No insurance

531063

SIL had his van insured through his employer who advised him due to rising costs it would be cheaper if he got his own ins cover,
he arranged this around 18.02.22 for the policy to start on the 07.03.22 as his boss told him the policy expired on the 06.03.22,
turns out policy expired on 03.03.22 and he got stopped yesterday & is being done for no insurance

Any views is it worth going to court and contesting it, he can get confirmation off ins company that new policy was paid for and in place & his boss
is willing to confirm he advised him the wrong date.

ontheroad1970

It's an absolute offence, so it won't be a defence but might be worth a punt at significant reasons not to endorse.  Ask at pepipoo for the finer details.

Aretnap

It is not technically a defence unless he did not own the vehicle. However the court can find "special reasons" not to endorse his licence (and by implication not fine him either) if he had an honest and reasonable belief that the van was insured, particularly if he was mislead about its insurance status by someone he had good reason to trust. If his boss is willing to confirm that he advised him of the wrong date, and he can show that he had insurance arranged for what he thought was the right date, it sounds like he would have a good case.

It would involve pleading guilty but saying that he wanted to make a case for special reasons, then presenting the evidence that he had good reason to think that he was insured. Pepipoo is not a bad place to start for more information on the process. 

TooManyPoints

No Insurance is a "strict liability" offence. This means you either you have it or you don't and, with the exception mentioned below, if you have no insurance you are guilty. Assuming he owns the van himself, he will unfortunately not be able to take advantage of the one statutory exception to the charge, Section 143(3) of the RTA says this:

(3)A person charged with using a motor vehicle in contravention of this section shall not be convicted if he proves—

(a)that the vehicle did not belong to him and was not in his possession under a contract of hiring or of loan,

(b)that he was using the vehicle in the course of his employment, and

(c)that he neither knew nor had reason to believe that there was not in force in relation to the vehicle such a policy of insurance . as is mentioned in subsection (1) above.

If he has confirmation from his employer that the mistake was on his part as you describe, he may be able to persuade the police to drop the matter, If not, he has a very good chance of persuading the court that there are "Special Reasons" not to endorse his licence. He will need the co-operation of his employer to confirm the mistake he made and if he has that he should decline any offers of a fixed penalty he might receive and opt for a court hearing. When he gets his court papers (which will be a "Single Justice Procedure Notice") he should choose the option to plead guilty and request a court appearance. When he appears he can put his "Special Reasons" application to the court.

531063

Thanks for all the replies, I'll let you know the outcome.