Do You Recognise the Drink Driving Rehabilitation Course?

Following a drink driving ban you will have been given the opportunity to complete a drink driving rehabilitation course. We recognise the drink driving rehabilitation scheme and encourage you to complete a course if offered one, as it can not only reduce your driving ban, but it can also have a positive effect on your life, such as reducing your risk of reoffending and in some cases it may help lower your insurance premium.

Convicted Drivers Eligible for a Drink Driving Rehabilitation Course

Not every motorist convicted of a drink driving offence in Great Britain will be eligible, and you will find out in court whether you are eligible or not. If offered a drink driving rehabilitation course, you will have to decide there and then if you want to take it, as according to the official Government webpage on the topic you cannot change your mind later. If your ban is under 12 months or you don’t receive a ban for a drink driving offence, you won’t be offered the opportunity to take the course according to gov.uk.

You may be banned for driving and therefore offered the chance to complete a drink driving rehabilitation course if you been charged with, and then convicted of, one of the following drink driving offences:

• Being in charge of a vehicle while above the legal limit or unfit through drink
• Driving or attempting to drive while above the legal limit or unfit through drink
• Refusing to provide a specimen of breath, blood or urine for analysis
• Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink

Before you go to court it is recommended that you find a drink drive course that you would like to take if you’re offered the chance of taking one, after being found guilty of a drink driving offence.

What Happens When You Are Offered the Chance to Attend a Drink Driving Rehabilitation Course?

If you complete a course, then your driving ban will typically be reduced. The amount that your ban could be reduced by, is up to 25%. After deciding in court that you wish to attend a drink driving rehabilitation course, you will have to complete the course two months prior to the driving ban being lifted, based upon the revised date that completing the course will qualify for. So, if your original ban was to end on the 1st December and the course completion means your ban was reduced and now ends on 1st October, you will have to have completed the course by 1st August.

The course itself will take place with a Driving Standards Agency approved course that is part of the Drink Driving Rehabilitation Scheme. According to drinkdriving.org, a course on the Drink Driving Rehabilitation Scheme will typically last around 16 hours, spread out across three or four days within a period of two to three weeks – the course will be run during the evening or during the day on both weekends and weekdays. To find out when the course you will take is run, you should speak to your course provider.

Finding Car Insurance after Completing a Drink Driving Rehabilitation Scheme Course

After completing a drink driving rehabilitation course as part of the Drink Driving Rehabilitation Scheme, you may soon be looking to getting back on the road, and as part of this process you will mostly likely need to find a new Car insurance policy as your previous one may have run its course or no longer be valid due to your drink driving ban.

In any case you will soon find that insurance premiums for those with drink driving convictions are considerably higher than those without drink driving endorsements on their licence. Finding a Car insurance premium that you’re happy with will now be significantly harder than before your conviction, and the mainstream methods of finding Car insurance may no longer yield results that you’re happy with. In this case you should seriously think about taking out a Convicted Driver insurance policy.

Convicted Driver insurance is specifically designed to help drivers with convictions get back on the road, and is not just limited to a motorist that’s been convicted of a drink driving offence. Convicted Driver insurance can help most drivers with convictions find an insurance policy they’re happy with, whether they have been convicted of a driving offence or a non-motoring offence.

Other Ways to Lower Your Convicted Driver Insurance Premium

Whilst taking out a Convicted Driver insurance policy and completing a drink driving rehabilitation course can be great ways of obtaining a Convicted Deriver insurance premium at a price you’re happy with, there are other ways you can keep down the cost of getting back on the road. There are many factors that go into calculating the price of a Convicted Driver insurance premium, and whilst the conviction is an important one, other factors such as where you live, your occupation, where the car is stored when not in use (both at home and during your working hours), additional drivers, and mileage are also taken into account.

Not all of the factors that make up a Convicted Driver insurance quote can be altered, such as your occupation and certain aspects of how you use the vehicle. However, if you are able to adjust your driving habits in a way that allows you to cover less miles over a year or restrict additional drivers to motorists with a good driving record, then you may be able to have a positive effect on the price of your Convicted Driver insurance premium.

Get Insurance through a Convicted Driver Insurance Broker

One of the best ways of finding a Convicted Driver insurance policy with a price that you’re happy with is by going through a specialist Convicted Driver insurance broker such as ourselves. At Think Insurance we have a dedicated team of Convicted Driver insurance specialists that can help find you a Car insurance policy, whether you have completed a drink drive course as part of the Drink Driving Rehabilitation Scheme or not.

To speak to a member of the Think Insurance Convicted Driver team please call 0800 221 8077 or click ‘Get a Quote’ below and we’ll be in touch with you.