The Short Answer: Usually Up to Five Years
Most motoring convictions affect your car insurance for around five years. That’s the period during which insurers will ask you to declare offences and penalty points. Even if the conviction no longer appears on your driving licence, insurers can still take it into account if it falls within that five-year window. After that, it’s considered “spent”; meaning you can usually stop declaring it when getting quotes.
Some offences, like drink- or drug-driving, stay relevant for longer. So while the average driver only feels the impact for a few years, serious cases can take over a decade to fade from the system entirely.
How Long Convictions Stay on Your Licence
The DVLA keeps records of all motoring convictions, but not all last equally long:
- Minor speeding or traffic offences – Usually stay on record for 4 years from the date of the offence.
- Serious offences – Such as drink-driving (DR10) or dangerous driving (DD40), stay for 11 years from the date of conviction.
- Totting-up bans (TT99) – Remain on your record for 4 years from the date the disqualification ends.
Once the endorsement period ends, the conviction becomes spent in legal terms. But insurers often use their own risk windows, which can extend slightly beyond the official DVLA dates.
When Insurers Stop Counting It
Most insurers look at the last five years of your record when setting premiums. Even if your points technically expire earlier, they’ll still fall within that window. For example, if you were caught speeding three years ago, expect the impact to linger for another couple of renewals.
After the five-year mark, most insurers will no longer require disclosure unless the conviction was very serious. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act supports this; it means you’re no longer obliged to discuss spent convictions for standard insurance applications.
How Convictions Affect the Price You Pay
Every conviction raises your perceived risk level. Insurers don’t just see points; they see patterns. A single speeding offence might lift your premium by 5–10%. More serious or repeated offences can double it. If you’ve been banned, the increase will be steeper still.
The good news? Time really does heal. Each clean year you complete without further trouble reduces the weighting of your conviction. After a few uneventful renewals, your premium will start dropping noticeably; provided you stay transparent throughout.
What You Can Do in the Meantime
You can’t rush the clock, but you can take steps to show insurers that you’re no longer a risk:
- Keep your record clean. No new points or claims; they reset your progress.
- Use telematics. A black-box policy lets you prove you’re driving responsibly now.
- Choose a lower-risk vehicle. Smaller cars and low insurance groups keep costs manageable.
- Ask about rehabilitation courses. Completing one can show insurers that you’re serious about change.
- Stay insured continuously. Gaps in cover make you look riskier when you reapply.
Insurers reward steady, uneventful driving. Every quiet year helps rewrite your record.
When You Can Finally Move On
Once your conviction is spent, you can legally leave it off new insurance applications. At that point, your premiums should stabilise and gradually return to normal. Some drivers find that their rates drop even earlier, especially if they’ve built a strong no-claims record or used telematics to prove good behaviour.
So while convictions do affect insurance, they don’t define you forever. Drive cleanly, stay consistent, and time will do the rest. Before long, those points will be history; and your record will look just as good as anyone else’s.