insurance

[XJAWRIGHTX]

i recently found out that my husband did not insure my car which i was totaly unaware of and i have been caught by the police as i reported a lorry hitting me what does this mean

[Ethel]

It means you will be prosecuted for driving without insurance.

The maximum fine is �5000, a ban is discretionary and you will get 6 - 8 points on your licence.

The fact that you didn't know you were uninsured is irrelevant. You were in charge of the vehicle and it is your duty to be sure the vehicle is legal in every sense.

[jollygreen]

Oh no you poor thing! Well I guess the only thing to do is look on the bright side - at least you weren't injured.

By the way Ethel I'm sure in your perfectly ordered world these things never happen but some of us live in the real world where people genuinely make oversights or mistakes. Lets hope it never happens to you eh?

[Ethel]

jollygreen - the OP is not asking for sympathy. She is asking for facts, which I have given.


My answer has not judged her as a person in any way.

[deggers316]

quite right ethel what if the lady had an accident with a cyclist lets say, and taken his leg off where would he stand with a claim if she had no insurance

[NORMANTHEDOG]

jollygreen,are you having a laugh, no insurance is one of the worse things you could do,and as forgetting to do it,thats a joke as well,lets hope you dont forget yours.

[jollygreen]

Deggers, he would sue.

Normanthedog, you think having no insurance is "one of the worst things you can do"? I can think of quite a few crimes more serious than having no insurance.

Xjawright, you are in some trouble unfortunately. Describe what happened to the police, describe the circumstances and explain why it happened. Be honest, be humble and apologise. With a bit of luck, since nobody was hurt and since nobody has a case against you (assuming you were not at fault for the lorry accident) you might get away with it.

JG (mr, not mrs)

[Ethel]

Sue who?

An uninsured motorist may have no assets to sue for.

A severely injured person could need a lifetime of intensive care, costing many hundreds of thousands of pounds. Could you pay that if you were sued? I certainly couldn't.

And yes, I am aware of the CICB and the UMI, but both of those are severerley capped in the amounts that can be paid out, unlike insurance companies.

Sueing somebody is the easy bit - getting the money is something else entirely.

[Toureman]

How you can criticize answers from 2 of the best answerer's in the motoring section is beyond me Jollygreen.

[deggers316]

correct me if i get the amount wrong, but something like �30 of my car insurance is paid into a fund to pay out to people who have had accident by other uninsured road users

[Ethel]

Yes, deggers - but the amount paid out is severely curtailed, capped, limited.

A victim would get nothing like the amount he or she would if the driver was insured.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

its about time the goverment brought out a law,saying,no insurance,no licence,for LIFE.and car confiscated,no get outs,i pay over �6,000 a year in insurance for our company cars,why should i pay extra every year for people who dont,get a life deggers,lets hope none of your dearest and nearest ever get run over by one of these people who forget to insure their car.

[deggers316]

normanthedoc
you seem to be having a pop at me mate
i insure my car always have done since i had my first car in 1963 i am saying that nearly �30 or more of anybody's
insurance including MINE goes into a fund to pay out to people injured by uninsured drivers please read the previous letter from me correctly be fore answering,

[deggers316]

i was trying to point out that US insured drivers have to pay this out whether we like it or not and its wrong
it cost US responsible vehicle owners money to cover for these doggers

[flip-flop]

Jollygreen has stated you "...might get away with it"

Ignore this comment.

You will not get away with it - driving without insurance is a strict liability offence, i.e you had no insurance and therefore you are guilty.

Just about the only defence to driving without insurance is if you drive a company vehicle and had reason to believe your employer had obtained the necessary insurance - this defence is enshrined in the RTA.

[clancyblob]

I'm usually with Norman on these things, but the Courts will take a less dogmatic line than he as they will take circumstances into account, and impose a suitable penalty. In the interests of justice, they will judge culpability, intent, risk, & previous behaviours. Thus if XJAWRIGHT has 30 years unblemished driving history, and drove in her usual sensible way, and genuinely believed insurance was in force, the penalty will be small. If she has previous convictions and suspected she had no insurance, then rightly the penalty will be much harsher. If there was a life-or-death situation where a person without insurance drove a desperately sick person to Accident & Emergency, taking Norman's line on this would be most unjust.