Car insurance lapsed

Widescreen

Hi,
I was recently stopped by a police officer and found out that my car insurance had recently run out & not been renewed.
The other 2 cars in our household are insured. This was a genuine oversight.
My wife had not been well and missed any correspondence (if any was sent).
Is it worth while trying to plead our case in court or are these cases determined as ‘black or white’.
Thanks for any advice

Guest101

it's a summary offence. IE you drove without insurance


your reasons could prevent a ban, or get a lower sentence

Widescreen

the guilty plea is 6 points & £300 fine. not sure how this works if I go to court

Billy_Bullocks

Guest101 wrote: »

it's a summary offence. IE you drove without insurance


your reasons could prevent a ban, or get a lower sentence

True it's a summary offence but that's not the meaning of a summary offence. You should have used absolute.

marcarm

Don't most companies autorenew nowadays to stop this happening? Which company were you insured with?

Car_54

As has been said it's an absolute offence and you're guilty.

You can go to court, plead guilty and argue "special reasons not to endorse", but there don't appear to be any! A court appearance would get you an income-related fine, plus costs and victim surcharge.

The fixed penalty is probably the best deal you'll get.

Guest101

Billy_Bullocks wrote: »

True it's a summary offence but that's not the meaning of a summary offence. You should have used absolute.

If I was writing a legal paper I would. When providing a simple explanation, I think the wording was fine - thanks.

Aretnap

"My wife had not been well and missed any correspondence..." does that mean the car belongs to your wife, not you? If so;

(a) Do you have an insurance policy in your own name on another car?
(b) Does it include cover for driving other cars, not owned by you?
(c) Does the driving other cars cover have any restrictions requiring the other car to be insured in its own right, or excluding a car owned by your spouse?

forgotmyname

I use a broker and they do not auto renew policies. They sent the renewal out and it states it will lapse if you do not contact them.

A year or so back i renewed over the phone and they failed to take payment. Back in the old days i would have just ignored it but these days you have to chase it up.

Called them and they didnt understand why the payment had not been taken. Still took them a few days i was about to call them again..

iolanthe07

I always check the MIB website after renewal just to make sure insurance is in place. It only takes a minute.

Billy_Bullocks

Guest101 wrote: »

If I was writing a legal paper I would. When providing a simple explanation, I think the wording was fine - thanks.

The wording was wrong even in your attempt to provide a simple explanation.

Do you know what a summary offence is?