Ex Offenders and Insurance – Affordable Premiums?

January 19th, 2012 | By PG

If you or even someone you live with is an ex-offender and you need insurance then brace yourselves as many insurers won’t even touch you (this is especially true of car/motorbike insurance) and those that often charge extortionate amounts of money for the privilege.

An ‘Unspent’ conviction is a ‘material fact’ just as whether a vehicle is garaged at night, meaning that even if you are not asked specifically about criminal convictions; you must disclose the information by law or be ready to have your insurance policy ‘avoided’ (i.e. them not paying out) for ‘non-disclosure’ when the time comes to make a claim.

Couple this with the fact that motor vehicle insurance is compulsory, that very few companies will insure ex-offenders – meaning sky-high premiums – and the fact that if you had received motoring fines/convictions your insurance would probably still be cheaper.

It could be argued that this is discriminatory towards ex-offenders; especially where the offence(s) had nothing to do with motoring and does not affect someone’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. Best of all if they use a motor vehicle to commit an offence their insurance would be void anyway!

All of the aforementioned is even more financially crippling for young people who face hefty premiums at the best of times.

Non-disclosure surrounding unspent convictions can be true of any type of insurance e.g. mobile phone, but is more prevalent within the ‘essential’ types i.e. vehicle, home and life insurance.

In terms of home buildings/contents cover the same rules apply in regards to disclosure. However, in most cases you also have to declare whether anyone residing within the property has unspent criminal convictions; or else face the same consequences of non disclosure and avoidance.

What is most worrying is that the government on the face of things seems to want to re-integrate ex-offenders into society. So what is the benefit of limiting people’s access to transport or ability to get a mortgage (most require building insurance), if anything you are further restricting people’s already limited social and financial mobility.

This, then begs the question:  is serving your sentence and facing years of social stigma not punishment enough? It is easy to dismiss and judge ex-offenders but don’t people deserve a second chance?

It’s not all bad news; UNLOCK http://www.unlock.org.uk/main.aspx the National Association of Ex-offenders has put together a list of insurers who specify in insurance for ex-offenders – it won’t be that cheap but in comparison to what mainstream insurers will offer, it is highly affordable. There are also various sections on the site explaining specifics, legality and technical terms.

UNLOCK are also involved in a lengthy process of lobbying parliament to change/update the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) in order to clarify what is/isn’t discriminatory within the boundaries of the Law.

They also provide guidance on the ‘rehabilitation/unspent period’ of each type of offence this can be found here http://www.unlock.org.uk/xoffenders.aspx?sid=62.