do you need motor insurance to drive on private land

[ellen-johnson-15]

[Count-A-Strong]

If other members of the public have acces to it (eg a postman using a long drive on a farm / an industrial unit land to which delivery drivers may have access etc) then yes. Otherwise generally, no.

[ChuckFickens]

As long as it is proper private land then no (note, places like car parks are not classed as private land as the public have general access to them and therefore you would need insurance in most private car parks etc.)

[Barmaid]

I have to take issue with Count A Strong's point. A long drive (as long as it is private) leading to a farm over which certain users may have access (ie the postman) is NOT something where the public have access to. The postman, gasman, delivery man has an invitation to drive over that land for the purposes of their job. It is the same as someone walking up a private drive to a house. Therefore, insurance would NOT be needed to such area since the vehicle is not kept on a public road. Supermarkets and car parks attached to areas to which the public are routinely admitted (such as bowling alleys, cinemas, restaurants, stores etc) are different since these are open to the public at large.

On our farm, there were a number of public footpaths and drives. The drives were used for access to the farm only. We drove tractors and vans all over the place and it was perfectly legal (although the fact that I learned to drive in a tractor explains so much)!

[trailertam]

Count-A-Strong is correct. If you have an access road to your house or farm you are inviting people to use it to gain access to the house or farm. The onle time you can drive on this road without driving documents( licence, insurance, MOT ) is when there is no access to the public by the fact that a gate is closed across the road.