The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire March Edition 2013 | Page 12

REVVED UP

Insurance premiums for motorists
‘to fall’ as driving records go online

PEBLEY TAKES A STAND
AT THE COUNTY GROUND

Moving all driving records online could reduce
the cost of car insurance for most people.
The migration, which will be complete by
mid-2015, will end the need for the “paper
counterpart” document drivers have to keep
with their licence. Insurers said “honest”
motorists could see premiums fall by up to
£15 a year.
At the moment, insurers cannot check
licence or traffic offence details when they
sell policies, meaning they have to “price in”
risk factors.
The Association of British Insurers says
premiums are pushed up by the fact that firms
have to take account of the risk that drivers
either do not tell the truth about speeding
points to get a lower quote, or simply make
a mistake.
Most of us would struggle to find the
official document we are meant to keep
with our driving licence. But from the middle
of next year we will not need to. All the
information on it - such as speeding points will be available online.
Cabinet Office minster Francis Maude says
the days when government IT projects were a
by-word for disaster are over. Britain now leads
the world. And it has already saved taxpayers
more than a billion pounds a year.
The system due to be launched by the
DVLA will allow insurers to access the
information using an individual’s licence
number.
Anyone with a driving licence would be
able to use the online database while there
will be an assisted service for those who find it
difficult to use the internet.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has
suggested most of the UK’s 40 million drivers
would see a fall in premiums.

When jubilant football fans jump to their feet at
Swindon Town’s County Ground, they’ll do so
in front of a 100m-wide hoarding promoting
Swindon’s Pebley Beach Car Dealership.

The paper counterpart to the driving licence
photo card is due to be phased out by 2015
while it was announced in December that
paper car tax discs would also be scrapped.
The DVLA said that “although some services
cannot be delivered digitally, such as assessing
a customer’s fitness to drive, we can improve
the processes supporting the delivery of these
services through making greater use of
digital tools”.
“There are around 10 Z[[ۈ