As noted in the comments to my post on insurance, today we get this:
Appearing before the Transport Select Committee, Mr Penning said the Government was looking at giving insurers greater access to motorists’ driving record.
Oh, great, just what we need. The system we have in place at the moment is perfectly sound. If we lie on our proposal form, the insurer will refuse to pay out. They do not need to go poking about in databases. Still, it does look as if they’ve been doing a bit of lobbying, eh?
Because of data protection laws, a driver’s consent would be required before the DVLA opens its records to insurance companies.
To which the immediate and sensible reaction upon being asked would be a firm refusal. Except that we are effectively dealing with a monopoly situation. We have to have the cover by law, so the insurers can impose all sorts of preconditions or withhold cover knowing full well that we have to comply. We are over the proverbial barrel – as I discovered to my cost this past few days when trying to get around covering vehicles with French registration plates. Don’t like the high cost? Don’t have cover. I can’t not have cover. That’s twice the last premium then, please. The same will apply with this little proposal. Don’t want to let us access your records? What have you go to hide? Still no? Oh, well, no cover then. And you can be damned sure that the drawbridge will go up pretty swiftly on this one. Trying another insurer won’t work – they will be operating a cartel as they always do. This is not a free market and since it was a legal requirement has never been.
So the insurance companies will have access to information on the DVLA database that is currently running with something like a 13% inaccuracy rating… That’s really going to help.
Any suggestion that this will improve road safety is risible. And the recent proclamations from Mike Penning tells me that although the names may have changed, the jackboot of the state remains firmly planted on the UK citizens’ faces. Plus ça change…
My wife had to send a photocopy of her driving licence when she renewed her insurance recently and, while I’ve been with the same company for a few years and have not had to, can only see that this ‘getting access’ to the DVLA database is (presumably) just to reduce paperwork as this is common practice these days.
“Because of data protection laws, a driver’s consent would be required before the DVLA opens its records to insurance companies.”
The Data Protection Laws don’t seem to stop the DVLA giving out details to every tinpot parking enforcement company….
The system we have in place at the moment is perfectly sound.
Just answered your own question, LR. That’s why.
I loved the comment in the article about forcing new drivers to undergo motorway training.
I live in Dorset. There isn’t a single mile of motorway in this county, and the nearest motorway to Bournemouth is 35 miles distant.
So how’s that going to work then? Fuckwits.
That’s why motorway driving was never a practical option for the driving test. That said, allowing learners to use a motorway could be useful. When I was a driving instructor and did post test motorway lessons, the new driver came on leaps and bounds – and at least they knew how to use the lanes properly.
I imagine you’d have to drive the whole 35 miles to take some motorway training, John. Many learner bike riders now have to travel further than that to take the off-road ‘Module 1’ part of their bike tests these days.
Those living in the highlands of Scotland or remote places in north Wales will have to travel further than 35 miles, of course.
Don’t like the high cost? Don’t have cover.
Which is why I used to lie through my arse when getting insurance cover when I was a student. The companies will usually be forced to pay for third party damages in the event of a collision, even if the person lied on the form (at least, it was the case back in the 1990s).
Just another stealth tax.
The insurers pay DVLA for each access. You pay the cost on your premiums. UK Gov, the thieving swine, is quids in because everyone who drives will have to pay up.