No insurance

Badkuck

Sorry really new to this, long story cut short, my dad passed away after a short battle with a rare cancer on July 21st, got a new car in May, my dad always looked after my car, insurance ECT, with everything going on It did not cross my mind to check these things out but on the 3rd Oct I got stopped by the police, no insurance, tax or mot, insurance was got straight away, mot 2 days later and it was taxed within the same week, I'm a single mother and really need my car for work, just wondering what my punishment will be as I can't afford a solicitor, I need to do it alone, any advice welcome.

Quentin

You need to take this to pepipoo for best advice

This forum majors on private parking invoices rather than proper police/mags fines

waamo

Badkuck wrote: »

Sorry really new to this, long story cut short, my dad passed away after a short battle with a rare cancer on July 21st, got a new car in May, my dad always looked after my car, insurance ECT, with everything going on It did not cross my mind to check these things out but on the 3rd Oct I got stopped by the police, no insurance, tax or mot, insurance was got straight away, mot 2 days later and it was taxed within the same week, I'm a single mother and really need my car for work, just wondering what my punishment will be as I can't afford a solicitor, I need to do it alone, any advice welcome.

Worst case a big fine and a ban. Likely outcome circa
£300 fine plus costs plus victim surcharge (IIRC £25). Points will probably be 6 but could be more.

soolin

I have moved this from a hijacked thread and moved to motoring board for more responses

Badkuck

Thank you everyone for a response, I've never been in trouble like this in my life!!! Sage to say I cannot wait to see the back of this horrendous year!!!!! Sorry for the hijack of the post, I don't know how to work this and I just needed someone to answer me, court date is still 4 weeks away, I have read online some people have a had the option on the letter of pleading guilty without attending court but I didn't get this option, the statement from the police to the pps fails to mention I got insurance within 10 mins and had the car back from the police within the hour!! It was a complete human error, looking back I should have known my dad wasn't fit for any of this but I just didn't think to check.

AndyMc.....

Badkuck wrote: »

Thank you everyone for a response, I've never been in trouble like this in my life!!! Sage to say I cannot wait to see the back of this horrendous year!!!!! Sorry for the hijack of the post, I don't know how to work this and I just needed someone to answer me, court date is still 4 weeks away, I have read online some people have a had the option on the letter of pleading guilty without attending court but I didn't get this option, the statement from the police to the pps fails to mention I got insurance within 10 mins and had the car back from the police within the hour!! It was a complete human error, looking back I should have known my dad wasn't fit for any of this but I just didn't think to check.

Insurance in your case is an absolute defence so it matters not how long you bought it after being stopped.

Hopefully you told them about your impending conviction when you took out the new policy.

I would of thought you'd have a single justice pack and the option to plead by post.

AndyMc.....

Quentin wrote: »

You need to take this to pepipoo for best advice

This forum majors on private parking invoices rather than proper police/mags fines

Why? Given what's posted I see no defence.

AdrianC

Insurance is the only one of the three that carries points. Minimum of six. If it's less than two years since you passed your test, then six points means your licence will be revoked, and you'll need to go back to L plates until you pass your test again.

Fine is going to be dependent on your weekly income. Again, insurance is the heaviest. A fixed penalty would have been £300, if you hadn't been referred to court. The minimum court penalty for no insurance is a Band B fine - 75-125% of your weekly income, with a starting point of 100%. A fixed penalty for no MOT would have been £100, a fixed penalty for no tax would have been £80.

The real hurt is going to be declaring the IN10 points for the next five years - and, as AndyMc says, I hope you told your new insurer of the situation, because the last thing you need is to have that policy cancelled, because that's about the only thing insurers dislike more than a "no insurance" conviction.

At the end of the day, while your father's death might give a certain amount of mitigation, potentially reducing the fine, you are the only person who is legally responsible for making sure a vehicle you are driving is legal. Somebody else may help you, but that does not change the legal responsibility.

You bought the car in May, and were stopped for no insurance in October - was it ever taxed or insured in that time? If six months tax had been bought on purchase, that would still have been valid at the time you were stopped.

I'm surprised that DVLA had not written to you about the lack of insurance and tax, tbh. Is the car registered at your name and address? Do you have a V5C in your name? I presume you must, for you to have taxed it.

waamo

If you have been told you must attend then it's because there is the possibility of a ban. That means you won't be able to drive home after the hearing.

It's unlikely but a possibility so they want you there so you know straight away and aren't compounding matters by potentially driving whilst banned.

As I said most likely outcome is 6 points a hefty fine and a ticking off.

If you need to speak don't make excuses. Just apologise to the court for the trouble you've caused and promise them you've learned your lesson.

AdrianC

waamo wrote: »

If you need to speak don't make excuses. Just apologise to the court for the trouble you've caused and promise them you've learned your lesson.

While I'd normally agree wholeheartedly with that, in the OP's position, I think I'd be tempted to vary that advice a bit.

Don't give it the full heart-string-tug, but explain that your father always took responsibility, but his illness and death meant that a few balls got dropped. You fully understand that responsibility was ultimately yours alone. Apologise for taking up the court's time, and you fully understand the seriousness of the offences.


And, at the end of the day, be very thankful that you found out because a real live policeman stopped you, not because you were involved in an incident...


The reason I asked if it was ever taxed or insured from purchase, though, is that clearly there was time to be choosing and buying a car two months before his death, but...? This apparent inconsistency will not help any plea.

Car_54

AdrianC wrote: »

Insurance is the only one of the three that carries points. Minimum of six. If it's less than two years since you passed your test, then six points means your licence will be revoked, and you'll need to go back to L plates until you pass your test again.

Fine is going to be dependent on your weekly income. Again, insurance is the heaviest. A fixed penalty would have been £300, if you hadn't been referred to court. The minimum court penalty for no insurance is a Band B fine - 75-125% of your weekly income, with a starting point of 100%. A fixed penalty for no MOT would have been £100, a fixed penalty for no tax would have been £80.

The fine will be discounted by 33% for an early guilty plea, and the weekly income is net of tax and NI, however there will be prosecution costs and victim surcharge to pay.