While escaping with just points on your licence for a motoring misdemeanor may seem like you’ve avoided a payout, new research suggests that you will pay a financial cost in other ways.

A survey from Compare The Market has revealed that a car insurance premium is likely to rise by £209 in additional premiums when a driver has three points on the licence, jumping more than £400 when a licence moves from three to six points with an average premium of £1,159 and if you have a worrying 12 points on your licence you are going to pay in the region of £1,466.

Men are most likely to have points on their licence, with almost two million male drivers having points, compared to 786,000 women.

Dan Hutson, Head of Motor Insurance at Compare the Market, said: “The cost of a motor insurance policy depends on the risk profile of the driver. If you are deemed more likely to be in an accident, the insurer is more likely to have to pay out and therefore your premium will be higher.

“One of the many ways that insurers analyse risk is the number of penalty points that you have on your licence and these statistics put in to focus the serious impact that irresponsible driving can have on a policy.

“Beyond the obvious safety concerns, drivers should be incentivised by these numbers to take care when on the road or risk being charged a huge amount for cover.”

Speeding appears to the most likely cause of points on a licence, and although 75 per cent of those surveyed said that points on their licence made them reconsider their driving habits there was still an addition £230million paid to insurers last year due to points on their licence.

Sell or part ex your car today