Appeal for insurance fine/points for honest mistake

sheramber

facade said:

As advised, take it to ftla.

There is a statutory defence to no insurance for an employee using a vehicle in the course of their employment that their employer had told them they were insured to drive, but not in this case.

She would need to present a Special Reasons Argument*- she honestly believed there was an insurance policy in place because you arranged it and told her that there was, as evidenced by payments that she had seen from a joint account or something.

You would need to support this in Court.

*Special Reasons Argument- you are still guilty, but don't deserve to be punished because of extenuating circumstances that the Court should consider.

Who is  the car registered to ?  The OP who told her it was insured ( in your example the employer?  or  is the wife the registered keeper and as such  is responsible for ensuring her car is insured.

TooManyPoints

Doesn't look very likely:

 Looking it it it appears as though we have accidentally insured one of the family cars twice by mistake.

DullGreyGuy

TooManyPoints said:

Doesn't look very likely:

 Looking it it it appears as though we have accidentally insured one of the family cars twice by mistake.

To be honest, it seems fairly plausible to me. The problem is that Driving Without Insurance is not a crime that requires the prosecution to prove intent. Strict liability doesn't really exist in criminal law but it's as close to it as it gets and so whilst it may be an honest mistake it doesn't stop it being a criminal offence. 

TooManyPoints

To be honest, it seems fairly plausible to me. 

Perhaps I'm getting the wrong end of the stick.

I thought sheramber was suggesting that the "employer" defence provided by s143(3) could be available here. It seemed the suggestion was that the OP could be his wife's employer.