Seven years ago, Declan* (then 25) overturned the car he was driving while drunk. Luckily no one was injured, but he lost his licence for two years.

Four years later, sober since the accident having attended AA meetings, he decided to get back on the road, but shopping around for motor insurance proved to be a sharp wake-up call. "We went to just about every insurance company in the country. Most of them turned him down - just declined him straight away," his wife Sharon* recalls.

"After speaking to every single insurance company - I even phoned Lloyds in London - AR Bressington (ARB) was the only company that would actually, with his record, put him back on the road, but it cost," she says. Declan's premium was€€10,000 that first year back behind the wheel.

The following year, Declan was issued with a clean driving licence as more than three years had elapsed since his conviction.

Despite having his licence wiped clean, he was still penalised for his past when it came to insurance. This is the first year that Declan has not had to pay an additional "loading" on his premium with ARB.

For the first time he was able to get a quote from a traditional insurer, but it was double his current premium with ARB, Sharon says.

"My husband is an alcoholic and has been dry for seven years. For four of those years my life was a misery. I had to take him everywhere," she says.

Although those days are over, she is frustrated that although Declan is "rehabilitated in the eyes of the State" and has a clean licence again, he is still penalised by insurers. "As far as the insurance industry is concerned, it can be anything from five to 10 years that they can penalise you after you've had an accident that involved drink driving or reckless driving."

Sandra adds: "Young lads don't know. They're not told this at school that for between five to 10 years they will be a criminal [ in the eyes of insurers] and, if they do get insurance, it will cost them €10,000."

*Not their real names