Can I Get a Commercial Driving Job After a Conviction?

If you have a criminal conviction finding a job may seem a bit of a minefield, regardless of the nature of your conviction and its severity if a potential employer asks then you are legally obliged to declare a conviction when asked. That is until the point where it is considered spent; in the case of sentences of up to six months this can take seven years and for sentences of up to two and a half years a full decade.

There are some fields however where having a conviction should not stand in the way of you securing a job and one of these is the ability to secure a commercial driving job.

Commercial Driving Licence

In order to become a commercial driver whether driving a lorry, bus or a coach there are couple of things that you need. In addition to your standard driving licence you are required to take the drivers certificate of professional competence (CPC) which is a professional driving qualification. This is also required for driving certain classes of van. The only convictions that will have a major impact on your ability to do this are those that resulted in a disqualification from driving.

This would be any conviction related to drinking under the influence and dangerous driving – those convictions that may well have resulted in you being disqualified from driving in the past.

Insurance

Just as you need to declare any unspent convictions if asked when applying for a job, it is very important to disclose everything when applying for convicted driver van insurance, or any other type of commercial vehicle insurance. It does not matter if your convictions are related to driving or not you should declare them, in the same way as you are required to declare any previous claims you have made on your insurance.

If you are planning to drive commercially following a conviction it is important to make sure that you have the right insurance policy in place. Do not think that because you have a conviction you won’t be able to get insurance; there are some insurance companies who work specifically with drivers who have convictions and will help them to get the best deal on their insurance so that they can get on with their lives and their jobs.