Car Insurance after Caught Under Influence of Drugs

Caeva O'Callaghan | January 17th, 2023

Getting caught under the influence of alcohol or another substance spells bad news for your driving record. But does it affect your car insurance?

It depends on the severity and type of your conviction. In such individual circumstances, it’s hard to say so we can’t give any hard and fast answers in an article like this – you’ll need to phone us up and give us more information.

But don’t worry: your enquiry is confidential, and we’re not here to judge. The only thing we care about is getting you the best car insurance quote possible.

In this article, we’ll cover questions such as:

• I was caught drinking and driving – can I still get insured?
• How does a conviction affect my car insurance?
• Do drug offences affect my car insurance?

Getting a conviction can be a scary, frustrating time. You may find the charges affect much more than you realise. Rest assured, we’re here to give you advice and find you the best deal.

Be upfront with your car insurer

The first thing we need to say is that it never helps to lie or hide information from your car insurance company. This will only lead to problems down the line – notably, by voiding your policy.

After the authorities charge you with drink driving, you need to tell your insurance broker and insurer. You also must disclose any conviction even if the event or the conviction happened after the policy of insurance was taken out.

Questions your insurance provider will ask include:

• When it happened
• The length of your driving ban
• Any penalty points incurred
• Fines you’ve had to pay

Please note, insurance companies no longer need to know the statistics around your BAC levels at the time of your offence.

After your conviction, your risk factor will increase. So, while a drugs-related driving conviction won’t necessarily stop you from getting car insurance, your quote will be higher than it would be if you didn’t commit the crime.

At QuoteMe.ie, we can help reduce those costs in a lot of cases. It can take longer to process quotes for people with drink driving convictions, so make sure you have plenty of time left on your existing policy before you renew or take out a new one.

Drugs and drink driving

In Ireland, “drink driving” is a term that refers to driving under the influence of drugs as well as alcohol. They are treated the same, so you may hear your conviction referred to as drink driving, even if you were under the influence of another substance.

Under old laws you would only get a €200 fine and three penalty points for a drink driving conviction in Ireland. As of Friday 26 October 2018, ordinary fully licensed drivers detected by the Gardaí with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of between 50mg and 80mg will receive an automatic disqualification from driving for three months as well as a €200 fine.

The penalties for learner, novice and professional drivers have not changed. Penalties for inexperienced drivers in these categories remain the same at three months disqualification from driving and a fine of €200.

In 2019, Allianz commissioned an extensive survey aimed at shining a light on Ireland’s attitudes towards drink and drug driving. The research involved 1,007 respondents of different ages and genders, from various regions and social classes throughout Ireland.

Some of the findings were shocking. One third of those polled say they have taken to the wheel after a drink, and 1 in 5 say they’ve done so after more than just one. This is despite 93% acknowledging that drinking impairs driving.

Worse still, almost three quarters of those polled know someone who has driven after one drink. 61% know someone who has driven after multiple.

So, the message is simple: don’t drink or take drugs and drive.

Getting car insurance after a conviction

If you already have a conviction for a drink or drug driving offence, what are your options from an insurance perspective?

Insurance companies take into account the nature of your offence. They will regard a first offence less harshly than a repeat offender.

A number of insurance companies provide quotes to convicted drivers, and there are others who offer specialist insurance. At QuoteMe.ie, we have specialists on hand to get you a quote for convicted driver insurance. Normally, you can expect to get a quote like this in just a couple of hours.

If you have had a drug conviction, and are looking for car insurance, call us today and we can help you.

If you are looking for car insurance having being caught driving under the influence of drugs, feel free to pick up the phone and talk to our car insurance experts today. Our insurance professionals can advise you based on the severity of the offence, the length of the ban and the number of penalty points applied. You can phone us Mon-Fri between 8.30am and 5.30pm on 0818 224433 or 042 9359051. We look forward to helping you today!