Avoid losing your licence with an insurance policy that protects you against driving bans

For different people, driving disqualification affects them in different ways. Take for example those who use their cars mostly at weekends to do their shopping or visiting family and friends; it will become an inconvenience for them to have to take a taxi for their errands and nothing more. However those people who need their cars to go to work because they live in the countryside or where public transport is not very reliable will be greatly affected if they are not entitled to drive anymore. In such cases, they can experience a lot of stress and that can have a very bad effect on their day to day life.

To overcome the hardship faced by people who rely on their driving licences, a driving licence insurance policy has been launched which will give many motorists peace of mind. Technically, it cannot prevent the court or DVLA from imposing a driving ban on you if they have good reason for doing so but it can help defend your case with specialist lawyers and support you financially with transportation costs. This scheme is referred to as Licence Assist and was developed by DAS (Defense Automobile et Sportive) which looks like a French company but regulated by the FSA (Financial Services Authority) in the UK.

The problem faced by drivers is that they can be banned through the totting up procedure if they accumulate 12 or more penalty points on their licence. If you’re already on the edge and receive a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN), you’re likely to receive 3 points and that could take you over the threshold and get you banned. This is where this insurance policy comes into play. You will have legal assistance (upto £25,000) to prevent you from being disqualified and if that’s not successful, then you’ll get help with the costs of performing your duties which you would otherwise have to pay for.

For a mother who does school runs and trips to the supermarket, this means help towards the costs of taxis or a van while for the person who works in the city but lives outside, it’s money for commuting. Actually it’s assistance for everything that you would need your licence for eg earning a living as a taxi driver or as a delivery person.

##How does it work? Well it’s an insurance policy which is absolutely legal and you will have to pay a fee to get yourself insured against a driving ban. The cost of such a product starts from £4.99 per month but that really depends on the following:

• The number of miles you do in a year
• The number of penalty points you already have on your licence
• The level of disqualification benefit you want to get if you’re banned (£250, £500, £1,000 per month)

You need to bear in mind that the coverage is restricted to certain motoring offences. For instance you will not be covered for drink driving or insurance & licence offences. It makes sense though because everyone at some point or the other could have broken the speed limit and that can be forgiven but if you’re killed someone because of careless driving, then you’re not going to get off the hook so easily. So it is worth checking what the policy covers and not in details before rushing to buy it in an attempt to keep your driving licence safe.

Website - licenceassist.co.uk (Unfortunately they have stopped trading now)