learning without insurance

[shaunross]

in march i was caught learning to drive with my dad without insurance. since then i had not heard anything from the police and i have passed and now drive my own car. but today my dad and i received court summons and now i am really worried about the consequences.

what are the likely courses of action?
will i lose my license?
is there anyway the court will be lenient with me?
how can i go about saving my license?

thanks in advance!

[NORMANTHEDOG]

driving without insurance carries a 6 to 8 point penalty,and a fine,which will mean you will lose your licence and have to retake your tests again,as you are only allowed 6 pts in the first 2 yrs,a bit of a stupid thing for you and your dad to do wasent it.

[shaunross]

yer but at the time i was a learner. now that i have passed, they called me to court. are they allowed to take my license from me like that?

[THECORBYLOON]

The fact that you were a learner has no bearing on the matter. What if you had no Provisional Licence to drive, would you have argued that you were a learner also?

[NORMANTHEDOG]

im afraid you have made a silly and stupid mistake and you will have to learn the hard way,next time THINK.

[shaunross]

but when the court issue the points they will be dated from the time of the offence so providing the offences pre-date your passing your test they will not have occurred in your probationary period and thus will not lead to the revocation of your licence.

what do you say to that?

[woodchopper]

I hope they throw the book at you - driving without insurance is unforgivable - millions of other good folk have to pay excessive premiums due to idiots who dont have insurance, crashing and maiming people in the process.
And dont give us the " we thought we were insured " old story.

[THECORBYLOON]

If you commit a motoring offence you can have points or a ban imposed even if you have no licence. There have been many cases of under aged drivers being banned and that ban will take effect at a later date.

Do you not think that many folk have committed offences similar to yours in the past. If there were any truth in yir view, the courts would not have isssued the summons.

[THECORBYLOON]

On various sites including this on Devon and Cornwall Police's it says,

"Counting the six points

Penalty points count if you offend in the first two years after passing your test, even if a court does not give the sentence until after the probation period. Points awarded if you accept a Fixed Penalty Notice count towards the "6".

Any penalty points you get before passing the test may also count as they are valid for three years."

[New Judge]

Just to further clarify the situation in caseyou are unlear:

ANY further points you might incur between now and two years after passing your test will lead to the revocation of your licence. This is because penalty points counting towards the total of six include any you incurred before passing the test, as long as the offence took place not more than three years before the latest penalty point offence.

Revocation does not mean you are disqualified from driving, but that you revert to provisional status.

Points imposed after the probationary period will also count if the offence is committed during that period.

Passing the retest does not remove penalty points from your licence, and if the total reaches 12, you are liable to be disqualified from driving by a court.

Hope this helps!

[Misty77]

You should have thought about the conscequences before you drove without insurance. The reason why insurance premiums are so high is because of people like you.

[shaunross]

what i find difficulty in understanding is that i was caught as a learner 5 months ago, and now i have passed, will i be charged with 6 points on a full driving licence or on my provisional licence?

the reason i ask is because if i was caught as a learner and taken to court as a learner, they would give me 6-8 points but could not revoke my licence as i did not have one. so then after that i can take my test and have a full licence.

but now i have passed, they have decided to take me to court and will they give me points as if i was a learner of a full licence holder?

will they give me points and tell me i cant commit any other offences for 2 years or my licence is gone or will they just take it now???

just because i have passed, it shouldn't mean they can now take me to court and take my licence from me??? that doesn't make sense to me

sorry its so long winded. i know it was a stupid thing to do so i would appreciate all the people having a go at me to f*** off. i only want advice and information, not a lecture!!!

[THECORBYLOON]

Why not use the money you saved on not getting insurance, to pay for legal advice. Then you needn't come on again being so abusive.

[New Judge]

It is the status of your licence at the date of the offence that counts. At that time you had not passed your test.

You wil be awarded six to eight points as a provisional licence holder. Theses will not lead to revocation as you had not passed your test at the time of the offence.

However they will count if you commit any further offences which attract points and your licence will therefore be revoked.

Try to bear up - and do not commit any further offences or you will be back to 'L' plates.

[purplecorsa]

I agree with all the answers given, but just one more thing, suppose you had knocked down and badly hurt or God forbid killed some one when you were driving without insurance?
What then?

[THECORBYLOON]

"Try to bear up?" Do you honestly believe neither shaunross nor his dad knew he didn't need insurance? It's because of folk like him there's the fund set up to cover accidents caused by uninsured drivers and it's folk like me who are paying toward that fund.

[chompu]

New Judge
Read your two replies again. They contradict each other.

[gouldc]

Lets not forget your dad will get an IN12 or IN14 (I forget which one) for allowing you to drive his vehicle uninsured.

You will also get an LC20 for driving other than in accordance with your licence -the amount of these I see every day, tch, why don't people learn?

Still, I get a nice bonus for every claim I kick out : )

[andrea81]

You will just have to turn up at court and see, I have no idea how it works, but no ABer can reasure you that things will be ok.

Mistakes do happen, just a shame that your dad didn't think really, but I think you'll do right next time so at least you've learned by it!

good Luck!

[New Judge]

I can see that there may be confusion, ex-PC chompu. Thanks for pointing it out and I apologise if I have muddied the waters.

I think it would have been clearer if I had said in my second answer:
�You will be awarded six to eight points as a provisional licence holder. These will not lead to IMMEDIATE revocation as you had not passed your test at the time of the offence�.

Essentially, shaunross cannot have a licence revoked that he did not (at the time of the offence) hold. However, he will have at least six points following his conviction (unless their Worships decide to award a disqualification for this offence alone � which is unlikely). These will count towards the total that is assessed if he attracts any further points. That subsequent total must obviously exceed six, so revocation will follow.

I in no way condone uninsured driving, Corbyloon. In fact I think the penalties for it are far too lenient. I made my comments more tongue in cheek as shaunross was almost sobbing over the ether to us about his perceived �unfairness� of it all.

I try not to provide answers that are matters of opinion but can see that strayed a little into that territory here. To set the record straight I believe (for what it�s worth) that whatever penalties shaunross and his father receive they will fall far short of what I believe is warranted. Shaunross may be young and possibly stupid. His father may be stupid (I don�t know) but is old enough to know better.

I don�t wish either of them the good luck that andrea81 wants them to enjoy. I�d rather like to think that the administration of justice was more a matter of judgement than luck. I�d prefer to reserve any luck that is going for people unfortunate enough to be driving around the likes of shaunross, who seem to think that uninsured driving is a bit of a jolly jape.