Drink Driving Course - Sensible advice needed please

[HanSolo]

Having been convicted of drink-driving in April I was given a 2-year ban and the opportunity to attend a drink-drive rehabilitation course.

Now...I have the course dates set. However I am in two minds about whether to even take the course. I have read the (obviously) good feedback comments left on course websites by people. But I'm so humiliated that I even committed this offense I don't know if I could take 3 days of talking about it. There's absolutely no doubt I have learnt my lesson.

It will cost me £155 to take the course, at the moment this is a lot of money for me to pay out. However it will cost me £30 just to cancel it.

I've managed to find myself some part-time work, currently it's the only source of income I have and the course dates just happen to fall on days I would need to work. Again it is a £30 fee to change the dates again.

I actually have begun to enjoy not driving and will be leaving the country for 6 months next February. I don't really feel that there will be any point reducing my ban down to 18 months if I won't be driving anyway.

The only positive I can see for taking it is to potentially reduce insurance premiums in the future...as a 23 year old lad convicted of drink-driving within 18 months of passing my test my insurance will be so high it wont be worth driving anyway. Does anyone have any experience just how much of a difference it makes to the prices given out by insurance companies?

Thanks for your time

 

[Forum Moderator]

Re: Sensible advice needed please

Having been convicted of drink-driving in April I was given a 2-year ban and the opportunity to attend a drink-drive rehabilitation course.

Now...I have the course dates set. However I am in two minds about whether to even take the course. I have read the (obviously) good feedback comments left on course websites by people. But I'm so humiliated that I even committed this offense I don't know if I could take 3 days of talking about it. There's absolutely no doubt I have learnt my lesson.

It will cost me £155 to take the course, at the moment this is a lot of money for me to pay out. However it will cost me £30 just to cancel it.

I've managed to find myself some part-time work, currently it's the only source of income I have and the course dates just happen to fall on days I would need to work. Again it is a £30 fee to change the dates again.

I actually have begun to enjoy not driving and will be leaving the country for 6 months next February. I don't really feel that there will be any point reducing my ban down to 18 months if I won't be driving anyway.

The only positive I can see for taking it is to potentially reduce insurance premiums in the future...as a 23 year old lad convicted of drink-driving within 18 months of passing my test my insurance will be so high it wont be worth driving anyway. Does anyone have any experience just how much of a difference it makes to the prices given out by insurance companies?

Thanks for your time

Im afraid I cant give a percentage in terms of how much it can save you on insurance premiums, you just have to weigh up your particular pros and cons for and against completing the drink drive rehabilitation course.

As far as feeling humiliated, every single person there to take the course has been convicted of drink driving. The course focuses on drink driving in general rather than individual particular offences and it certainly is not designed to humiliate anyone.

Sorry I cant be of much more help.

 

[Sillytoo]

Having just read your message I don't think there's much point you doing the course, mainly because you're leaving the country and not planning to drive, so it'll make no difference. But have you thought about possibility of driving abroad (just playing devil's advocate a little...)?

You don't get preferential premiums for attending the course but because of the difference it makes to the length of your ban. What really makes the difference though is your age (under-25 - ooops!), loss of NCD (in my case - big oooops!) and the conviction itself.

I attended the course, because in my case the reduction of 5 months from 20 to 15 seemed very worthwhile. We have actually done a little project involving finding out what difference our offence has made to the insurance premiums. I was surprised to discover that in my case it was actually the loss of no claims discount that will make my premium triple. After one year it will come down quite a lot. Oh well, only 10 months and a medical to go...

Good luck whatever you decide.