driving without insurance special reasons

[krysia100]

Hi My daughter (aged 20) recently passed her driving test and about 2 weeks later her friend asked her to drive him and some friends to a Uni do as he had been drinking. Her friends said she would be covered under his insurance as he said he was fully comp. She drove a little way and was stopped by the police (she hadn't done anything wrong, hadn't been drinking etc)) they asked her for her documents and she said it wasn't her car so they said she needed to bring in her ins docs next day. She went the next day with her friend and his docs and was in shock when the police said they did not cover her. She was a named driver for our car at the time but of course that doesn't cover her for other cars. She genuinely believed she was covered is there any chance that she could please special reasons and does anyone know what the best way to approach this is? She is such a good kid and would never have driven if she hadn't thought she was insured.

[MarkRae]

Assuming it's her first offence, she is looking at between 6 and 8 penalty points and a fine of £200, but no automatic ban unless there are other circumstances which you haven't mentioned.

http://www.drivingban...gwithoutinsurance.htm

[redcrx]

was her friend also charged? i believe that its also an offence to allow an uninsured driver to use your vehicle.

[ummmm]

I got caught driving without insurance years ago...I only got 3 points. That was a real bummer...I was only taking the car for a spin before I bought it :-(

Serves me right though....would never chance doing that again..

[bednobs]

meant to say, the friend might also get points and a fine for allowing it

[yogi-bear]

DRIVING WITHOUT INSURANCE OR LICENCE

Driving without the correct insurance or without a license are considered serious offenses.

Driving without insurance carries a 6 to 8 point penalty is most cases, but can lead to a driving ban, and a fine of up to £5,000. If someone is not insured on the specific car they are driving, but have insurance for their car, the offense is still considered as serious as not having any insurance. Letting an uninsured driver drive your car is also illegal.

Driving without a licence will incur a penalty of between 3 and 6 penalty points, which will be added if the person in question ever gets a driving licence. This would mean an immediate ban, and then having to re-take a driving test once the ban is over.


The fine is very rarely as much as £5000 apparently and is much less on most occasions. This is where the discretion of the judge is brought in.

[bednobs]

but six points in the first 2 years means the licence is revoked

[milly143]

If you have been driving less than 2 years, you get automatically disqualified if you get more than 6 points. I think you then have to wait a year before you can retest.

[yogi-bear]

Redcrx has a good point and he should be charged too, should'nt he?

[redcrx]

seems the fairest way, doesnt it yogi

[yogi-bear]

It certainly does, red....hopefully someone with a lawyer background, such as Barmaid, may be on to shed some clarification on this point.

[jd_1984]

I would guess 6 points and £120 -£240 fine.
I have a friend who made the same mistake several years ago, he would not have knowingly broken the law either. It is unfortunate, hope judge is lenient

[jaydah]

Look at Keypoints on this site. If the owner was fully comp and your d'ter had 3rd party there may be a loophole to exploit

http://www.comparethe...rivers-a-quick-guide/

[bednobs]

jaydah that site says "If you have comprehensive insurance, other people may already have third party cover when they drive your car with your permission" May is the operative word here. but the op has stated that the daughter was not covered by the policy

[redcrx]

"other people may already have third party cover when they drive your car with your permission"

that avenue would have been checked when the police looked at the friends documents. It is an extra on some insurance policies, it is not often a standard feature any more

[jaydah]

nobs, isn't the d'ter covered by parents policy ?

[bednobs]

to drive the parents car, not the friends car

[cazzz1975]

I dont think the reasons in which she committed the offence would be classed as "special" plain and simple, she should have read her policy document. Im sure she is a nice girl and the moral of the story is she has learnt something the hard way.

[krysia100]

Thanks again for taking the time to talk about this. There were no other circumstances MarkRae - it was purely that she believed her friends who all thought she would be covered. Her friend wasn't charged and she does not want him to run the risk of being charged but he has said that he is willing to go to court and say he said he thought she was covered. She didn't ask us to get involved she wanted to deal with it herself. She was prepared to take the consequences but we feel if something can be done then we should do it. That law was made to deter and punish people who deliberately drive without insurance and that is a terrible thing to do. She would never do that. Thanks for the links Jaydah and MarkRae.

[redcrx]

there would be too many people saying they "thought" they were insured if it was possible to get off the charge though. The laws have to be firm in this instance.

[jaydah]

krysia, best to ask your insurance company where your d'ter stands under your insurance.