For many people, this weekend could be their first experience of protest, whether on the anti-Brexit march on Saturday or as part of Extinction Rebellion’s rolling campaign. But what about those willing to go further and be arrested?
Extinction Rebellion launched a wave of civil disobedience on 7 October to highlight the escalating climate emergency, and by yesterday, more than 1,700 people – including the Guardian columnist George Monbiot – had been arrested, with some now facing an anxious wait to find out what comes next.
Guardian Money has spent the week looking at the possible financial implications of being arrested in this type of protest, and talked to lawyers, experts and those who have put themselves on the line for environmental causes.
We found that, depending on the outcome of arrests, those involved could face issues with their personal finances, including mortgages, insurance and future employment.
One of the big unknowns, say those behind the protests, is how many people will be prosecuted. Following previous Extinction Rebellion action, only about 10% of those arrested were charged, but it could well be higher this time. There has been a hardening of attitudes this week at the Home Office and the Metropolitan police, and the Met has warned it will be pushing for more prosecutions this time round.
Prosecutions can lead to unspent convictions and – while that might sound technical – it is these that can cause the biggest problems. Extinction Rebellion does not duck this issue on its website, which has downloads and FAQs covering this area. “Before attending an action, it’s crucial that all rebels inform themselves about their rights as protesters and the possible consequences of arrest,” it says.
This article is not designed to put anyone off participating in protests. The aim is to clearly spell out the implications that being arrested could have so individuals can make an informed choice.
Unspent convictions
A criminal conviction can be for anything from a serious crime resulting in a prison sentence to littering or speeding leading to a fine. It is likely that in the case of most of those charged this week, it will be for failing to leave a controlled area of London when instructed to do so by a police officer.
Once someone has been convicted, that conviction is deemed to be current – or unspent – for a period based on the sentence. The more serious the conviction, the longer it remains unspent.
In short, convictions are what insurers, mortgage companies, employers and other organisations do not want to see on your “file”. For example, British Heart Foundation does not accept volunteers to work in its shops if they have any type of unspent conviction.
John Briant, an Oxford-based criminal barrister who has been advising local Extinction Rebellion protesters about the implications of being arrested, says most of those previously arrested who chose to go to court have ended up with a conditional discharge of six months and/or a fine related to income. Conditional discharges are only considered to be spent at the end of that term – typically six or nine months.
For those who are fined in court, the conviction is only considered to be spent a year from conviction. Those given a community order face a year on top of the order’s length.
The extraordinary 15-month prison sentences meted out to anti-fracking protesters are a much bigger problem, as the conviction is not considered spent for a further four years on top of the sentence.
Home insurance
It may sound ridiculous, but a 70-year-old retired teacher who may have never claimed on their home insurance is unlikely to have their policy renewed once they reveal they have an unspent conviction.
Christopher Stacey, a co-director of the charity Unlock, which was set up 20 years ago to help people with all types of convictions, says most big insurers will not renew, or issue a new household policy, when they learn someone in the insured household has an unspent conviction. Several insurers including Direct Line, LV= and Aviva told Money this was the case.
“Getting insurance can be a big problem for people with an unspent conviction. For those with existing house insurance, if you don’t notify them of the change when you next renew, the firm could refuse to pay out if you later try to claim. We have seen this happen in the past, particularly when people have let their policy simply automatically renew,” he says.
Convicted protesters given a six-month conditional discharge would be fine if their renewal came up after it was considered spent. However, if it fell within the six months, it would be unlikely to be renewed – if you admit it. Unlock has produced a list of specialist brokers who will help those with an unspent conviction find insurance cover, but this is likely to come at a cost.
Some insurers have a clause in their terms and conditions that requires the customer to inform them of a conviction, at any time. One of the UK’s largest, Aviva, told Money it insists customers inform it of any new non-motoring convictions “as soon as reasonably possible”. It admits it could lead to a decline or cancellation of the policy, either at the time or at the point of renewal. As soon as your conviction is spent, you have no obligation to mention it to an insurer. The Unlock calculator can help with this.
Car insurance
Car insurers are not so obsessed with non-motoring convictions unless they are serious and relate to theft, fraud or handling stolen goods. Again, you will have to declare any unspent convictions at renewal. However, Aviva said it would insure a driver with a minor protest conviction who had an otherwise clean record – but again at a cost.
I was only arrested and let off with a caution – do I have to declare it?
