Advice Please....6 Points And £300 Fine...guilty But Can I Assk For Leniency?

[entranced]

hi, i was stopped and found to be without insurance. I wasnt aware of it but i understand that means nothing. But for the reason...5 yrs ago i suddenly fell...it left me with a severe anxiety disorder, agorophobia and major panic disorder....i am just beginning to get on my feet again to the point where i can start working again and the 6 points will likely make me unattractive to a prospective employer[ i am a tractor driver/farm labourer]....what i did was not open some mail...its a hangover from the anxiedty condition...but one of those letters was a notice informing me my insurance was due to run out.....i just didnt think....i had changed insurers a couple of years previous and was used to my insurance rolling over automatically. So, is it worth going to court and asking for leniency and community service instead perhaps? many thanks, Mark

[hc4361]

I would suggest not. Have you informed the DVLA of your aggrophobia, anxiety and panic disorders? If not, you won't want to draw attention to it
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/psychiatric-disorders-assessing-fitness-to-drive
https://www.gov.uk/agoraphobia-and-driving

And of course you should also have notified the insurance company.

[EDDIE51]

6 points and a £300 fine is VERY LENIENT for a no insurance offence!!!
You would normally expect get an immediate 12 month driving ban.
Driving without insurance is as 'absolute offence' that means there is no excuse. It is up to you to be SURE you are insured every time you drive. Trying to get away with less will almost certainly result in a higher penalty not a lower one.

[hc4361]

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-insurance/driving-without-insurance

[Islay]

Really Eddie are you sure?
I was stopped 3 years ago and got no fine at all and the points didn't even make it onto my license.

[Islay]

Eddie you may wish to read hc link!

[hc4361]

Check the link, Islay. The police can choose to give a fixed penalty of £300 and 6 penalty points, or send you to court where an unlimited fine AND disqualification can be imposed.

Also the police have the power to seize and destroy uninsured vehicles. You got off extremely leniently and the OP has been given the minimum penalty

[Islay]

I was told that as long as I insured the car whilst the copper was there - they were happy not to take it further other than the points that never materialised
Eddie gave the impression that a ban was automatic - its not its only if the police take it further - which unless you have done it before is not cost effective for them.

[hc4361]

How long had your insurance lapsed, Islay? As I said, you got off extremely leniently.

[EDDIE51]

Here is the yougov web site on the question>>
Penalties for uninsured drivers: The police could give you a fixed penalty of £300 and 6 penalty points if you're caught driving a vehicle you're not insured to drive. If the case goes to court you could get: an unlimited fine.
Vehicle insurance: Driving without insurance - GOV.UK
https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-insurance/driving-without-insurance

[Islay]

4 weeks - perhaps it was my sparkling personality!

[hc4361]

Must have been, Islay

[Islay]

Eddie your quote is //You would normally expect get an immediate 12 month driving ban.//
Where does it say that on the website please?

[Baldric]

Eddie, why duplicate hc's link from 13:32?

[EDDIE51]

^ I have to agree that you were exceptionally lucky Islay. You must have caught the police officer on a good day. As said 'No Insurance' is a absolute offence, there is no defence to it. It is every drivers duty to make certain they are insured every time they drive.
I have to repeat entranced, DO NOT go to court , you WILL get a much higher penalty and almost certainly a driving ban.

[Islay]

So where did you get your information from Eddie
//You would normally expect get an immediate 12 month driving ban.//

[EDDIE51]

OK I was not quite correct. If a driving with no insurance case goes to court rather than staying as a fixed penalty as here, there is an automatic 10 points. So even 2 points on your licence from a minor speeding offence 3 years previously will mean a ban under the totting up procedure. There is also an option of an immediate ban.
I was caught out in similar circumstances. I thought my insurance ran out in July but it was actually June. I got a 3 month ban as well as a fine, I had a clean licence no points at all but I still got a 3 month ban. I was just 3 days past the insurance expiry date when I got stopped. I also had to phone up and get immediate insurance to avoid the police impounding the car.

[ummmm]

Not quite correct....classic!

[Deskdiary]

Islay was caught without insurance, a strict liability offence, but let-off with just the points (which never materialised) so long as the insurance was arranged there and then.

I find that extremely hard to believe.

[EDDIE51]

^^ You are not the only one who finds it hard to believe!

[Islay]

Deskdiary stop calling me a liar! Eddie stop being a cockwomble because you were caught out being wrong again!
I posted it about the points on my licence when it happened but I can't find it now - I believe the general feeling was I was very lucking and it had more to do with being in Northern Ireland