Vehicle with no Insurance

wgl2014

How long do you expect it to be before the repairs are done? If your wife's going to be using it after this anyway just get it insured.

Johno100

Car_54 wrote: »

Nope. The offence is "using" the vehicle, not driving it. Road Traffic Act 1984 section 143(1(a)).

So, not if it is just parked up on the road as in the OP's case, but carry on with the scare stories if you wish.

Rover_Driver

Johno100 wrote: »

So, not if it is just parked up on the road as in the OP's case, but carry on with the scare stories if you wish.

Yes, just parked on a road and un-drivable, still needs insurance. See Pumbien v Vines, as in post 10.

dcouponzzzz

Apologies for hijacking, but I'm in a similar situation. Old car is fully functional and taxed, sat on my driveway but not insured while I try and sell it. Should I expect the same letter?

If I choose to SORN can a potential buyer still test drive, and if not, how long does it take to remove the SORN status?

Johno100

Rover_Driver wrote: »

Yes, just parked on a road and un-drivable, still needs insurance. See Pumbien v Vines, as in post 10.

Yes, and he's likely to get a fine as detailed in post #3 I'm not disputing that.

Car_54

Johno100 wrote: »

Yes, and he's likely to get a fine as detailed in post #3 I'm not disputing that.

There are two distinct offences. The 'new' continuous insurance one, which applies even if the car is off the road, and the long-established offence of 'using' an uninsured vehicle on a public road. The OP appears to be committing both.

Rover_Driver

Johno100 wrote: »

Yes, and he's likely to get a fine as detailed in post #3 I'm not disputing that.

In the OP's case, the claim is an offence contrary to s.144A, Road Traffic Act 1988.
If the OP's car is parked on a road, it is required to be insured - s.143 of the same act. Failure to have that insurance is the offence that carries 6 points.

forgotmyname

dcouponzzzz wrote: »

Apologies for hijacking, but I'm in a similar situation. Old car is fully functional and taxed, sat on my driveway but not insured while I try and sell it. Should I expect the same letter?

If I choose to SORN can a potential buyer still test drive, and if not, how long does it take to remove the SORN status?

If its not taxed AND insured you must SORN it otherwise expect a letter from the DVLA for having an uninsured / unsorned vehicle.

If its not insured then some buyers insurance wont cover them to drive it anyway. My current policy only covers me to drive cars that are insured already.

Mercdriver

dcouponzzzz wrote: »

Apologies for hijacking, but I'm in a similar situation. Old car is fully functional and taxed, sat on my driveway but not insured while I try and sell it. Should I expect the same letter?

If I choose to SORN can a potential buyer still test drive, and if not, how long does it take to remove the SORN status?

If as a result of your car being uninsured, the prospective buyer isn't insured to drive the car under the terms of his insurance, and he gets stopped by the police (very likely if he passes an ANPR equipped police car) then not only will he get 6 points and minimum £300 fine but so do you for permitting.

If that's not bad enough, both of you will struggle to hire cars from most mainstream rental companies as most of them will not rent a car to you if you have an insurance related conviction on your licence.

Short answer - make sure you have short term insurance on your car at the very least. It's much less painful.

Herzlos

dcouponzzzz wrote: »

If I choose to SORN can a potential buyer still test drive, and if not, how long does it take to remove the SORN status?

I think it can be done online now, so same day. You'd need to insure it at that point though, so it's best to just leave it insured (your insurance on other car (I assume) will let you add another car for a while).