Company car- wasnt insured

[manuforever2]

I was in a small accident last week where a young boy came into me, no one was hurt but the police was called (they called). The police did all their normal checkups and they found that the car i was driving, that had been given to me from my employer to get to work, was uninsured. I work as a barman and my employer from whom i had worked for, for two years gave me an old car to get to work. I asked him weather it was insured and i trusted his reply that it was i didnt feel the need to ask to see the documents. I would never dream of driving without insurance and i understand now that i should of checked. I have been summomed to go to court. Could anyone tell me what iam likely to face? Also do points go away after a certain amount of time?

[NORMANTHEDOG]

you are likely to face 6 points and a heavy fine of 200 or so,points last for 3 yrs

[Buenchico]

A correct answer from Norman.

If the matter had been dealt with by a fixed penalty, it would have been a �200 fine plus 6 points. When a court summons is issued, the court can impose 6 to 8 points. Somewhat strangely, courts quite often impose a lower fine than the �200 which goes with a fixed penalty. Most of the cases reported in our local press seem to result in a fine of around �80, plus costs of around �45 plus a victim surcharge of �15. The newspapers don't report the number of points given as a licence endorsement but this is likely to be 6.

As Norman indicates, penalty points cease to be valid for totting up purposes after 3 years. However, they can't actually be removed from your licence until a year after they cease to be valid.

There is a statutory defence for anyone driving a vehicle which is not owned (or hired) by them and who is driving that vehicle in the course of their employment. (e.g. a delivery driver with a company van). Such a driver can't be convicted of driving with no insurance unless he knew (or had reason to believe) that the vehicle was uninsured. To use that defence, you'd need to show
(i) that your employer still owned the vehicle ; and
(ii) that you were driving in the course of your employment (e.g. going to the cash-&-carry for your boss).
http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?LegT ype=All+Legislation&title=road+traffic+act&Yea r=1988&searchEnacted=0&extentMatchOnly=0&confe rsPower=0&blanketAmendment=0&sortAlpha=0&TYPE= QS&PageNumber=1&NavFrom=0&parentActiveTextDocI d=2276534&ActiveTextDocId=2276786&filesize=554 8

Chr

[NORMANTHEDOG]

very good of you chris,although a tad sarcastic as usual.

[factor-fiction]

I note you refer to the car as a company car.
You should also hope the income tax people (HMRC) don't ask you or your employer whether you declared this Company Car to HMRC as a taxable benefit in kind which would give you a tax liability of �10- �20 a week.

You need legal advice though if you were instructed to drive it on company business and your employer said you were insured. I doubt many employees check the validity of their employer's insurance of a vehicle , and I don't think the employee should be expected to demand to validate paperwork. The employer in this case has a responsibility.

Having said that, this sounds more like a friend letting you drive his car rather than an employer instructing you to drive on company business.

[Buenchico]

(With apologies to the questioner):

Norman:
We've disagreed many times before but, this time, I was happy to see that we're incomplete agreement. So I tried to be extra careful not to seem to be criticising you (because there was clearly no reason to do so). So I took care to start my post by acknowledging the accuracy of your answer. Further, when I was basically repeating your information, I took care to write "as Norman indicates" (to, once again, acknowledge the validity of your post).

So, despite all of our previous disagreements, I am genuinely sorry that you viewed my post as 'sarcastic'. That was not my intent and I offer my sincere apologies for any unintentional offence caused by my post.

Chris

[Bonehedchico]

christ!

[spheric]

The Boss of the (small) company I occaisionally help out was pulled over earlier this year in exactly the same circumstances.

In this particular case, it should have been *his* job (because he's the boss) to keep the company's car insurance up to date... - but luckily for him, in previous years the insurance application was signed by another member of staff.

As such, instead of the boss (the driver) getting fined and the penalty points, the company was fined (and seeing as you can't give points to a company, that was the sole punishment)

Its your employer's responsiblity to ensure the insurance is correct, and as such you should be able to succesfully argue your case. - seek proper legal advice and representation (they'll likely do it under legal aid unless you're rich) and I'd expect you to escape any personal punishment (and any criminal record)