Police impounded my car.

MikeWhite

The system the police use is pretty sh*t, tbh.
I was pulled over in my car a few months ago (for a failed break light so fair enough). Officer then asked about the car ("is it yours?") and for ID which I gave. He then said "oh, you're not insured". I told him I was, with Direct Line. he replied "That's not what's on the system" so I mentioned the name of son's learner driver policy and that matched and off we went. I guess if I hadn't twigged the issue I'd have been in the same boat as the OP. This was about 10 pm so I'm guessing phone calls would not have worked.

While I agree with what they are trying to do, the system needs a shake up.
[/vent]

Hankey89

Just to clarify the outcome.

Me and my partner went to pick her car up this morning at 09:00. As we was speaking to the receptionist she got a call from the police, who advised an error had been made and there was no impound charges for us to pay.

Me or my partner haven't received a call explaining what has happened, or what will happen with regarding to my charges for driving without insurance going forward. i will have to chase that up later.

takman

Hankey89 wrote: »

I didn't think it was a legal requirement to carry insurance documents or a mobile phone.

You seem to be assuming a lot. Police can pull you over for any reason, as I was told on the phone to them. Maybe he saw a young male driving a polo and didn't think I matched with the "insured driver".

And when we initially went into the police station, our details were found without having to provide documentation. They were baffled about what was going on.

The police officer didn't give me the choice of using his phone to ring my partner or insurance company. He went purely off the incorrect information on his screen, and you seem to be suggesting I am at fault.

It's the drivers responsibility to make sure they are insured when driving a car. So considering that you assumed your girlfriend had made a mistake when taking out the insurance that means you haven't even seen the insurance documents.

Did you even ask if you could ring your partner? they won't give you the choice if you don't ask. They also wouldn't arrest you for asking them or attempting to show you are actually insured.

But at least this is a good lesson for you to at least know the insurance company before you drive a car!.

Hankey89 wrote: »

I then thought she must have made the mistake when renewing with the same insurance company, and i didn't really want to accuse a police officer of being incompetent. I couldn't afford an arrest on my record due to my job.

AndyMc.....

MikeWhite wrote: »

The system the police use is pretty sh*t, tbh.
I was pulled over in my car a few months ago (for a failed break light so fair enough). Officer then asked about the car ("is it yours?") and for ID which I gave. He then said "oh, you're not insured". I told him I was, with Direct Line. he replied "That's not what's on the system" so I mentioned the name of son's learner drivter policy and that matched and off we went. I guess if I hadn't twigged the issue I'd have been in the same boat as the OP. This was about 10 pm so I'm guessing phone calls would not have worked.

While I agree with what they are trying to do, the system needs a shake up.
[/vent]

What the MIB database? It's probably your insurance companies fault.

Hankey89

takman wrote: »

It's the drivers responsibility to make sure they are insured when driving a car. So considering that you assumed your girlfriend had made a mistake when taking out the insurance that means you haven't even seen the insurance documents.

Did you even ask if you could ring your partner? they won't give you the choice if you don't ask. They also wouldn't arrest you for asking them or attempting to show you are actually insured.

But at least this is a good lesson for you to at least know the insurance company before you drive a car!.

I was insured to drive the car. I didn't "assume" anything. I was told directly by the officer that my girlfriend was insured, and I wasn't. He shown this to me on the computer. I am not sure what you want me to do at that point.

It's easy to say you should do this or do that, but when you're on your own sat in a police car, and a police record would ruin your career, I didn't feel comfortable to repeatedly tell the police officer he was wrong.

I stated who the insurance was with, I knew it was with admiral. He then confirmed I had been insured with admiral previously, but not since April this year.

You're stating that I need to do this, and I need to do that. The only thing a person needs to do with regards to insurance, is to make sure they're insured. Which I was.

It isn't my fault that the police system is prone to errors. Like I said, the police have admitted fault and taken care of the impound charge.

takman

Hankey89 wrote: »

I was insured to drive the car. I didn't "assume" anything. I was told directly by the officer that my girlfriend was insured, and I wasn't. He shown this to me on the computer. I am not sure what you want me to do at that point.

It's easy to say you should do this or do that, but when you're on your own sat in a police car, and a police record would ruin your career, I didn't feel comfortable to repeatedly tell the police officer he was wrong.

Why would you say the police officer is wrong?.

I would have said she is currently insured with Admiral and i'm on the policy so there must be a mistake with the system. Can i ring my girlfriend to confirm the policy details.

You will not get arrested for trying to resolve the issue in a calm manner. In my experience the police appreciate you making an effort to get the information they required because it saves them wasting resources by impounding cars and extra paperwork.

Hankey89 wrote: »

I stated who the insurance was with, I knew it was with admiral. He then confirmed I had been insured with admiral previously, but not since April this year.

You're stating that I need to do this, and I need to do that. The only thing a person needs to do with regards to insurance, is to make sure they're insured. Which I was.

It isn't my fault that the police system is prone to errors. Like I said, the police have admitted fault and taken care of the impound charge.

It isn't the police's fault that the system was wrong either. You have already confirmed a previous insurance company have put incorrect details on the system.

But you seem to be changing your story, in your 3rd post you said that you couldn't confirm the name of the insurance company off the top of your head, now your saying you knew it was Admiral and told the police officer at the time.

Hankey89 wrote: »

It was my girlfriends car, we don't live together. So I couldn't off the top of my head confirm the name of the insurance company. All I could say is, my girlfriend has insured me - this was incorrect, as confirmed by police station and admiral insurance.

Gavin83

Hankey89 wrote: »

and you seem to be suggesting I am at fault.

Well you are, partly, along with the police and insurers. It came across like you were suggesting you didn't know who you were insured with, but now you're saying you did. Therefore I fail to see why you didn't just ask the policeman to ring Admiral to confirm your cover. If you sit there silent then not a lot will happen.

However you've had no charges to pay which I think is a fair result given the circumstances and therefore haven't suffered any ill effects. Chalk it up to experience.

Hankey89 wrote: »

Me or my partner haven't received a call explaining what has happened, or what will happen with regarding to my charges for driving without insurance going forward. i will have to chase that up later.

You won't get any charges/points for driving without insurance. You weren't driving without insurance and the police have now confirmed that.

Fosterdog

Do you not also have your own insurance for your car? If you do and are fully complete that usually allows you to drive other cars, so if you had given your own insurance details and there would have been no problem. It's not their fault that your girlfriends old insurance company made an error, it's not their fault that you don't carry a phone or documents with you, it's not their fault that you don't know who it's insured with. They are no mind readers

AndyMc.....

Hankey89 wrote: »

I was insured to drive the car. I didn't "assume" anything. I was told directly by the officer that my girlfriend was insured, and I wasn't. He shown this to me on the computer. I am not sure what you want me to do at that point.

It's easy to say you should do this or do that, but when you're on your own sat in a police car, and a police record would ruin your career, I didn't feel comfortable to repeatedly tell the police officer he was wrong.

I stated who the insurance was with, I knew it was with admiral. He then confirmed I had been insured with admiral previously, but not since April this year.

You're stating that I need to do this, and I need to do that. The only thing a person needs to do with regards to insurance, is to make sure they're insured. Which I was.

It isn't my fault that the police system is prone to errors. Like I said, the police have admitted fault and taken care of the impound charge.

As a driver you need to produce a certificate of insurance to the police on demand.

Hankey89

The police have rang and apologized to me for the error on their part, advising I can rip the ticket up I was given. All finally been sorted out. Going forward I will make sure I have a copy of my insurance policy in the car, as I don't want a repeat.