Uninsured Cars - Legal if not driven?

Andy_L

Bad_Ash wrote: »

What happens if that car is stolen and causes damage to other cars, properties or even death?

Would the car's owner be liable?

No, because it has been stolen.

dfarry

veggyboy wrote: »

If any of you watch road wars you would know that the police state " that a vehicle must have insurance in its own right", wether you have the driving others extension or not. if you get stopped you will get fined and 6 points on your license.

This is not the case... as has already been pointed out... the user must be insured whether it be as the owner/keep, a named driver, a group type policy or via a third party only extension via their own insurance.

However, Police systems will flag the vehicle as being uninsured and stop it... the general protocol then is to issue a fixed penalty notice (£200 fine plus six points) and seize the vehicle. In some cases the driver/rider would need to be summons (for example if the points would result in them losing their licence by reaching the maximum allowed).

Once stopped any paperwork will help but remember people often take out policies, cancel them and don't send back the certificates as they should. So if the car flags up with no insurance and you have the paperwork you might not be believed (depends on the copper). If you do have a thid party only, driving other vehicles extension then tell the copper the registration number of the vehicle and if he's not totally unreasonable he will be able to check this out quite easily and often from within his own vehicle.

If all else fails and you are definitely insured you'll have to request a court hearing rather than pay the fixed penalty notice and then take all your evidence along with you.

magpiecottage

Quentin wrote: »

Your advice is incorrect.

You don't need a "contract of insurance" to obtain an MOT certificate - and you cannot drive a car on a journey to a "pre-booked MOT" without any insurance in place (if you have no insurance, though, you can get a mate to take it using his DOC extension)!

And all you need insurance wise to tax a car is an insurance certificate showing the car is insured on the day the tax comes into force. What you do about the insurance from day 2 of the tax period is up to you!

If that was what I said, it would be incorrect but I didn't.

You need a valid insurance to drive the car on the road at all - even if it is to get to a pre booked MOT - so we agree.

And yes, you only need to show the vehicle is insured - and has a valid MOT if it needs one - on the day it is taxed. Both could, theoretically, expire that day but it would allow you to tax it.

What you cannot do, though, is have an untaxed vehicle on the road - except to transport it to and from the MOT/repairer so that you can get the certificate in order to tax it.

Whether somebody in Penzance could pre-book an MOT in Thurso is not something I would want to put to the test!

Quentin

magpiecottage wrote: »

If that was what I said, it would be incorrect but I didn't.

That was what you said - and I quoted you (verbatim)!

Originally Posted by magpiecottage
However, to be legally driven on the road, the vehicle must still be taxed and, if over 3 years old, have a valid MOT certificate and that cannot be obtained without a contract of insurance - unless the vehicle is being taken to or from a pre-booked MOT test or to or from having repairs done in order to pass an MOT

.

dfarry

This might be worth a read...

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=27218

Terrible case of insurers being wrong and making rules up when they like and the police digging their heels in. No outcome because it would be interesting to see if the case did make it to court.

raskazz

veggyboy wrote: »

If any of you watch road wars you would know that the police state " that a vehicle must have insurance in its own right", wether you have the driving others extension or not. if you get stopped you will get fined and 6 points on your license.

Some ill-informed officers might state the above but that is not the actual position in law.

raskazz

dfarry wrote: »

This might be worth a read...

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=27218

Terrible case of insurers being wrong and making rules up when they like and the police digging their heels in. No outcome because it would be interesting to see if the case did make it to court.

I've seen that thread before.

To me it rather shows that pepipoo is not necessarily always the wonderful resource that some make it out to be, because not one single person pointed out the obvious, despite 5 pages of rather in-depth debate:

The driving other cars extension is subject to permission of the owner.

The OP's brother had it on loan from a friend, and whilst the OP's brother may have been in control of the vehicle he was not the owner, and there is no evidence that the owner gave permission for the OP to drive it. Hence the driving other cars benefit does not apply and there is no cover.

leeds_lad_3

!!!!!! wrote: »

The Road Traffic Act states the following



Note that it states that the USER needs insurance not the vehicle

I think this satisfies the question - on what basis (link please) are people arguing that the CAR needs a policy?

leeds_lad_3

lisyloo wrote: »

Why don't people ask there professionals rather than spending hours on here??

Because Aviva put you through to an Indian call centre. They can barely understand what you are trying to say, unless it is a run of the mill query. They don't live or drive over here, and it gives me little confidence in what they say. At the end of the day I'd be taking advice of someone paid peanuts, whose second language is English and who doesn't have experience of living or driving over here. So thought I'd better double check.

Quentin

Irrespective of one's opinion of the call centre staff ability, when asking them any question that has any possible future bearing you should ensure they confirm their answer in writing.

As should you need to rely on the answer in future you will find they have no record of the conversation, and will deny it!