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.

[redcrx]

whether she genuine believed she was covered or not, she will be charged with driving whilst uninsured.

Sadly a costly way for her to learn.

[ummmm]

I don't think she'll get off with any excuse to be honest. Being a 'good kid' doesn't mean she can break the law...even by accident.

[NazNomad]

She has Insurance documents, failure to read them thoroughly isn't gonna get her off.

[yogi-bear]

Hi krysia,

Sadly redcrx is right, but you can just ask her to state what she thought and the reasions why she was driving, and that hopefully will be taken into consideration.

I hope all works out well for your daughter. :0)

[milly143]

I suppose it's easy for a young girl to be a little naive and make this mistake but she will have learnt her lesson. It's the drivers responsibility to ensure they are insured to drive any vehicle.

[bednobs]

This is an "absolute" offence meaning that there is no two ways about it, i'm afraid. The only thing that is "negotiable" is what the punishment will be

[krysia100]

Thanks for all your replies. We know she is "legally" guilty but she is morally innocent and we just want to help her in any way we can. The summons may well not come until April just as she is about to do her finals. She is worrying about this all the time, it feels like she has already been punished out of all proportion. Thanks again for the replies so far but would really appreciate if anyone has constructive advice about how to go about claiming special reasons and the chances of special reasons being accepted by the Magistrates.

[ummmm]

Like Bednobs has said it's an 'absolute' offense. There is no way out of it.

[milly143]

A few people have already told you that will not happen and she will be charged for it. I don't think you can claim she is morally innocent, it is up to her to check she is insured, there's not really any way around that and saying "I didn't know" isn't going to let her off. In the eyes of the law, she should have known.

[bednobs]

as i said "special reasons" will NOT be accepted by magistrates. You are either driving with insurance or you are not, so unfortunately there isn't any constructive advice that can be given

[yogi-bear]

The only hope your daughter has is for the judge to be lenient in her punishment, as bednobs has already mentioned. Circumstances may be taken into consideration is your ONLY hope.

[MarkRae]

> Her friends said she would be covered under his insurance as he said he was fully comp.

That's not what 'fully comprehensive' means, though...


> She is such a good kid and would never have driven if she hadn't thought she was insured

As has already been pointed out, ignorance is no excuse before the law.

[ummmm]

She's still going to get the points. You can only hope he's very lenient on the fine.

[ummmm]

Fully comp only covers the policy holder. Not all fully comp covers the holder to drive any car...let alone someone else.

[NazNomad]

If her friend feels 'partly' responsible, maybe they can pay the fine?

Although they don't need to.

[redcrx]

of course you want to help her as much as you can. But in this instance there is nothing that you can do except hope for a lower fine.

[bednobs]

it is a bugger because the points will mean she will lose her licence as well if she has recently passed her test

[ummmm]

How many points is it bednobs? I thought it was just 3..

[bednobs]

6-8 i think