No, there is no obligation to tell your insurer or other financial company that you were arrested. If you accept a caution, that is considered to be immediately spent. However, it can have long-term consequences, as it stays on your police file for life – and will be likely to appear on any enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check carried out later.
What about my credit file, bank account and mortgage application?
The credit reference agency Experian told us criminal fines and convictions have no impact on credit scores, and only a fraud conviction would show up as a “marker”. Banks generally take a similar stance. Nationwide says it does not ask about criminal convictions when someone is opening an account. Only serious financial crimes such as money laundering, bribery, tax evasion or mortgage fraud would lead to account withdrawal, it adds.
However, things become a bit murkier when it comes to mortgage applications, says Stacey at Unlock. Mortgage companies do ask about unspent convictions, and every year, the charity hears reports of people having their mortgage application seemingly turned down for this reason.
Stacey says most lenders will ask about criminal records – typically: “Have you ever been convicted, or have any prosecutions pending for any criminal offence (other than motoring offences)?” Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, spent convictions do not have to be disclosed as part of a mortgage application, irrespective of what questions are asked. Mortgage companies should be clear about this, but often aren’t, he says.
If your conviction is unspent, you will need to disclose it.
Do I need to tell my existing employer?
Ruby Dinsmore, an employment law specialist at Slater and Gordon, says: “Strictly speaking, employees are under no legal obligation to tell their boss if they have been arrested or charged with an offence, but there are exceptions. For example, if their contract of employment states that they must disclose such matters, or the conviction affects their ability to do the job, such as a taxi driver banned from driving, or if they work in certain regulated professions.”
She says honesty is usually the best policy, as the consequences could be much worse if an employer were to find out at a later stage.
“While information about arrests is not publicly available – unless an employer were to carry out an enhanced background check – details of charges and convictions are,” Dinsmore says.
“And if the employer decided that their trust had been broken, that the person’s behaviour posed a threat to colleagues or customers or had brought the business into disrepute, they could be within their rights to dismiss them, even before the outcome of any criminal case.”
What about future employment and the DBS check?
For many younger protesters, this will be the biggest issue, particularly if they decide to change career.
Most big employers conduct a basic DBS check before they offer a new employee a contract. This will show up only unspent convictions and conditional cautions, which will not be a problem for most first-time environmental protesters.
However, if you decide you want to work with children or vulnerable adults, even on a voluntary basis, and the organisation does an enhanced check, it will show all convictions – including spent ones – plus cautions and any other information the police deem to be relevant. Most cautions given to first-time Extinction Rebellion protesters would likely only come off their enhanced check after six years.
It would then be up to the employer to decide whether to carry on. Would a caution following a climate protest lead to a teacher being denied a job offer?
It is worth noting that plenty of people taking jobs in finance have been caught out after telling their employer they had no convictions, as they were spent, only to have the offer withdrawn when the employer did a DBS check. Arguably, as more people are arrested at climate protests, employers will have to stop lumping them in with every other convicted or cautioned person.
Future travel or work abroad could be affected
Generally, anyone travelling to the US for less than 90 days can travel under the visa waiver programme. However, if you have been arrested, you are ineligible to travel under the scheme, and will have to apply to the US embassy for a visa. A typical six-month conditional discharge given to a climate protester would probably not be grounds for a visa refusal, but the visa process can be a real pain. Equally, those planning to emigrate in later life will have to disclose any brushes with the law, and it could be a problem depending on the country.
Case study: ‘I think we were a little naive’
Miranda Cox, who was one of a number of people arrested after locking themselves to the entrance to Cuadrilla’s fracking site near Blackpool, says environmental protesters need to go into the process with their eyes open.
Along with 11 others, she pleaded not guilty in 2017 to obstructing the highway, but was convicted. They each received a 12-month conditional discharge and had to pay a total of £270 in costs.
“Looking back on it, I think we were a little naive about the consequences. We knew we wouldn’t be visiting America any time soon but we didn’t really think about the other consequences. I think we were lucky that most of us were a bit older and we weren’t about to make big career changes or similar,” says Cox, 50, who was a councillor at the time.
She says she did not have insurance problems but others in the group have faced rises in car premiums. No one lost their job, she says, but she suspects that was more due to their circumstances.
“To anyone thinking of joining an environmental protest I’d say go for it, as you will be on the right side of history. However, you need to go into it with your eyes open. Being handcuffed and thrown in the back of a police van and spending several hours in a police cell was really unpleasant – much worse than I thought it would be,” she says.
