A few weeks ago Stephen Watson would have had no problems at all getting a cheap deal from a specialist young driver car insurance provider. 19 years old, a trainee manager for supermarket giant Tesco and with a spotless driving licence, he would have been able to get a fantastic quote.
But that's all changed. Because Stephen is now a convicted drink-driver, banned from the road and with a gaping hole in his bank balance after magistrates fined him over £400.
His problems began on the afternoon of January 29th 2006 when he offered to move his girlfriend's car from her Cambridgeshire driveway and park it opposite the house. But he'd been drinking during the day and as he attempted to manoeuvre out of the drive he lost control.
He careered across the road, smashed through a neighbour's fence and came to rest in their front garden with mud, bits of wood and destroyed flowers scattered all about. The disgruntled neighbour called the police and Watson was subsequently breathalysed. He was more than twice the drink-drive limit and was also found to have no car insurance.
Prosecuting at Cambridge Magistrates' Court, Mara Maciejowski said, "It was about 4.15pm and a neighbour saw the car speed off and lose control completely, crossing a pavement and crashing through a fence.
"Although he didn't go very far, it was a potentially dangerous situation as the area often has children playing in the street."
The bench found Watson guilty of drink-driving and having no motor insurance, and fined him £400 plus £55 costs as well as banning him from the road for 16 months.
A cheap policy is definitely going to be hard to find for Stephen in the future, even with the great deals offered by expert young driver car insurance firms.