Insurance

[Bunchies]

My son has been stopped when he borrowed his mates car thinking that he was insured on his own comprehensive insurance, the inevitable happened and he was stopped and given a producer, when looking at his insurance although he has comprehensive cover it turns out that the insurance does not cover him for any other car, he should have read it, but just thought he was covered on a third party fire and theft basis, he has to take his insurance etc in, does anyone know what will happen?

[Ethel]

Points and a fine

[Bunchies]

But he has already 8 points... ? 3 points are coming up for 3 years on 3rd september?

[bednobs]

well then he will definately lose his liscence under the "totting up" procedure

[Ethel]

Yes, 6 points for no insurance, and it is the date of the offence that is relevant.

He will be banned.

[Bunchies]

Do they bann him on he spot, or whats the procedure? cos he has job with van etc..

[New Judge]

He will be asked to appear in court and he will be awarded a minimum of six points.

This means he will become a "totter" and disqualified there and then for a minimum of six months. He will be asked if he or others will suffer "exceptional hardship" as a result of this. The magistrates have the discretion to ban him for a shorter period or not at all if this can be shown. It is not an easy argument with which to succeed. The hardship really has to be exceptional and loss of employment through being unable to drive is not usually considered exceptional. Indeed many Benches believe that people who have to drive for a living should be especially careful not to commit offences.

If any of his previous convictions are for No Insurance the magistrates may take a different view. They can either award more points (up to eight) and this would make no difference. However, they may disqualify him for the single offence alone. If they do this he cannot offer the exceptional hardship argument, but can argue that special reasons (surrounding the offence, not his circumstances) mean he should not be banned. From what you say this is not likely to be successful.

[Bunchies]

his first 3 points was driving 36 on 30 mph, his second was driving 66 on 50 mph, the police advised him to go to court, which he did, got 400.00 fine and 5 points, ! he should have accepted the spot fine! then as this all was within 2 years his licence was revoked and he had to take his tests again... he is taking his ins. docs etc at police station tonight, so we will see

[terambulan]

Did the insurance co. confirm he was not insured to drive another vehicle?

My son was in Court for excessive points. He got off as his OAP mother (attended also) needed him to transport feed etc for their horses........!

[Hymie]

I know insurance companies are trying to cut down on any extras offered, so that they can offer the lowest premiums � but I would check the whole policy document wording (small print), your son may be covered.

When I started to drive, I had a guy with a red flag walking in front of me (not sure why), but it was absolutely standard for all comprehensive policies to include the policy holder driving another car (on the proviso it was not owned by the policy holder and not on hire).
You were only covered third party, but you were covered.

Looking at my current policy, this is still so, for me at least.

[bednobs]

i have a feeling that if his liscence was revoked and he had to start again, dosent he start with a clear lisence?

[dundurn]

'fraid not - the points stay valid for 3 yrs from the date of the relevant offence and will 'tot up' like any other points.

[Hymie]

Forgot to add � if it was me, I would turn up at the police station with my comprehensive policy and play dumb.

It sounds like your son won�t need much coaching to act dumb, from what you say, he is a natural.

[BertiWooster]

His best bet is as Hymie says - turn up at the station and say - here is my insurance document that I have been asked to produce . Say nothing else , and hope that the officer dont check it in detail to see if it covers him to drive the vehicle in question .

Let us know what happens

[Ethel]

Playing dumb won't work. Ignorance is no defence and the desk staff are fully trained for producers.

[New Judge]

As dundurn says, the revocation (for six points within 2 years of passing his test) does not wipe the points off the licence. New drivers' revocation is a different matter to totting.

If he is disqualified for totting, however, the points tally will revert to zero. If he is disqualified for this single offence (of No Insurance) the eight points will remain.

On the matter of going to court instead of accepting a fixed penalty for speeding, this is never to be recommended unless you are going to plead Not Guilty. No court will impose a total penalty (fine, costs and Victim Surcharge) of less than �60 and three points is the minimum they can award.

[Hymie]

Ethel, you clearly don�t live anywhere near me � the police around here, don�t have a clue what they are doing.

[sifellis]

Firstly, why do people always assume that if you're comprehensive on your own policy it automatically covers you to be third party only (TPO) on other vehicles. You can be TPO on your own car and be covered TPO on someone elses but once again it's a case of believing what a mate tells them and not ringing/speaking to his insurers.

If he's been banned already i would suggest that you advise your son to stop driving as he sounds like a right liability, talk about a pain in the arse.

[RevFunk]

The desk staff at my local nick aren't trained. A couple of years ago I got a produce, so went into the police station the next day, got a receipt to say i'd produced the necesarry documents and off I went.

A couple of months later got a letter asking me to appear in court because I hadn't produced. Good job I kept the receipt.