No Insurance

It is compulsory for any person driving a motor vehicle on a road or other public place to have at least third party insurance in place to drive that particular vehicle.

Failure to insure a vehicle is treated seriously by the Courts, although it is no longer an offence for which you can be sent to prison. It is crucial that you obtain early legal advice as to whether the cover you hold is sufficient to absolve you of the offence alleged against you, especially if you have been driving other vehicles. There are some conditions imposed by insurers which are invalid and illegal and therefore it is essential that you receive advice from us and NOT your insurance company as to whether or not a condition makes you guilty of the offence.

It is possible to be convicted of a no insurance offence even if you are not driving. This would typically involve the offence of permitting another to use your vehicle whilst that person is uninsured. However, at Olliers motor law we are able to offer realistic advice in relation to whether you have any prospects of successfully defending this allegation.
Driving without insurance is what is legally termed a “strict liability offence”. This means that an offence can be committed regardless of whether or not you intended to drive without insurance.

The only defence available is where you can prove that the vehicle did not belong to you, that it was not hired or loaned to you; OR that you were using the vehicle in the course of your employment and that you neither knew, nor had any reasons to believe, that there was no policy of insurance in force.

Typically this is referred to as the "employees defence" and the easiest way to think about it is to ask yourself whether or not you were genuinely misled into believing you had insurance.

Insurance Restrictions

There are always certain restrictions contained within insurance policies that may result in the insurance being voided and many drivers are unaware of these until an allegation arises.

For example, a Trade Policy will not be valid if you give a friend a lift as this is not business use. This singular instance is enough to void the policy for the whole time the vehicle is being used for that purpose.

The policy will also be invalidated if any of the following apply:

• Previous convictions were not disclosed at the time of purchasing the policy;
• The vehicle is registered at a different address to that contained in the policy;
• The car has been modified since the policy was purchased;
• Certain medical conditions were not disclosed at time of purchase;
• You were over the drink drive limit whilst driving at the time of any incident.

This list is not exhaustive but an example of some circumstances when a policy may be invalidated.
We would always strongly recommend reviewing your policy carefully and discussing your case with one of our specialist motoring team.

Penalty

Driving without insurance is punishable, on conviction, by a fine and between 6 – 8 penalty points.

In extreme cases the Courts can sentence you to a Community Penalty Order and/or a disqualification – the length of which is determined by the Magistrates. Because of the serious nature of this offence it is crucial to receive legal advice as early as possible to consider whether special reasons apply in yourcase. Furthermore, if a conviction will result in you amassing 12 or more penalty points on your licence we would refer you to our "Totting Up" section.