CD10 careless driving car insurance UK 2026
A CD10 careless-driving conviction adds roughly +55% to your car insurance premium in year one — around £930 versus £600 for the same driver with a clean licence. CD10 covers driving without due care and attention, carries 3–9 penalty points, and stays on your licence for four years. Full 2026 uplift data, the wider 40–120% range insurers apply, declaration rules and the brokers who cover CD10 drivers below.
What is a CD10 endorsement and how long does it stay on your licence?
A CD10 is the DVLA endorsement code for driving without due care and attention — legally, allowing your standard of driving to fall below that of a competent and careful driver. It is the most common of the careless-driving codes (CD10 to CD30) and carries 3 to 9 penalty points. A minor case is usually dealt with by a fixed-penalty notice of 3 points and a £100 fine; a more serious case — where someone was endangered or an accident resulted — can be sent to court, attracting higher points, a larger fine and, occasionally, a short discretionary ban.
A CD10 stays on your driving licence for four years from the date of conviction and must be declared to insurers throughout that time (some forms ask up to five years). Because it signals an at-fault risk, a CD10 raises your premium — insurers typically apply an increase anywhere in the 40% to 120% range depending on severity and points, with our 2026 broker sample putting the average year-one uplift at about +55%. That is more than a single SP30 speeding endorsement (10–25%) but well below a DR10 drink-driving conviction (+118%) or a TT99 totting-up ban. Many mainstream insurers still quote CD10 drivers, but the cheapest cover usually comes from specialists.
Average CD10 premium uplift by year since conviction
Average annual comprehensive premium for a 35-year-old UK driver with a CD10 careless-driving conviction, versus the same driver-profile with a clean licence. Drawn from a 2026 composite of mainstream and specialist convicted-driver broker quotes, benchmarked to the ABI Q1 2026 UK average comprehensive premium of about £560–£600.
| Years since CD10 | Base premium (clean) | CD10 premium | Uplift | Acceptance rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | £600 | £930 | +55% | ~70% |
| Year 2 | £600 | £828 | +38% | ~82% |
| Year 3 | £600 | £744 | +24% | ~90% |
| Year 4 | £600 | £672 | +12% | ~95% |
| Year 5+ (off record) | £600 | £624 | +4% | ~99% |
Sources: ABI Motor Insurance Premium Tracker Q1 2026 (UK average comprehensive premium ~£560–£600); Confused.com Price Index Q1 2026 (£711 average quoted premium); gov.uk and DVLA endorsement guidance (CD10 definition, 3–9 points, four-year retention); UK insurer/broker careless-driving data (40–120% premium increase range); Car Insurance Expert composite quote-data. Figures are averages — individual quotes vary by points awarded, age, vehicle group and postcode. Refresh: 2026-09-05.
Why a CD10 raises your premium
Car insurance is priced on the probability and likely cost of a future claim. A CD10 tells an underwriter that a court or the police judged your driving to have fallen below a competent standard — an at-fault marker that correlates with a higher future claims rate. The loading is real but moderate compared with alcohol or no-insurance convictions: the offence is about a lapse in attention rather than a deliberate decision to drive impaired or uninsured. How much it adds depends heavily on the points awarded — a 3-point fixed-penalty CD10 sits near the bottom of the 40–120% range, while a 6–9-point court conviction, often after an accident, sits near the top.
The CD10 multiplier is applied after the general 2026 cost pressures that affect every motorist: insurance premium tax at 12%, repair labour and parts inflation, and ADAS recalibration that can turn a minor knock into a four-figure repair. UK insurers paid out £2.9bn in claims in Q1 2026, £1.9bn of it on vehicle repairs. For our benchmark 35-year-old the clean premium is about £600; the same profile with a fresh CD10 averages around £930 — a +55% loading. That loading decays each year you drive without a further claim or conviction, falling to roughly +24% by year 3 and near the standard rate once the CD10 drops off your licence at four years. Postcode, vehicle insurance group, mileage and overnight parking all move the final number, so two drivers with identical CD10 dates can still pay very differently. If your renewal still looks wrong, it is worth understanding what is pushing UK premiums up before you accept it.
