UNLOCK, the National Association of Reformed Offenders, has joined up with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to produce guidance for consumers on the complex issue of criminal convictions and insurance.
As proud sponsors of the guide homeprotect is looking to raise awareness of it's award-winning online home insurance service which caters for ex offenders with unspent criminal convictions.
Why is the Insurance and Convictions guide necessary?
Government figures highlight that more than 8 million ex-offenders in England and Wales alone have an unspent criminal conviction and one in three men are convicted by the age of fifty-three.
People with convictions are legally required to declare their unspent convictions no matter whether insurance companies ask about them. The trouble is that it's often unclear to people when their conviction becomes spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. For example, a fine or community order must be declared for five years, while short custodial sentences must be declared for between seven and ten years. People sentenced to more than thirty months must disclose their convictions for the rest of their life.
These laws apply to anyone covered by a policy, including partners and children on home insurance policies. If a child receives a fine then their parents must disclose the conviction for 30 months as disclosure periods are shorter for people convicted when under the age of eighteen.
The guide that UNLOCK has produced highlights consumers’ legal obligations and provides advice on how to buy insurance.
Chris Bath, Director of Projects at UNLOCK said: “Financial services are a crucial foundation for engagement in modern society. If we want people to lead productive lives; working, paying taxes and providing their family with a home, we cannot allow the justice system to sever people from their finances, even less to create lifelong financial exclusion.”
Nick Starling, the ABI’s Director of General Insurance and Health, said: “Access to, and fair treatment by, financial services providers is a key part of financial inclusion. We recognise that some people with criminal convictions and related offences may encounter difficulties when looking for insurance.”
You can access UNLOCK's guide to Insurance and Convictions for ex-offenders here.