The law requires you to have valid vehicle insurance in place.
Failure to have at least third party insurance in place would result initially in these potential offences:
- Keeping a vehicle without insurance (unless the vehicle is kept off road and is the subject of a Statutory Off Road Notice) contrary to Section 144A of the Road Traffic Act 1988
- Driving (or permitting the use of) a motor vehicle without insurance contrary to Section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
If your vehicle is shown as having no insurance and you’ve not declared it as being off road (SORN), you could be prosecuted and face a fine of up to £1000, even though you didn’t drive the vehicle.
The sentence for being caught driving a vehicle that is found to have no insurance in place is much more severe – a fine of up to £5000, 6 – 8 penalty points on your driving licence or an instant disqualification from driving. Your vehicle could also be seized and destroyed.
With these severe penalties in mind, it’s always worth checking whether your vehicle is insured RIGHT NOW.
How to check if your vehicle is insured right now:
To check whether your vehicle is currently insured, simply enter your vehicle registration into the search field at the following link:
https://ownvehicle.askmid.com/
Searching the motor insurance database for details of your own vehicle is free, and can prevent a potential disaster down the line if an error or missed payment means that your insurance has lapsed.
Why would I need to check my vehicle’s insurance?
At Ashworth Motoring Law, we are frequently contacted by extremely unfortunate drivers who have been caught driving without insurance despite firmly believing that adequate insurance was in place.
Typical examples of this include:
- A missed payment that the driver was not aware of
- Failure to respond to a request for information
- Failure to supply a document or evidence required by the insurer
You need only check your own policy’s terms and conditions to see the various circumstances under which your insurance policy could be cancelled.
Whilst you would expect the insurer to contact you to let you know that your insurance has been cancelled, there are many instances where this vital message never reaches the driver of the vehicle.
For example, your address may have changed, a postal issue could have prevented you from receiving the notification, you may have been out of the country or you may just have had bad personal administration at that particular time.
Nevertheless, it is your responsibility to ensure that your vehicle is insured at all times. Saying that you did not receive any notice of cancellation or explaining that such correspondence was sent to a previous address would unfortunately not be a defence. Why not give yourself peace of mind and double check your insurance status today?
Don’t forget that certain offences such as drink driving and driving whilst disqualified typically invalidate your insurance. So if you have an accident whilst committing these more serious offences you are extremely unlikely to be paid out.
Article written by Managing Director and Expert Motoring Lawyer, Alison Ashworth.
Why we do what we do:
At Ashworth motoring law we are dedicated to keeping drivers on the road. We believe that no driver’s licence should be placed in jeopardy due to a lack of legal or technical knowledge. That’s why we’re always striving to deliver relevant, current content to keep you up to date with issues that could affect your freedom to drive.
We know the devastating impact that a disqualification from driving could have on a person’s life, career and family. It’s from that understanding that we fight to save the driving licences of motorists throughout the Country, to ensure that no person is disqualified where a valid defence or judicial discretion is available.
If you’ve been unlucky enough to be caught driving without insurance and need to keep your driving licence, you can call one of our team of Expert Motoring Lawyers at any time on 0330 33 22 770 or email enquiries@ashworthmotoringlaw.co.uk. Our specialist driving offence solicitors will listen to the details of your case and let you know instantly if your licence could be saved.