new offences will be introduced and a computerised processing system will be ready.

Former Transport Minister Seamus Brennan offered the insurance industry access to the National Driver Vehicle File, which holds details of each individual’s penalty points, in return for discounts for motorists with clean records. Only Hibernian agreed to do so.

A spokeswoman for Transport Minister Martin Cullen confirmed other insurers had not been granted access to the database.

The discounts for drivers with no penalty points can be significant. A 35-year-old male accountant in Carlow can get a comprehensive insurance policy (with Hibernian) costing €700 for a new 1.6 litre Toyota Avensis. The same policy would cost over €1,100 if the driver had four penalty points.

Mr Doyle said there had been no great demand from insurance companies for access to the driver database, partly because some believed penalising all drivers with penalty points did not make commercial sense.

“One company said the person with two penalty points was a safer driver than someone with no penalty points. Anyone who’s driven with someone who’s got two penalty points will understand that,” he said.