no insurance

[the preacher]

young lad of 19 assumed his insurance would cover him while driving his dads car, pulled by police and informed he was wrong, off to court soon told by police to expect automatic ban plus may need to resit test cause only recently passed his test. Seems harsh, i also thought insurance polices included a clause " insured may also drive another motor vehicle if not owned or hired by the insured" will he loose his licence? any ideas on defence appricated! thanx.

[Emz26]

You cannot 'assume' you are insured to drive a vehicle. The responsibility is on the driver to make sure that they are covered to drive at the time of driving. This is an absolute offence. Fully comprehensive insurance can cover a driver to drive other vehicles not owned by them and with the permission of the owner but usually if you are over 25. And this will only cover you 3rd party. If you are caught with no insurance, this can mean up to 6 penalty points and a fine. If you accumilate 6 points within your first two years of holding a licnece, this will automatically render you disqualified until test passed, meaning you have to re-apply for your provisional licence and re take your test.

[Ethel]

Many insurance policies now stipulate that you may drive any other vehicle ....IN AN EMERGENCY.

How they define emergency is anyone's guess.

6-8 points on license and a fine. So if the driving test has been passed two years or less before the date of the offence, then a ban is automatic.

There is no defence.

[Buenchico]

Up until fairly recently, nearly all insurance policies (whether 'fully comp' or just 'third party') provided cover for driving another person's car (with third party cover only). Some policies included a specific exemption, stating that the insurance didn't cover the driver using the car of a close relative or of another person living at the same address.

However, many insurance companies have now removed this 'third party - any vehicle' cover from their policies.

Driving without valid insurance can either be dealt with by a fixed penalty or through the courts. The fixed penalty is a �200 fine and 6 points on the licence. In a court, the maximum fine is �5000, plus 6 to 8 points on the licence. (The court may also impose an immediate driving ban. This is unlikely but it's different to the licence revocation, referred to below, in that a ban is for a fixed period of time but 'revocation' allows the driver to take to the road, as a learner, as soon as he's got a new provisional licence).

It's also an offence to 'cause or permit' another person to drive a motor vehicle without insurance. So it's possible that the driver's father may also face prosecution. (The same penalties apply upon conviction).

When someone, who has passed their test within the past two years, reaches 6 points on their licence, that licence is automatically revoked. There is no appeal against this procedure. The driver has to apply for a new provisional licence and book another driving test.

Chris