Which insurance companies do not ask about criminal convictions? Most only ask about unspent convictions, and spent ones do not need declaring. Here is what you must disclose and how to get covered.
If you have a criminal record and need insurance, it is natural to look for companies that will not ask about it. But before you start hunting for one, it is worth knowing that the question you are really asking is often a different one: do you even have to declare your conviction in the first place? For a great many people, the answer is no. The law draws a clear line between convictions you must disclose and ones you can keep private, and understanding that line usually matters far more than finding an insurer that does not ask. Here is how it works.
Most do, but with an important limit: they almost always ask only about unspent convictions. When you get a quote, online or over the phone, the question is typically phrased as whether you have any unspent convictions, not any convictions at all. This matters, because under UK law you are not required to disclose convictions that have become spent, and in most cases insurers are not allowed to ask about them or take them into account. So the common worry, that any conviction must be confessed, is usually misplaced.
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 is the key piece of law here. It says that after a certain period of time, many convictions become "spent". Once a conviction is spent, you generally do not have to declare it when applying for insurance, and an insurer cannot refuse you or charge you more because of it. An unspent conviction is one that has not yet reached that point, and if an insurer asks about unspent convictions, you must answer honestly. So the practical question is rarely "which company does not ask" but "is my conviction spent or unspent". If it is spent, you do not need to declare it to anyone, and you do not need a special insurer that avoids the subject.
That depends on the sentence you received and how much time has passed since it ended. As a rough guide, lesser penalties such as fines and community orders become spent relatively quickly, while longer custodial sentences take longer, and the most serious sentences never become spent. Because the exact rehabilitation periods are detailed and have changed over the years, the safest approach is to check your specific situation rather than guess. The charity Unlock runs a free disclosure calculator and is the leading independent authority on this, and GOV.UK also publishes guidance on when convictions become spent. Getting this right is the single most useful thing you can do.
The honest answer is that there is no useful list of insurers who simply ignore convictions, and chasing one is the wrong strategy. What is true is that the overwhelming majority of insurers ask only about unspent convictions, so if your conviction is spent, almost any insurer effectively "does not ask" about it, because the question does not apply to you. If your conviction is unspent and an insurer asks, you must declare it. In that situation, the goal is not to find a company that fails to ask, but to find one that will insure you fairly knowing the full picture. Specialist insurers and brokers exist precisely for this, covering drivers and homeowners with unspent convictions at sensible prices.
This is the part to take seriously. If an insurer asks about unspent convictions and you do not declare one, you have given them inaccurate information, and the consequences can be severe. The insurer can cancel or void your policy, refuse to pay a claim when you most need it, and treat the non-disclosure as fraud, which can make future insurance much harder and more expensive to get. Deliberately hiding an unspent conviction to get a cheaper quote is never worth the risk. If you are asked, answer honestly, and use a specialist if mainstream quotes come back high.
Driving-related convictions are the most common reason this comes up, and unspent ones do push up car insurance premiums. The way forward is to declare any unspent conviction honestly, then shop around, including specialist convicted-driver insurers and brokers who are used to these cases and often beat mainstream quotes. It also helps to keep the rest of your profile strong and to weigh up your level of cover, since the cheapest headline option is not always the best value, as we explain in our comparison of comprehensive versus third party insurance. Once any driving conviction becomes spent, you no longer need to declare it at all.
Home insurance follows the same principle. Insurers generally ask whether anyone living in the home has unspent convictions, and an unspent conviction can affect your premium or your options. Spent convictions do not need to be declared. If you do have an unspent conviction and find mainstream home insurance difficult or expensive, specialist providers cover households in this position, and a broker can point you to them. As with car cover, honesty on the application protects your ability to claim later.
A few steps make the process smoother and cheaper. First, check whether your conviction is actually spent, because if it is, much of the worry disappears. If it is unspent, declare it accurately rather than risking your policy. Use a specialist broker if standard insurers quote high, since they know which insurers price these cases fairly. Compare more than one quote rather than accepting the first, and avoid letting a policy auto-renew without checking, especially as a conviction approaches the point of becoming spent, when your position may improve. Shopping around with the right information is almost always better than trying to sidestep the question.
The bottom line is that "which insurance companies do not ask about criminal convictions" is usually the wrong question. If your conviction is spent, you do not have to declare it and most insurers will not ask. If it is unspent, the safe and sensible route is to declare it and find an insurer, often a specialist, who will cover you fairly, rather than risk your policy by hiding it. This guide is general information and not legal advice, so check your specific position using a trusted resource such as Unlock or GOV.UK, or speak to a specialist broker.
There is no useful list, because most insurers ask only about unspent convictions, not all convictions. If your conviction is spent, you do not have to declare it and the question does not apply. If it is unspent and you are asked, you must answer honestly.
No. Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, you generally do not have to declare a spent conviction, and insurers usually cannot ask about it or refuse you because of it. Only unspent convictions need to be declared when an insurer asks.
If an insurer asks and you do not declare an unspent conviction, they can cancel or void your policy, refuse to pay a claim, and treat it as fraud. That can make future insurance far harder and more expensive, so always declare unspent convictions honestly when asked.
It depends on the sentence and how long ago it ended. Minor penalties like fines and community orders become spent relatively quickly, longer custodial sentences take longer, and the most serious never do. Check your exact position using Unlock's disclosure calculator or GOV.UK guidance.
Yes. Unspent convictions can raise premiums, but you can still get cover. Declare any unspent conviction honestly, then shop around, including specialist convicted-driver insurers and brokers who often beat mainstream quotes. Once a conviction is spent, you no longer need to declare it.