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Uninsured drivers

Every driver in the United Kingdom is required to have their vehicle fully insured for the purposes for which they use it.

Potential Loopholes

  • Exploring the specific or general wording of your insurance policy.
  • Not having knowledge that a person permitted to drive your car was uninsured.
  • Incompetent or irrelevant charges, time bar.

Under Section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. The Act states that:

"a person must not use a motor vehicle on a road unless there is in force in relation to the use of the vehicle by that person such a policy of insurance or such a security in respect of third party risks".

In our experience, most drivers ensure that they have a valid insurance but often such drivers are accused of driving without insurance as it is alleged:

  • The vehicle is being used for a purpose not covered by the policy
  • The Policy is cancelled due to a late payment without the knowledge of the accused or the records checked by the Police and Procurator Fiscal Service are inaccurate.

Due to the nature of insurance policies there are a number of defences to this charge but these are often complex and require specialist examination of the policy and its definitions. One such definition is the statutory defence under Section 143 (3) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 where the vehicle has been used in the course of employment.

Penalties for this offence include a fine and discretionary disqualification. However, 6-9 penalty points may be imposed rather than a period of disqualification and in fact where there is special reasons relating the circumstances of the offence our specialist road traffic solicitors are often able to persuade the Court not to impose penalty points at all.

If your livelihood depends on your licence - contact the specialists.

Driving without insurance is a charge which is relatively easy to fall foul of and it can have severe consequences and can lead to the loss of your driving licence.

Only a specialist in this field can manipulate the wording of insurance policies and utilise the appropriate case law to save your driving licence. Our specialist Road Traffic Solicitors will scrutinise the terms of your insurance policy and liaise with members of the insurance profession to have your case dropped or if necessary mitigate the circumstances to achieve the best possible outcome.

Have you been charged or expect to be charged with driving without insurance? If so, don’t leave anything to chance… Contact us immediately!