forgot to get car insurance, help please

diane70

HI All
We got a knock on the door last Thu, the police stating they have just done a check and our car that was parked on the road has no insurance, my husband went to get the papers t prove we did have insurance as it only runs out november etc.
Anyway there where right it didn't it ran out aug 1st, we didnt get any letters, emails, phone calls from kwikfit about a renewal etc, we presumed it was for 12 months like out previous insureres but this was only for 10 months.
We have had problems with statments, items not arriving in the post etc.
anyway they had to take the car to the pound (£105 to take it out £12 a day etc)
We had to go to town and get insurance straight away to get the car back, anyway after about 5 hours we finally get insurance usually £280 had to pay £577 as the police said he had points pending????
My husband has asked if he will get points and 3 officers have said no, but when we have been on the internet it says he will definatly get points a fine and may even get a ban??????? he is a taxi driver (has a taxi not the car mentioned etc) so points will increase his insurance for that, he is so depressed as he doesn't know what will happen.
We always pay everything on time it was just this once that we forgot as the post never came etc.
The car was parked on the front, we were not driving it etc.

hope someone can help
Thanks
Diane

DCFC79

You pay the price, you forgot to get new insurance, nowadays the onus is us the customer to get new insurance and its not for the ins companies to be letting us know when it runs out

diane70

I know it is or fault, but we have that many insurancies and tests etc its hard to keep up so that letter for renewal is vital as we are so busy working and keeping the family sorted.
will def keep on top of this in the future, just that we felt like criminals as though we did it on purpose.
but yet i see scumbags driving around with no tax mot etc and they never get caught, people speeding all the time past my house and they never get caught, this was an innocent mistake and my husband may now lose his job (if ban is impossed)
diane

olly300

diane70 wrote: »

I know it is or fault, but we have that many insurancies and tests etc its hard to keep up so that letter for renewal is vital as we are so busy working and keeping the family sorted.

Stop making excuses.

Everybody is busy.

Most people use calendars or diaries and put their insurance renew dates in them.

Are you honestly saying neither you or your husband has a calendar or diary anywhere in the house or at work?

diane70 wrote: »

will def keep on top of this in the future, just that we felt like criminals as though we did it on purpose.
but yet i see scumbags driving around with no tax mot etc and they never get caught, people speeding all the time past my house and they never get caught, this was an innocent mistake and my husband may now lose his job (if ban is impossed)
diane

Moaning that life isn't fair isn't going to help you and feeling like a criminal is just your guilt.

If your husband has a chance to contest the points and go to court than he must. He shouldn't accept the fine and points automatically if it means he will lose his license.
He needs to inform the magistrate that he needs his license for his living.

And from early next year police will be able to impound all cars caught parked without MOT or insurance.

raskazz

diane70 wrote: »

I know it is or fault, but we have that many insurancies and tests etc its hard to keep up so that letter for renewal is vital as we are so busy working and keeping the family sorted.
will def keep on top of this in the future, just that we felt like criminals as though we did it on purpose.
but yet i see scumbags driving around with no tax mot etc and they never get caught, people speeding all the time past my house and they never get caught, this was an innocent mistake and my husband may now lose his job (if ban is impossed)
diane

It's highly unlikely that a ban will be imposed if it is a first motoring offence in the last 4 or 5 years. It is far more likely to be 6 points and a fine of a couple of hundred pounds. I would say that if he is not banned as a result of the conviction, it is not worth going to court as they could well impose a more severe penalty if he has no real basis to dispute the charge (which he doesn't on the information you have given).

diane70

wooo came on here for help, other stories etc
not a telling off, off people who have nothing better to do on a friday night other than slag people off on forums!!!

We lead a busy live we have taxi tests to deal with twice a year, just come back from holiday, dont have to explain myself but just feel it is not fair how some people are treated when others who do not give a !!!!, get off!!
the police man even apologised as he could see it was a genuine mistake, he felt sorry for us but couldnt go back once he put our reg in etc.

on the day we ran round geting baby sitters and had time off work to sort it out and get our car back, it was the worst day of my life!!!!
diane

Oscar_The_Grouch

Hi there

Sorry about the other posts; you came on here for advice and got shouted at. Let's see if I can help.

First of all, Prior to August 2008 the only offence to do with not having insurance was "Driving without insurance". It was as a result of the Road Safety Act 2006 (came into effect August 2008) that the offence of having a car without insurance came into effect (that's not the "actual" name of the offence, but it's the weekend and I'm not going to look it up).

You were not seen driving the car, so they cannot take you to court for driving without insurance; all they can do (and what they did) is impound the vehicle and fine you.

There will be no points pending on your husband's licence, as the offence of having a car without insurance is a fine, not points. I suggest you phone the police and get them to confirm that you have been fined under the Road Safety Act 2006 and not the Road Traffic Acts. When they confirm that this is the case, phone your insurers and advise them that you are not going to be receiving points and ask them to reduce your premium accordingly.

As for Kwik Fit, they are required to send you a renewal notice (if they are offering to renew) at least 3 weeks prior to the renewal date. I would be tempted to ask them for evidence that they have complied with this requirement and if they cannot supply it, complain.

If you want any more help, pm me.

As for the lack of advice from the other muppets; sorry. - Except Raskazz who said nothing wrong!!!

diane70

thank you very much oscar, thats what I needed to know. will get him to ring them tomorow, this will be a great relief to him. thanks again, diane

raskazz

Oscar_The_Grouch wrote: »

First of all, Prior to August 2008 the only offence to do with not having insurance was "Driving without insurance". It was as a result of the Road Safety Act 2006 (came into effect August 2008) that the offence of having a car without insurance came into effect (that's not the "actual" name of the offence, but it's the weekend and I'm not going to look it up).

I'm not sure about his Oscar. The offence under s.143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 is "a person using a motor vehicle on a road" without insurance. As cases like Elliot v Grey and Plumbien v Vines show, 'using' a motor vehicle includes simply leaving it parked in the road. Hence an offence has been commited, the OP admits the car was parked in the road.

As far as I am aware the offence that you are referring to under the Road Safety Act was introduced to "plug the gaps" in scenarios where the car is kept off-road.

Ian_W

diane70 wrote: »

thank you very much oscar, thats what I needed to know. will get him to ring them tomorow, this will be a great relief to him. thanks again, diane

Dianne,
Sorry but I believe raskazz is right - at least since the Road Traffic Act 1960 "using" [not "driving" as Oscar states] a motor vehicle on a road w/o insurance has included it being parked on a road. The Elliot v Grey case established that and is referred Pulmbien v Vines as follows:

The court considered the authorities and concluded that the position appeared to be:
1 A motor vehicle which was mobile at least to the extent that its wheels would rotate had to be insured and there had to be an appropriate test certificate in force in respect of it before it could lawfully be parked on a road: see Elliott v Grey [1960] 1 QB 367 and Gosling v Howard [1975] RTR 429.

So it is "using" and it is endorse-able AFAI can see. It may still be worth checking to see if they are using the new legislation, but they don't need to as you are bang to rights under previous RTA legislation.
I would agree with the comments about KF needing to send you a renewal and chasing that up. Also that, unless there are other recent convictions there shouldn't be a ban.
Sorry it's not positive, like Oscars was, but at least it's not shouting either!

diane70

right!
3 officers said if you dont hear anything in 2 weeks forget about it? he just doesnt want this hanging over his head, it will be 2 weeks next thu, should I change ins or can the police take longer?
nearly all the police we dealt with said he won't get points??
thanks for your help
diane