Can I appeal the fine I got for being a day out of date to renew insurance based on..

EmmaRose89

vaio wrote: »

Don't know about a good idea, certainly worth considering depending on your circumstances

Have a read of the guidelines (removed cause i can't post links cause im new) and see where you think you'll be.

Basically no insurance is a band C fine which is 150% of your weekly income excluding CB, HB, CT and similar. You could be expecting to get 30% off that for an early guilty plea plus a further reduction for low culpability/harm.

oh thanks vaio i dont think, if im right, ill need to pull out any of this i've read in court myself, but you're putting me in the picture because this is what the court will consider when fining me if i go to court?

EmmaRose89

Aretnap wrote: »

You would not be fined anything like £5000 if you took this to court - that's the maximum fine, not the one which would actually be imposed. In fact fines are means tested - if you pleaded guilty it would be 100% of your weekly post-tax income, plus another 10% in victim surcharge, and around £85 in prosecution costs (costs might be reduced if you're on very low income). If you are on very low income this might well work out as less than £300. If you have no income at all or you're in receipt of state benefits your income would be assumed to be £110/week, making a total of just over £200, or less if the magistrates took pity on you and reduced the costs. Going to court would also give you the option of asking to pay by installments, which you can't do with the fixed penalty.

It's also vanishingly unlikely that if you went to court you'd be banned for driving the day after your insurance expired. You might end up with 7 or 8 points instead of 6, but I would think 6 would be more likely.

The magistrates can find special reasons not to give you any points (and by extension probably not fine you either) if you can show that you had an honest and reasonable belief that you were insured. But this usually means that you need to have been misled in some way. If you just carelessly chose 3 weeks instead of 4 from the online menu and then didn't double check the dates properly they probably wouldn't find special reasons.

The seizure of your car is legal if you fail to produce your insurance certificate on demand and the officer has a reasonable belief that you were driving uninsured... it sounds like that was the case so there's nothing you can do about the release fee or the taxi fare I'm afraid.

Thanks Aretnap - I thought I would reply directly to your thread as it was very clear (thank you) and summarises the advice on the thread that I've received in actual direct response to my question.

So, to summarise, so that i fully understand:

1) I should go to court? And not APPEAL whether it was fair that they punished me (i did drive uninsured, i did take the points and pay the release fee and go without car instantly), but to ask that they go easy on me with the fine, given my income and the fact it was a mistake - is this right?

2) if i go to court, i DO run the risk of having a fine put on me but it won't likely be £5000 and it will be extremely unlikely that they ban me. Is this fine in ADDITION to the £300 fine i am already facing??

3) If i go to court, I WILL increase the likelihood that they will allow instalments instead of one lump fine - is this right?

4) If i go to court, I WILL increase the likelihood that they might consider a reduced fine - is this right??

5) If i go to court, do you guys think I will need a lawyer?? Or will I be able to go in by myself, or with some sort of free legal advice if students are allowed this?

EmmaRose89

Can anyone help with these final questions? Thanks so much for your advice so far everyone.

vaio

what's your income? Excluding excluding CB, HB, CT and similar