Help - Driving Without Insurance

carolbee

was the direct debit still being collected?

Astaroth

A123JACK wrote:

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond. I was just wondering do the police have the option of dealing with this type of offence with a fixed penalty notice or is it always court. Since realising my stupid mistake I insured the car within 2 hours of my wife getting stopped. Will this give me any chance of a lesser penalty (doubt it!!).

I am not a legal expert on these sorts of things....

There is no lesser penalty as it is a strict liability for the offence. Courts however do take into considerations the circumstances of any criminal offence and such things as was it intentional? how likely is it to happen again? is it a first offence? etc Unless your misses has had a string of previous motoring offences then it is likely that it will be fairly lenient unless they are doing a clamp down and making an example of everyone.

A123JACK

carolbee wrote:

was the direct debit still being collected?

The last dd payment was October 06. Another thing to add on to my list is to keep a better eye on the bank statements. Not doing very well at the moment..

dag_2

Honestly I think you'd do well to pop into the citizen's advice bureau.

I think that simply going into the police station hoping for a lighter penalty if you say it was an honest mistake is a bad idea. For one thing, I think it's the courts rather than the police which decide these things - and secondly, there are rules which they have to follow.

However, I don't know what those rules are, or what your rights are. That's why you'd be well advised to pop into the CAB first, or speak to someone else legally qualified.

tonys_3

If you are a member of the AA, they have a free legal advice section that
could help. I would imagine that the RAC would probably have the same.

avondale

Your wife from the sounds of it was given a hort/1 , which to the everyday bod is known as a producer. She needs to attend the cop shop within 7 days from midnight of when it was issued, or will be commiting a further offence. To be honest from what you say it is a genuine mistake on your part, again being really anal technichally speaking you are also commiting an offence by permiting somebody to drive an uninsured vehicle. Personally i would go to magistrates court and give your side of the story. In all honesty the majority of the fines for no insurance are less than an insurance policy, and in your case it's a genuine mistake but you do get alot of oiks who would rather pay a 50 quid fine then stump up for car insurance. Being totally honest you've had a bit of a result already as the police could have issued an instant £200 fixed penalty notice on the spot for no insurance. I think the penalty at court would be less then that and probably 3 points on your other halfs licence. If you want any advice fill free to pm me

nickmack

avondale wrote:

I think the penalty at court would be less then that and probably 3 points on your other halfs licence. If you want any advice fill free to pm me

The endorsement is an automatic 6-8 points and up to £5000 fine as Astaroth already stated.

The OP will most likely get 6 points and a few hundred pounds fine.

The magistrate will not go against the sentencing guidelines and impose only 3 points, just because it was an honest mistake. They will almost certainly impose the minimum they are able under the guidelines which is 6.

Mr_Grumpy_7

stooby wrote:

if your wife has a car insurance of her own covering a different vehicle, that policy would usually cover her Third Party Only on "any car not belonging to her" i.e. yours. That would mean she was legal. It's a longshot though.

This is not quite true. Yes, having an insurance policy in your name can mean that you are covered third party to drive another vehicle, but that vehicle must in itself be insured. So in this case, the car and driver would still be uninsured.

movieman

Yes, having an insurance policy in your name can mean that you are covered third party to drive another vehicle, but that vehicle must in itself be insured.

But it is insured if you're driving it and have such a policy on your own vehicle. I don't see what you're trying to say here...

I do think it's debatable as to whether it would count as 'any car not belonging to her' if it's the other person's car in a couple though. I'd be surprised if an insurance company would allow that.

To give an example, I sold my old car to a junk-yard and one of their guys who's insured to drive anything came around and drove it away. Are you claiming that was illegal because I'd transferred my insurance to my new car?

avondale

Nickmack,
Just want to raise an issue, i'm a serving police officer in the met and have been so for over 5 years, i stand corrected with the guidelines for endorsements, ie six points but in terms of fines i can honestly say i've been to court numerous times and the fines for no insurance are pathetic. I've never ever had somebody fined more than a £100, it must have cost the cps and police more to prosecute the defendant than the fine imposed. Another point people might not be aware of but needs to be raised is that criminal justice units don't always prosecute every person reported FACT. As the traffic offence backlog on the administrative staff is totally overwhelming , it sometimes comes down to the fact that persistent offenders are brought before the court., ie prioritised rather than mr and mrs nice. Now i'm not saying any of this will apply in relation to the original poster of this thread but am just raising peoples awareness.