Seven ways to lower a CD10 premium
You cannot remove the conviction, but you control most of the other pricing levers. In order of impact:
- Shop the whole market — unlike a DR10, many mainstream insurers still quote CD10 drivers, so compare standard panels and specialist convicted-driver brokers, then take the cheaper. Do not assume a comparison site has found the best CD10 price.
- Pick a low-group car — a group 1–5 city car (Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto, VW Up) keeps the multiplier working on a small base. A group 30+ car in year 1 can push the quote past £2,500.
- Accept a black box — telematics saves new and higher-risk drivers an average of around £379 a year and lets you evidence careful driving after a CD10.
- Pay annually, not monthly — monthly instalments are credit and carry 20–35% APR, a meaningful sum on top of the CD10 loading.
- Increase your voluntary excess — within reason; a higher excess signals lower claims propensity and trims the premium.
- Keep your no-claims discount intact — a CD10 does not automatically wipe your NCD; protect and declare it accurately rather than letting it lapse.
- Stay claim- and conviction-free — the single biggest lever. Each clean year cuts the uplift, and the CD10 stops being disclosable at four years.
Above all, declare the CD10 and its points honestly on every application. A voided policy after non-disclosure leaves you uninsured, personally liable for claims, and facing a refusal-to-insure that must itself be declared in future — a far costlier outcome than the loading.
Six UK brokers who cover CD10 drivers
A CD10 is widely quoted, so start with the mainstream market — but if your points are high or an accident was involved, these specialist convicted-driver brokers underwrite the risk individually and are worth a direct comparison.
Adrian Flux
Largest UK specialist for convicted drivers. Strong on CD10 plus modified-car combinations. Multi-underwriter panel.
Keith Michaels
40+ years specialist. Handles CD10 with prestige or performance vehicles. Negotiates across multiple underwriters.
Insurance Revolution
Online-first convicted-driver quotes. High acceptance for CD10, including higher-point and post-accident cases.
Think Insurance
Strong on CD10 cases where mainstream renewals have spiked. Phone-based underwriting and flexible terms.
Sky Insurance
Specialist for CD10 plus modified or high-performance vehicles. Acceptance varies by vehicle group and points.
Quotezone (panel)
Aggregator whose panel includes specialist convicted-driver underwriters. Useful first sweep before going direct.
Listed brokers are independent UK firms; we are not affiliated with any and receive no commission. For a low-point fixed-penalty CD10, a standard comparison site may already find a competitive price — compare it against a specialist before renewing.
CD10 insurance FAQs
Our sources
- DVLA endorsement codes — gov.uk (CD10 definition, 3–9 points, four-year retention)
- gov.uk — Careless and inconsiderate driving — gov.uk (fixed-penalty 3 points and £100 fine, court referral for serious cases)
- ABI Motor Insurance Premium Tracker, Q1 2026 — UK average comprehensive premium ~£560–£600, used as the clean-driver baseline
- Confused.com Price Index, Q1 2026 — £711 average quoted premium and 2026 market trend
- UK insurer/broker careless-driving guidance — 40–120% premium-increase range used to bound the uplift table
- Car Insurance Expert quote-data composite — 2026 sample across mainstream and specialist UK insurers for CD10 profiles
Reviewed by the Car Insurance Expert editorial team
CD10 uplift figures are modelled from mainstream and specialist quote samples and benchmarked quarterly against ABI and Confused.com data; regulatory detail (DVLA endorsement codes, gov.uk penalty-point guidance) is checked against current UK guidance at each refresh. Broker listings reflect market presence and convicted-driver specialism, not commercial arrangements — we accept no payment for editorial placement. Reviewed by the Car Insurance Expert editorial team.
Last updated: 2026-06-05 · Next scheduled review: 2026-09-05