Riding without 'L' plates on a scooter

[vespaboy]

What would be the penalty if caught without 'L' plates when riding a scooter or motorbike.

Would your insurance be invalid.

Thanks

[Ethel]

You would get a fine 3 points on your licence and your insurance would not be valid.

The points will carry on to your full licence when you pass your test.

Get 6 points on your licence within two years of passing your test and you return to learner status.

It's not worth it.

[JudgeJ]

Ethel, you keep on suggesting that offences such as these invalidate insurance cover. I keep on saying that they do not. The only offence which generally invalidates any insurance cover that may be in force is driving whilst disqualified (which is not the same as driving without a licence). Some insurers recently have started to deny cover where provisional licence holders have driven on a motorway but this is a recent phenomenon and is still to be fully tested.

I know from past posts that you are doubtful that what I say is true. I can only suggest that you take a trip to your local magistrates� court and observe a traffic court. There you will find many, many cases where the prosecution lays charges of driving otherwise than in accordance with a provisional licence (no �L� Plates or accompanying qualified driver), no MoT, faulty lights, no driving licence and so on. Some of these are accompanied by a �No Insurance� charge (where the miscreant has simply not bought a policy). However, many of them are not. This is because the defendant has produced evidence of insurance and the prosecuting authorities see nothing in the policy which makes it invalid by virtue of the other offences committed.

Careless driving is a far more serious offence than driving without �L� Plates, but no insurance company that I know of has denied liability to a policy holder who has rear-ended another vehicle and subsequently been charged with careless driving. To repudiate liability the insurer�s policy must state specific exceptions and few, if any, that I know of exclude cover in the circumstances that vespaboy describes.

[Barrister]

I'm afraid that Judge is correct....I was stopped as part of Bikesafe, a road block where they pull over all bikes and although I have tax, insurance and CBT they seized my bike and took it to the pound for 'driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence' because I didn't have L plates. I now have 3 points and it cost me �150 to get the bike back and �60 for the fixed penalty notice. Not to mention the inconvenience of suddenly having your transport to work removed from under you and having to schelp across London to the pound and being late for court. The police told me that driving otherwise than in accordance with my licence would invalidate my insurance and I have just checked my Carole Nash General Exceptions and there is an exclusion if the bike 'is being ridden by anyone who does not meet the terms and conditions of their driving licence'. Having L plates and a CBT are conditions of your licence.
Having spent the first few years of my career in the Mags Court, I can explain that there is a good reason why someone who has insurance but is caught driving otherwise than in accordance with their licence is not prosecuted for no insurance; the offence of no insurance is intended to penalise those who don't pay for insurance, not those who have paid and are in technical breach. Not to mention that proving it invalidated the insurance would require a statement from the insurers which would take too long to obtain and not be economic. Similarly, lots of people ask why those who are found guilty after a trial (and gave evidence) aren't prosecuted for perjury. Technically, I suppose they could be but as a matter of policy they are not; even the courts draw a line somewhere!
What I still don't know is; is there a legal minimum size and colout for an L plate? Am I allowed to cut the red L out of the sticker and just have that on my bike or does it have to be on a white background and if so is there a minimum size?