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By Driver · Conviction History · 6 penalty points

Car insurance with 6 points in the UK (2026)

Six penalty points raise the average UK car insurance premium by about 26% in 2026 — roughly £158 more, taking a typical £607 policy to around £765 a year. The hit is far bigger in cash terms for older drivers (a clean £555 can jump to nearly £900) and bigger in percentage terms the worse the offence. Points stay on your licence for 4 years, but most insurers ask about convictions for 5. Full breakdown by age, what counts toward 6 points, and how to cut the cost below.

How to cut the cost → Other conviction histories
Direct Answer

How much does 6 points add to car insurance?

On a clean-licence UK average of about £607, six penalty points push the typical comprehensive premium up roughly 26% — about £158 extra, to around £765 a year. That is the market-wide average; your own increase depends on how you collected the points (two SP30 speeding endorsements are treated very differently from a CU80 mobile-phone offence or an IN10 no-insurance conviction), your age, and the insurer. A single speeding conviction alone adds 13–25%, and between August 2025 and January 2026 drivers with one conviction were quoted on average 21% more than those with none. Six points is also the point at which many mainstream insurers start to decline or refer you to a specialist convicted-driver broker. Here is how the loading lands across age bands.

Driver groupClean-licence averageWith 6 pointsIncrease
UK average (all ages)£607£765+26%
Young driver (17–24)£1,687£1,839+9%
Mid-life driver (35–44)£610£788+29%
Older driver (45–64)£555£900+62%

Sources: Quotezone penalty-points analysis (UK average +26% / +£158 on a £607 policy), NimbleFins young-driver data (17–24 average £1,839 with 6 points, +9%), Quotezone age-band figures (45–64 clean £555 to almost £900) and Car Insurance Expert composite quote sample for the 35–44 band. Young drivers see a smaller percentage uplift because their base premium is already very high; older drivers see the largest cash and percentage jump from a low clean-licence base. Refresh: 2026-09-26.

By Conviction

What counts toward 6 points — and how the loading scales

“Six points” is usually two offences, or one serious one. The DVLA endorsement codes that most commonly add up to six are:

  • SP30 — exceeding the speed limit on a public road — 3 to 6 points
  • SP50 — exceeding the speed limit on a motorway — 3 to 6 points (insurers view this more harshly than SP30)
  • CU80 — using a mobile phone / not being in proper control — 6 points in a single offence
  • IN10 — driving without insurance — 6 to 8 points and one of the heaviest premium loadings of all
  • CD10 — driving without due care and attention — 3 to 9 points
  • TS10 + TS10 — two traffic-signal offences at 3 points each

The loading scales with the points total and the offence type, not just the number:

  1. 3 points (one SP30) — roughly +5% to +13% on most policies
  2. 6 points (two minor offences) — about +26% on average, more for IN10/CU80
  3. 9 points — commonly +35% to +45%, with fewer insurers willing to quote
  4. 12 points (TT99 totting-up) — usually a 6-month disqualification; on return you will almost certainly need a specialist convicted-driver insurer

Points stay on your licence and counting record for 4 years from the offence date for most speeding and careless-driving codes (11 years for drink/drug codes such as DR10). Crucially, insurance questions usually ask about convictions over the last 5 years, so a set of points can affect your premium for slightly longer than it sits as “active” on the licence. With UK courts issuing around 3.6 million sets of penalty points a year, six-point drivers are far from rare — which is exactly why a competitive specialist market exists.

How to Cut It

Seven ways to lower car insurance with 6 points

  1. Use a specialist convicted-driver broker — Adrian Flux, Sky Insurance, A-Plan and similar present your case to underwriters who price points individually rather than applying a blanket loading. With 6+ points this is often the single biggest saving versus a price-comparison default quote.
  2. Fit a telematics black box — proving careful driving after points is one of the few ways to actively rebuild trust. Telematics saves new and convicted drivers a meaningful margin and several specialist convicted-driver products are box-based.
  3. Raise your voluntary excess — moving from £150 to £500 voluntary excess typically trims 8–15% off the premium. Only do this if you can fund the excess if you claim.
  4. Drop to a lower insurance-group car — a group 1–5 city car cushions the points loading; a powerful car magnifies it. The cheapest car to insure matters more, not less, once you have points.
  5. Pay annually, not monthly — monthly instalments carry APR of 20–30%. Paying the year up front avoids that finance cost on an already-loaded premium.
  6. Cut optional extras — strip back courtesy car, breakdown and legal cover you can buy more cheaply elsewhere; bundle them only if genuinely cheaper.
  7. Always declare honestly — non-disclosure of points is the worst false economy in insurance. If a claim reveals undeclared points the policy is voided, the claim refused, and the “previously refused / had a policy cancelled” flag makes every future quote dearer. Honesty is cheaper.

