private plate and unisured driving

[metsta]

put a private plate on the car last month and told the insurer, they didnt make the changes. got stopped by the police this week who gave me a fixed penalty of 6points and �200 as they said i was driving uninsured.
i now have the correct backdated certificate from the insurer as well as a letter detailing their error having checked their records.
is this clear cut and should i not surrender my licence when i produce and request a court date instead?

[Buenchico]

If it's clear from the documentation, provided by the insurance company, that you were insured (i.e. they'd have paid out if you were responsible for an accident), you should seek the opportunity to explain this to a court, rather than accept a fixed penalty.

From the way you've explained things, it appears that you did have insurance to drive the car. The fact that your insurers didn't correctly update the database wouldn't invalidate the insurance.

Chris

[metsta]

yes, i have a letter from the insurer detailing the error, and they say that i was insured the whole time with the private plate. they are also sending out a duplicate certificate from the time they should have altered it to the private plate.

supposing i had of forgotten though, is this charge the same as driving without insurance or is it a grey area? i had a heated debate with the PC at the roadside. (and lost clearly)

[Panic Button]

How did the policeman know you weren't covered (although it turns out you were).
They readily accept that the computer system isn't perfect, so I thought they gave you a producer to give you time to prove it.

[metsta]

computer in the polce car said i wasnt, i told them who is was insured with; they called the insurer and gave the private plate, obviously they couldnt find it but could find me on the system with the car insured but not with the private plate ie the original plate.
so they said uninsured heres your ticket!! let me keep the car though as long as they witnessed me calling the insurer to make the change again there and then, which is ridiculous. If they really thought i was driving uninsured would they really have let me make the ammendment and drive away!
I then called the insurer later in the day, they listened to calls and looked at records and issued me with the apology letter and the backdated cert.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

request a court hearing and produce all the docs to the court and you will be ok.or even do it at the police station,it might not even get to court.