Driving Without Insurance UK

Driving without a valid certificate of motor insurance is a very serious motoring offence which carries heavy penalties. If you are in charge of a vehicle that is ‘using’ the road, or another public place, you must ensure that you have insurance. Motorists can often find themselves falling foul of the law simply because they either did not realise they were not insured, did not realise they had to be (see below) or had inadequate insurance for their specific purposes.

Any vehicle that is being used on the road must be adequately insured. However, the word ‘used’ can often be misunderstood by motorists. For example, a car that is simply parked at the side of the road in front of your house (perhaps not being used because you are on holiday or the vehicle needs to be repaired) is deemed to be ‘using’ the road and therefore requires a valid certificate of motor insurance. In this instance the motorist may claim that they did not realise that the vehicle had to be insured as it was not being driven – this reason is highly unlikely to be enough to allow the driver to avoid facing a penalty.

Other reasons motorists may state for not having a valid certificate of motor insurance include mistakenly believing they were insured, when in fact they were not (for example, if it is the ‘job’ of someone else in the household to arrange the insurance policies); claiming that the wording of the car insurance policy was ambiguous (for example, when using a hire car the motorist may have mistakenly believed their policy covered them when in fact it did not); and driving without insurance in the case of an emergency (for example, driving a relative to A&E after an accident in the home).

In addition, drivers often mistakenly believe that if they let someone else drive their vehicle that person will be insured under their own insurance policy – this is often not the case. If it can be proven that the vehicle in question was being used on the road, or in another public place, without insurance then none of these reasons for not having insurance are likely to be enough to escape being penalised. However, at the discretion of the court, the penalty may be reduced somewhat when all the factors have been carefully taken into account.

- The penalty for driving without insurance is extremely serious. Drivers can face a fine of up to £5,000, can receive penalty points on their license and in extreme cases the offence can lead to a disqualification from driving.

Bookmark This Article With:

• Tweet This
• Delicious
• Digg
• reddit
• Facebook
• StumbleUpon

We Help You Across England and Wales

Although we operate from offices near Gatwick in Surrey we regularly accept instructions across England and Wales and have barristers ready to represent you in all courts even at short notice. We can take full instructions on the telephone or in person.

Call us free on 0808 178 9002 or complete our Online Enquiry Form now for a
free no obligation opinion and discussion.

Credit Card Payments Accepted

Legal Website Design - Samson Consulting © Gray Hooper Holt LLP.

This web site has been developed with valid XHTML / CSS / Site Map / Terms

Gray Hooper Holt LLP is a firm of solicitors and is Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Its registered office is at 6 Linkfield Corner, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1BB and its company number is OC318445.