Points are temporary. Each clean year after the offence date chips the loading back down, and once the points fall outside the 4- and 5-year windows the premium returns close to a clean-licence price — provided you have not also picked up a claim in the meantime.

Common Questions

Car insurance with 6 points FAQs

On average, six penalty points raise a UK car insurance premium by about 26% — roughly £158 on the £607 national average, taking it to around £765 a year. The real figure swings hugely with how you got the points and your age: an IN10 (no insurance) or CU80 (mobile phone) loads far more than two SP30 speeding endorsements, and older drivers on a low clean-licence base can see a 50–60% jump in percentage terms. Always compare specialist convicted-driver quotes, where six points are priced individually rather than with a blanket loading.
Yes — six points is well within the range mainstream and specialist insurers will cover, though some price-comparison insurers start to decline or load heavily at this level. If standard quotes look extreme or you are refused, a specialist convicted-driver broker such as Adrian Flux, Sky Insurance or A-Plan will almost always be able to quote, because they assess each conviction individually. The key is to declare every point accurately; cover is widely available, but only an honest declaration is valid.
Most points (speeding, careless driving) stay on your licence for 4 years from the offence date, but insurers typically ask about convictions over the last 5 years — so a set of points can affect quotes for up to about 5 years. Drink- and drug-driving codes (DR10, DG10) stay on the licence for 11 years, though you generally only have to declare them for 5. The loading shrinks each clean year as the points age, then drops away once they fall outside the question window.
Yes. Penalty points are a “material change” you must disclose, even mid-term. You do not always have to tell them the instant you are convicted, but you must declare the points at renewal and answer honestly if asked during the policy — and many insurers' terms require notification of a conviction during the policy year. Failing to disclose can void cover and lead to a refused claim. If in doubt, tell them: a mid-term adjustment is far cheaper than an invalidated policy.
An IN10 (driving without insurance) and a CU80 (using a mobile phone / not in proper control) are the two single offences that carry 6 points, and both load premiums harder than two separate speeding tickets. IN10 in particular signals to insurers a willingness to drive uninsured and can see premiums rise 40% or more, with fewer insurers willing to quote. By contrast, six points made up of two SP30 speeding endorsements is treated as the “mildest” route to six points and attracts the smallest loading.
Often, yes. Price-comparison sites run your details through automated pricing engines that apply broad convicted-driver loadings, whereas specialist brokers (Adrian Flux, Sky Insurance, A-Plan, Keith Michaels) put your full circumstances to underwriters experienced in non-standard risk. For six points — especially from a single serious code like IN10 or CU80 — that individual assessment frequently beats the comparison-site default. It is not guaranteed to be cheap, but it reflects your actual record rather than a blanket penalty.
Not on their own — a totting-up disqualification (code TT99) is triggered at 12 or more points within 3 years. Six points leaves you halfway there, so a single further offence over the next three years could tip you into a minimum 6-month ban. New drivers face a stricter rule: under the New Drivers Act, 6 points within 2 years of passing your test means your licence is revoked and you must re-apply and re-take both tests. For new drivers, six points is therefore far more serious.
Yes — and the effect compounds with a points loading. Monthly instalments are a credit agreement carrying typical APR of 20–30%, charged on top of an already-raised premium. On a £765 six-point policy, spreading the cost can add £120–£200 over the year versus paying annually. If you can fund the premium up front, do so; if not, a 0% purchase credit card paid off within the year is usually cheaper than the insurer's instalment APR.

Our sources

  • Quotezone penalty-points analysis — 6 points raise the average UK premium by 26% (+£158 on £607), and 45–64 clean-licence £555 rising to almost £900
  • NimbleFins / young-driver data — 17–24 drivers with 6 points average £1,839, a +9% uplift from a high base
  • Confused.com Price Index — a single speeding conviction adds 13–25%, with one conviction quoted ~21% higher (Aug 2025–Jan 2026)
  • Honest John / DVLA offence statistics — ~3.6 million sets of penalty points issued and the 4-year endorsement period
  • gov.uk — Penalty points (endorsements) — how long codes stay on a licence and totting-up rules
  • Car Insurance Expert composite quote sample — 2026 multi-insurer sampling for 6-point profiles across age bands

Reviewed by the Car Insurance Expert editorial team

Reviewer: Senior Motor Insurance Editor. Methodology: figures are compiled from Quotezone, NimbleFins and Confused.com published 2026 data plus our own multi-insurer quote sampling for convicted-driver profiles, cross-checked against DVLA endorsement rules and refreshed quarterly. Questions: editorial@carinsuranceexpert.co.uk.

Last updated: 2026-06-26 · Next scheduled review: 2026-09-26

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