Driving without insurance

Takoda

emsywoo123 wrote: »

Hi
My other half was in accident on Saturday, and his car was a write off. :eek: We bought a new one yesterday on ebay, and collected it last night. Obviously we did not part money until we had checked it (9pm last night) and he drove it straight home.
On his way back, he was stopped by the police and has been fined and goven points for driving without insurance. I did not realise that he had to be insured for the returning home from purchase journey (we did not want to insure until today, in case the car was rubbish and we did not buy it)
What would have been the best course of action, and is does all of teh above sound correct?
Please do not be overly critical if I have been overly thick, it has been a testing few days

Inactive in post #2 has the best answer.

I don't buy second hand cars or bikes though so this isn't something I have experience of really.

But hypothetically what I would do in this situation depends on how far the seller is from my home.

1) Presumably at the point of sale the seller has insurance to cover the car. I would hope so anyway since you will have test driven the car!!! If he lived within 20 miles I would go and see the car - ask the seller to drive me home in it and then send him home in a taxi.

2) Or... long shot this one and someone will tell me if I'm wrong - aren't you covered 3rd party in any vehicle if you already hold fully comp insurance cover or is that just an urban myth? Assuming that is true - yes I would check properly first if it was me - I'd get a friend with fully comp to drive me home in the car.

3) Or...If the seller was miles away I'd get a recovery type vehicle to bring it to my house.

But the easiest/cheapest is inactive's suggestion.

Mark_Hewitt

wxmlad wrote: »

tbh I think a lot of people do this unintentionally, buy a car privately, take it home and then insure it.

You can of course usually take a car for a test drive and be covered by your previous cars insurance on a third party basis (check the policy not all do this) - but of course if the original car is written off, this does not apply.

However once you've paid for the car it is legally yours and thus must be insured accordingly. Most insurance companies will transfer your policy onto a new car immediately if you phone them*. Indeed most will insure you on two cars for few days for no extra cost so you can do the changeover.

*This won't show up on the police computer straight away so you may get stopped, just make sure you only drive during the call centre opening hours of the insurance company and you have their number handy so the police can contact them to verify your details.

As for the OP, I'm afraid you are going to just have to suck up the punishment you get, unfortunately you are bang to rights, you were driving without insurance, and that is a serious offence.

Takoda

wxmlad wrote: »

tbh I think a lot of people do this unintentionally, buy a car privately, take it home and then insure it.

I'm sure you're right.

What about the staggering 25% of cars on the road who routinely do not have any insurance!

Scary.

Ebe_Scrooge

Takoda wrote: »

Inactive in post #2 has the best answer.




2) Or... long shot this one and someone will tell me if I'm wrong - aren't you covered 3rd party in any vehicle if you already hold fully comp insurance cover or is that just an urban myth? Assuming that is true - yes I would check properly first if it was me - I'd get a friend with fully comp to drive me home in the car.

Nice idea, unfortunately the third-party cover normally refers to a car "not owned by the policyholder", so you can drive a friend's car or test-drive someone else's car, but you can't have 2 cars owned by you covered. And in fact, more and more companies seem to be removing this automatic third-party cover these day, not sure why.

Inactive

Mark_Hewitt wrote: »

As for the OP, I'm afraid you are going to just have to suck up the punishment you get, unfortunately you are bang to rights, you were driving without insurance, and that is a serious offence.

How many more people are going to have a go at the OP for something that was not of her doing?

Read the OP properly, she was not driving the car, her Husband was.:rolleyes:

movingforward2010

Takoda wrote: »

I'm sure you're right.

What about the staggering 25% of cars on the road who routinely do not have any insurance!

Scary.

Yes it is scary, only a few weeks back a friend of mine a had a rear shunt from an uninsured driver, he was local too, turns out he didnt have a license either as he lost it thru drink driving! My friend went to his parents house ( the lad was 20) and demanded they repair the car or she would go to the police and report it - she should of reported him anyway :rolleyes: me thinks.

they coughed up for the repairs, as he was due to get his license back in next month,but we've seen him driving round for months, so hes obviously had no insurance or license - now that really annoys me, when myself and others have to cough up huge amounts for our premiums :mad:

Mark_Hewitt

Inactive wrote: »

How many more people are going to have a go at the OP for something that was not of her doing?

Read the OP properly, she was not driving the car, her Husband was.:rolleyes:

You can also be prosecuted for allowing someone to knowingly drive without insurance!

Mark_Hewitt

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

And in fact, more and more companies seem to be removing this automatic third-party cover these day, not sure why.

I would imagine because if you are driving an unfamiliar car you are more likely to crash it.

Takoda

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

Nice idea, unfortunately the third-party cover normally refers to a car "not owned by the policyholder", so you can drive a friend's car or test-drive someone else's car, but you can't have 2 cars owned by you covered. And in fact, more and more companies seem to be removing this automatic third-party cover these day, not sure why.

Thanks for that but maybe I didn't make myself clear enough. The friend driving me home would have their own insurance. They wouldn't own MY car so it would be OK I think.

vaio

Mark_Hewitt wrote: »

I would imagine because if you are driving an unfamiliar car you are more likely to crash it.

Or maybe because it is new and unfamiliar you are more careful and so less likely to bend it