no insurance company car

[danielle09]

i have a company car and have always been under the inpression that partners could drive the cars.
i told my partner he could use the car and he got flashed by a camera 34 in a 30. my work then informed me that my partner is not insured!!! to drive the car they need a copy of his licience i was not aware of this and they are taking my partner to court. he was compleatly unaware i told him it was ok and he took my work for it. the 3 points he got from the camera were his first and he has no other driving convictions or points. does anyone know what might happen??

[meredith101]

Has he been asked to provide documents to a police station?
I'm afraid by far the most likely outcome is that he will be successfully prosecuted for driving without insurance. Ignorance is not a defence in law.

[meredith101]

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVe hicle/Motorinsurance/DG_067639

It will also be considered that the person was speeding-while-uninsured.

You can get a good lawyer who will no doubt plead that 'he thought he was insured', but you can imagine of the thousands of those prosecuted every year for the same offence, at least half plead the same in their defence.

If someone is seriously injured by the uninsured speeder, insurance will be unforthcoming simply because the eligibility for insurance cover was overlooked. As such, it is no defence.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

who is taking your partner to court and what has he been charged with,you say he already has the 3 pts,from the speeding as he must have admitted that,but how come hes got to go to court.please explain.

[slave-plater]

you was always under the impression , partners could drive the company cars , supplied by your firm, u should have asked to see paperwork, if possible before u allowed your partner to drive this company car...... its easy in retrospect .....

[PrinceRainie]

Just a shot in the dark.....but does he have his own car..if he does then the chances are that he is covered by his own insurance...(youve probably already thought if this though.

I have been in the exact circumstance, however as one of the other posts says, ignorance unfortuntaley isnt a good enough defence. I completely sympathise with you.

She you didnt think at the time for you to admit being the driver!! would have stopped all this..

Good luck

[Ethel]

PrinceRainie - that wouldn't work, as it is conditional on having the car owner's consent to drive.

Clearly this isn't the case as the company were unaware he was driving.

[spaced]

you may want to check that its not their insurers policy but more like Cmpany policy, and they are just trying to sacre you.

Our company vehicle insurance allows any partner to driver a com-pany vehicle, as long as they have the employee (partners) authorisation. No copies of licenece need.

[gouldc]

That seems a little harsh - whilst I agree totally that ignorance is no excuse, it's not going to make any difference to the company as it's your partner getting the fine and points.

You've advised the company what happened, so what's the issue here? They're being a little bit petty.

[jg96]

Company I work fors Insurance company insists on inspecting both my own and wifes driving licenses once a year. When asked why was told it was not unknown for a company car driver who had been banned from driving to carry on rather than lose their job.

[sifellis]

It's unfortunate but it's the driver responsibility to check that the vehicle is insured for his use. If he does go to court and takes a lawyer to plead his case then you may have points put on your licence for cuasing him to drive uninsured. The code is IN14 and can earn you between 6 & 8 points.

[meredith101]

haven't heard any more from you danielle hope it works out the best for you