Driving Uninsured, Likely Outcome?

[Pir8-Sun15]

Hi im 20 years old, I have held my driving license for around 2 years. I bought a Renault Clio in January and took out a year's insurance policy on it. This was paid up front. Due to an accident involving freak and severe weather conditions the car was subsequently written off a few months later. Around 3 weeks ago I bought a similar spec Clio. The car was insured for the first 7 days by the garage i bought it from but in my negligence, I forgot to phone my own insurance company and declare the car to be added to my current policy. I was stopped by traffic police on Saturday during a spot check and have been asked to produce my certificate of insurance within 7 days. I have corrected the problem and the car is now fully insured on my policy. My question is it too little too late? With the start of my legal cover on the car following my being stopped by the police will I still be prosecuted although I gained no advantage by not having the car insured? (What I mean is the car wasn't covered because I refused to pay the insurance. It was already paid for)
I know the maximum punishment for driving an uninsured car is up to �5000 and 6 to 8 penalty points. This sort of penalty would result in my license being revoked and banned from driving, which could result in me losing my job (project engineer).
I'm not suggesting I should be let off by all means, I just want to know if there is any grounds for leniency given my case which could see me keep my license?

[lemonsorbet]

I'd just be honest with the police. Tell them you completey forgot after the 7 day insurance when you bought the car, and immediately bought insurance when they highlighted your mistake.

Apologise prefusely, and beg for no points!

Hopefully they'll just let you off with a fine. Perhaps take your previous insurance with you to show your last car also had insurance.

[Pir8-Sun15]

I didn�t have to buy insurance after they highlighted it. All I had to do was phone up my insurance company and add the new car to the same policy that covered the previous vehicle as the policy was paid up front for 12 months.

[lemonsorbet]

Ohh, I see! You already have an insurance policy until January 2009, crashed previous renault, got a new one, but forgot to put this one on your current insurance.

I'd still just be honest with the police, and make sure you take the policy with you.

If it's fully comp insurance, wouldn't you be allowed to drive the other car 3rd party with your own insurance anyway??

[bednobs]

it dosent make any difference that you had an insurance policy for anther car - even if it was similar spec - the car you were driving wasn't insured, and if the police notice this when you present your documents, you will betreated as outlined in your original post . losing your job will not be a mitigating factor when taking away your liscense.

i dont really understand how you think your insurance policy had continued anyway - if your car was written off and the insurance co paid out then the policy would have been cancelled, as there would have been no need for it. When youve rang your insurance co, they havent added this car to the policy, they have given you a new policy, surely?

[New Judge]

Unfortunately, lemonsorbet�s suggestion that you may be covered by your policy for Third Party only is almost certainly a non-starter. Few insurers now issue you with an �any vehicle owned by the policyholder� policy � they require their customers to provide details of the individual vehicles and you neglected to tell them about the change. Many policies allow a policyholder to drive other vehicles (on Third Party cover only) but this is restricted to vehicles not owned by the policyholder. Again, not the case here. So it seems you are open to a charge of driving with no insurance.

It is not the police who decide whether to award a fine or points. That is a matter for the magistrates� court. If your lack of insurance is noted when you produce your documents you will be summonsed. No Insurance is an �absolute� offence. That is, you either have it or you do not and it is your responsibility to ensure that you have.

That being the case you should plead guilty but offer your mitigation (i.e. that you simply forgot to notify the change of vehicle).

This is unlikely to be reason enough for not awarding points and the minimum is six as you have pointed out. Your fine is likely to be one week�s net income, reduced by a third for a guilty plea.

This does mean (if the offence took place within two years of passing your test) that your licence will be revoked and you revert to provisional. This is done by the DVLA. The magistrates have no discretion in the matter and neither (in these circumstances) does the DVLA.

Your only opportunity to avoid this is to ask the magistrates to impose a short disqualification (perhaps 14 days) instead of points. Disqualification does not lead to revocation. They will need some persuading to do this (and a solicitor may help put your case more successfully) as it is outside their guidelines.

[Pir8-Sun15]

lemonsorbet - My insurance policy is fully comp but to the best of my knowledge for this to cover me 3rd party on an unnamed vehicle you must be over the age of 21.

bednobs - My understanding that although the insurance co had paid out, The policy still ran for 12 months as this was what had been paid for. The car was added to this policy with a 5 min phone call and a small cost, which i can only imagine would be some kind of administration charge. In Jan 2009 when my policy expires my premium will be recalculated to include the previous car being written off.

[New Judge]

As far as I know, when a "Total Loss" payment is made the policy is cancelled. Even if it is only one day old, the remainder of the year's premium is forfeited.

However, insurance is not my forte. If you post a question under "Insurance" gouldc will almost certainly provide a definitive answer which you can rely upon.

[Pir8-Sun15]

New Judge thanks for your post.
I knew almost for certainly that there is no way I could avoid any kind of prosecution. Even if it was down to negligence rather than a deliberate attempt to break the law.
Based on your formula my fine should a few hundred pounds but I would happily pay more if it resulted in less/no points on my license.
On what grounds could case be made for a disqualification to be employed rather than points?

[redcrx]

you say that the policy continued after your first car was written off, if so, what vehiclke were the insurer actually covering you to drive? I am with Judge and bednobs on this, as far as Im aware, a full write off usually ends up with the cancellation of policy

[Pir8-Sun15]

I will phone my insurance company again to confirm this but as I said before the policy was taken out to cover my first car which was written off. Despite the total loss claim the policy was still valid through Jan 09 and all it took to add the new car to the policy was a small admin charge.
I will check this to be sure, but as you can imagine is not my immediate concern.

[redcrx]

you have 2 choices, hope that when you take documents in its not noticed, or be honst and point out your mistake.

I appreciate that you think checking the insurance now is not priority but Id suggest that to double check it will be in your best interest.

I cant see whay insurers would continue covering you when there was no car.

[Pir8-Sun15]

Confirmed with the insurance co that the new car is insured on my orginal policy through Jan 09.

i have also made a call to the procurator fiscal office in fife. They told me too get written proof of this being the case. (That i had an insurance policy in place and that the fault just lay with myself not declaring the new car to my insurer)
Said my case is 50/50 at best to keep my license.

[New Judge]

I notice from the mention of the PF that you�re in Scotland.

I do not believe the law covering �New Drivers� is any different there from England & Wales. As far as the disqualification goes, magistrates� sentencing guidelines (at least in England & Wales) suggest six to eight points for a first offence. However, magistrates do have the discretion to impose a disqualification instead of points for any offence which an endorsement. They would usually consider this in cases where the offence is more serious than normal.

Effectively you will be asking them to go down this route even though your particular offence may be slightly less serious (because it was caused by an oversight). You will be asking them to do this simply to circumvent the new drivers� revocation rules and they would not normally be inclined to do so. Hence my recommendation that you get a solicitor to put your case.

[Pir8-Sun15]

I wouldn�t think the laws regarding new drivers in Scotland would vary any.
I agree based on your point I can�t imagine magistrates being inclined to take the disqualification path only to spare me losing my license.
Just thought it might have been a small chance I could be back on the road in a relatively short period of time.

[david1702198]

here in Scotland it would be the Procurator Fiscal as opposed to a migistrate, but all drivers in the uk are subject to the same laws passed through the UK Parliament even though there are seperate Governments/Assemblies for each UK country. We all have a UK driving licence so we are all subject to UK driving/motoring legislation