Driving Without Insurance S143 (1) (a) Road Traffic Act 1988
This offence is a strict liability offence which means that, regardless of what you may have believed the situation to be, if you are unable to prove that there was a valid insurance policy in place you will be guilty of an offence. The only exception is if an employee drives in the course of their employment having been led to believe by their employer that insurance was in place. This is a statutory defence which means it is for the defendant to prove that it applies. Often we find that people drive in the belief that insurance was in place only to find that, due to circumstances beyond their control, it had not been put in place or been cancelled. In such circumstances it may be possible to persuade the Court that special reasons apply. This means that a Court may decide not to impose the normal penalty of between 6-8 points, even though strictly speaking you may still be guilty of the offence.
Causing or permitting use of vehicle without insurance
S143 (1) (b) Road Traffic Act 1988
If you cause or permit use of a vehicle without insurance you will be liable in the same way as if you had driven the vehicle yourself (for example if you allow a friend to drive your vehicle and they were not insured). It is quite common for the Central Ticket Office to request that proof of insurance is in place when somebody has been nominated as the driver of the vehicle following the issue of a requirement for information under s172 Road Traffic Act. This almost always happens when someone who lives abroad is nominated as the driver. Expert advice is essential if you are asked for insurance details from the Central Ticket Office. Only a Police Constable has the power to require insurance details and a civilian officer at the Central Ticket Office does not, nor can the power to require proof of insurance be delegated to a civilian. It should also be noted that simply because you have nominated somebody else as the driver, it does not automatically follow that that driver had your permission to do so and this is something that the prosecution must prove.
Where no defence or special reason applies, legal representation may still be required, particularly if you already have penalty points on your licence. In some instances the magistrates' will consider disqualifying for the first offence of driving with no insurance if they think that the circumstances are sufficiently serious.
PLEASE NOTE: if you already have penalty points on your licence, disqualification maybe considered under the penalty points ("totting") disqualification - see exceptional hardship.
6-8 penalty points OR discretionary disqualification. Up to £5,000 fine.
Click the image above to download a .pdf detailing Recommended Sentencing Guidelines for Driving Without Insurance as laid down in the Road Traffic Act effective from the 4th August 2008.
