Penalty Points

trigger1812

Hi all, I am asking a question for my sister who is worried sick, so please dont lynch me and thank you in advance to anyone who could advise.
Going back a few months ago, my nephew was caught on his moped and it was found his insurance had run out at 12am, he was caught at 4am coming home from work. Now the only background for this case that I know of is that he had received a renewel notice about 3 weeks prior and his father who deals with most of his sons affairs( as nicky has always had learning difficulties) anyway his dad thought that the bike insurance would renewal automatically the same as car insurance.
Only on finding out that apparently a phone call was needed to renew the insurance. Now my nephew has been awarded 8 points and a £300 fine.
My nephew accepted that he would receive points and a fine but we all believe this to be far to high for the circumstances, could anyone please tell me if there is anyway to appeal. I must add he had mot and tax and a valid license. Thanks all

davetrousers

Hmmm to make assumptions about something as important as insurance is pretty flippant really.

Take it as an expensive lesson learned and move on!

Appeals can 'go wrong' and result in an even strearner punishment.

WEEGIE

trigger1812 wrote: »

Hi all, I am asking a question for my sister who is worried sick, so please dont lynch me and thank you in advance to anyone who could advise.
Going back a few months ago, my nephew was caught on his moped and it was found his insurance had run out at 12am, he was caught at 4am coming home from work. Now the only background for this case that I know of is that he had received a renewel notice about 3 weeks prior and his father who deals with most of his sons affairs( as nicky has always had learning difficulties) anyway his dad thought that the bike insurance would renewal automatically the same as car insurance.
Only on finding out that apparently a phone call was needed to renew the insurance. Now my nephew has been awarded 8 points and a £300 fine.
My nephew accepted that he would receive points and a fine but we all believe this to be far to high for the circumstances, could anyone please tell me if there is anyway to appeal. I must add he had mot and tax and a valid license. Thanks all

Driving without valid insurance is a serious offence, and he should be greatful that he was only fined £300 and 8 penalty points. There may be scope to appeal, but on what grounds? Appealing may make matters worse, so I think he should just pay it and learn from his expensive mistake. You do realise that when you come to renew your insurance, you may find that your premium may be higher.Having an IN10 on your licence can make it difficult to get insurance but not as bad as a drink driving offence. Sorry if I seem harsh here, but I would rather you knew the truth, rather than someone coming on here giving you false hope.

trigger1812

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I fully understand about not having insurance and how serious it is, but in all fairness it was 4 hours and an absolutely genuine mistake re; thinking it renews automatically, I believe he should definately have points and a fine but and not be bias I do not believe he should have been dealt with so harsh as now if his insurance goes up to high he will now lose his job due to working hours in the middle of the night, its just a pity he never had the chance to stand up in court.

neilmcl

Surely your nephew would have received a renewal notice at some point clearly stating that the renewal was not automatic, and for the record he would have had plenty of opportunity to have his case heard in court if he chose to do so.

Hintza

From what I can see the minimum would be 6 points and the maximum 9 points with a fine up to £5,000. I suspect if you appealed the points might come down but the fine up. So you would pay your money and take your chance.

As for hardship don't even go there, if I was the sheriff I wouldn't look favourably on that as he has no depedants etc

vaio

The magistrate sentencing guidelines suggest 6 points is the starting point for a first time offender who’s found guilty.

I think he got treated slightly harshly particularly as it’s about a benign example of the offence as you are likely to see.

The magistrates also should have considered a reduction from the starting point as he pleaded guilty and in addition, out of the four examples indicating lower culpability he ticks the boxes on three.

You could see a solicitor with a view to appealing sentence but frankly the worse bit is having the IN10 on his licence and unless the solicitor thinks you can get that turned over the cost might out-way the possible gain.

If you do go and see one pick one that specialises in motoring offences

Guidelines on page 130 http://www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk/docs/magistrates_court_sentencing_guidelines_update.pdf

iolanthe07

The problem is that driving without insurance is an absolute offence, so it doesn't really matter whether he was 4 hours outside his renewal, or four weeks. He wasn't insured - end of. The magistrates don't really have all that much discretion.

trigger1812

I think I am inclined to agree with the above , the cost would outweight the extra money on the insurance for the sake of a few points have explained this to my sister, thanks for your opinions they helped alot.

vaio

iolanthe07 wrote: »

The problem is that driving without insurance is an absolute offence, so it doesn't really matter whether he was 4 hours outside his renewal, or four weeks. He wasn't insured - end of. The magistrates don't really have all that much discretion.

Yep, it is an absolute offence but there are varying degrees of culpability which should affect sentence

mark5

The fixed penalty punishment for no insurance is 6 points and a £200 fine so if you add on court costs then £300 is about right.