Motorists caught on mobiles face higher premiums

Being caught driving while using a mobile without hands-free will not just net motorists a £60 fine, but could push up their insurance premiums by £100, research shows.

A survey of eight insurers from motoring organisation AA found seven companies would raise their premium – and one insurer even refused to quote for a single mobile telephone offence.

All the other companies said premiums would rise by around 18 per cent.

In money terms, this means premiums rise by almost £40 a year – and well over £100 over the three-year offence period.

Drivers attempting to use a hand held mobile phone also put themselves at risk of being charged with careless driving, which, coupled with a mobile phone offence, could lead to a driving ban.

The AA survey found that half of the insurers refused to quote for careless driving offenders whilst others imposed premium increases of up to 50.5 per cent.

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance commented: "Driving whilst using a hand-held mobile phone places you at greater risk of having an accident – it slows reactions and you are less able to control the car. Insurance companies quite rightly take such offences seriously.

"Many offenders are not aware of the premium rise and we hope that raising awareness of this extra cost will help people to think twice about chatting on a hand-held phone when driving," Mr Douglas added.

The AA warned that police now routinely check mobile phone records to find out whether the use of a phone was a contributory cause in the event of an accident.

The group added that drivers must not be tempted to lie to their insurer about any endorsements on their licence – it could invalidate their policy.

Sarah Routledge