NEW MOTORISTS beware, six points on your licence during your first two years on the road will get you a hike in your insurance premium, not to mention a ban, a fine, and the hassle of having to take your driving test all over again.

Hyperformance, the insurance broker specialising in young drivers and people with high performance cars, say there is no substitute for experience, but when it comes to new drivers and insurance no experience can be better than a bad experience.

Hyperformance warns drivers that have recently passed their test to be extra careful about picking up speeding tickets, which is very easy to do. It says just a few miles over the limit will get you a fine and three points, and two offences within the two-year probationary driving period is enough for new drivers to be banned and have to take their test again.

When you come to get back on the road, insurers are likely to impose their own penalty: over twice what they charge a driver with a year’s experience and a clean record and around 50 per cent more than a new driver with no experience.

Steve McPherson from Hyperformance said: "It’s important that new drivers realise just how much they are up against it in the early years.

"They need to take extra care. Not only is the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995 waiting to trip them up with a ban; insurers are right behind with their own harsh penalties. It’s not hard to see why: speeding is dangerous and must be discouraged.

"We insure a lot of new drivers and know what they are going through. It can seem harsh, especially when you remember the six-point rule also applies to any penalties imposed before a new driver even takes their test for the first time. They too, count towards the total in the first two years of driving.

"So take care, don’t speed, and be aware what it will cost you if you do."