Driving without insurance in UK?

Question

I asked this question earlier but didn't get the answers i was looking for. I know that driving without insurance is wrong but please hear me out!!! This Sat night the cops followed me home and said that they had done a check on my car and said that it has no insurance, unfortunately this is true. They didn’t arrest me, but said that I would get a court summons in the post and probably a fine, the cop never gave me anything on the night, like a ticket or anything, was he supposed to?

Has this happened to you or anyone you know? Do you know what will happen to me as I am quite worried? I am female, 21yrs old, in the UK. What will they say in court and how long does it take to receive a court summons in the post? Please help and answer truthfully, and without any stupid answers, if you give silly answers you'll get bad ratings!

I will get insurance and wont be driving without it again, so please don't be mean in your answers!

Answer 1

People who drive without any insurance should be banned for life. You have nobody to blame but yourself, and you were trying it on. What would have happened if you'd lost control and ploughed into a crowded bus queue full of mothers and children. Think on.

Answer 2

Hi - I'm a police officer, so let me try to unpick this for you.
No, you wouldn't be given a ticket as this would not be covered by the fixed penalty scheme. Instead he will go back to the station, fill out a form and some other bits and pieces which will go through to the admin department to apply for a summons at court in the next few days.
Technically, they have up to 6 months to appply for a summons, but in practice they will get it sometime this week. Now, allowing for the fact that it's Christmas etc, it will probably turn up in the first 2 weeks of January (great start to the new year....).
When the summons arrives you will have the opportunity to plead guilty by post, or to go to Court to either have the case tried (if you plead 'not guilty') or to give your excuses (call 'mitigation') in person.
You will almost certainly get a fine and points on your licence - which means that insurance will cost you more than it would in the future as you will have to declare it as a motoring conviction.

My advice: GET INSURANCE NOW if you haven't already. This will show to the Court that you are genuine about being sorry AND is also the right thing to do!
Whether or not you plead guilty and /or go to court must be a matter for you. But if you are sorrry then say so - over and over again.
Your earnings will be taken into account when they fix the fine.

No insurance really is out of order, although I know how much it costs for someone of your age to get it. My daughter is 22, so we've been there. Look around on the internet and compare prices. "Third party only" will always be the cheapest, but then you won't be covered if the car is stolen.
Find an insurer who will let you pay monthly. It works out more expensive but it saves putting out a huge wodge of cash at a time when you can't afford to.

Please understand how foolish you've been having no insurance. If you crippled someone through your driving they would have to sue you to get any money to help / compensate them. Think how you would feel if that happened to you. All the pain then all the hassle. If you can't afford the insurance, then please don't drive.
And you do need insurance to get your tax disc....

Take care, and I hope it goes as well as you can hope for.

Answer 3

Driving without insurance is a criminal offence and you will have to appear at the Magistrates' Court (if you're in England or Wales). How long it takes for you to get the summons depends really on how busy your local court is and how long it takes to get a "listing" (slot for appearance) but should be in a matter of weeks.

At Court you will be asked whether you plead guilty (in which case you'll be convicted right away) or not (in which case the matter will go to trial and a trial date will be set). You can then only be convicted if found guilty by the Court following representations from your solicitor and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Once convicted, it will appear on your criminal record and some sort of punishment will be imposed. You most probably will get a fine, unless there were any aggravating features (things that make the offence worse) such as lying to the police, failing to stop when they pulled you over, pleading not guilty when you know you did it, etc. In a more serious case you could get a Community Order and have to do Unpaid Work or attend Probation supervision, but this is less likely.

I'm glad you know it's wrong to be uninsured. The whole system of road use really does rely on everybody keeping their insurance up so we are all protected when the worst happens.

Answer 4

6 points and a £200 fine is normal.
St Abbs....the police don't have to give you anything when they stop you. It's not like a stop and search where they have to give you a stop slip with details on.
Section 163 of the Road Traffic Act says a constable in uniform can stop any vehicle on the road, section 164 allows them to ask for your driving documents.
They only really need to give you a form to produce your insurance if you tell them you have it. If the police computer shows no insurance and you admit you have no insurance then giving you a producer as has been suggested in some answers would've been pointless, so that is not a loophole you can use when you go to court.
If you admitted that you didn't have insurance then they would have noted this in either a process book or their pocket books. All the roadside conversation will be recorded for use in court, as there are certain questions which will have been asked to ascertain if you were the owner/keeper etc. So whatever you do, don't bother making up a scenario that didn't happen because your original answers and actions will be read out in court. Police usually ask you to sign their books to verify the conversation, but it's not mandatory.
If you've held your driving licence for less than 2 years, it's quite likely the judge will take it away from you.
The whole process may seem harsh, but it's to make sure that people don't re-offend and to safeguard other road users and pedestrians in the event of an accident.

Answer 5

The police have informed you verbally that you are being reported to the courts for the offece of no insurance, this is perfectly legal and correct, so long as you are informed, which you have been, it need not be in writing, verbal notice of intended prosecution is fine.

Your case will now be sent to the district prosecutor and scheduled in for court, this can take up to 18 months depending how busy the court circuit is.

You are very very likely to be disqualified from driving if not you will get a minimum of 6 penalty points up to a maximum of 11 and fined heavily. Under new laws the police can impound vehicles that are being driven without insurance, you are lucky to still have your car !

Unless you actually were insured there are NO defences under UK law for not having insurance, your gender and age will have no bearing on the proceedings at all.

Answer 6

Another statistic on the no insurance chart.

Having no insurance isnt an arrestable offence but is dealt with by means of a summons to attend court. The summons can take up to 6 months to arrive and in normal circumstances you should have received a "Notice of Intended Prosecution" form to say what you are to be reported for and by whom etc.

However if he didnt, it doesnt matter cos he will have all your details anyway and would have informed you.

Just admit it in court,deal with the punishment and dont do it again....please

Answer 7

They don't have to give you anything when they stopped you. You will get a court summons in the post asking you to appear before your local magistrate (a judge) at a set time and date. In court, you will be seen by a magistrate (there may be a panel of magistrates) who will listen to your case and you will have the chance to state your side of the story. The magistrate will then decide on what punishment to give you. It could range from anything to a driving ban to a large fine. Its too difficult to predict what punishment you will get as this will depend on how well you tell your side of the story and even as to how good a mood the magistrate is in on in the day. Try to get some legal advice before you go in, and practice what you are going to say. You can take a lawyer in with you, but its not necessary. There are also duty solicitors in the court buildings you can approach for help. Try to be humble, but not too grovelling! Good luck. (oh, and if they don't summon you within 2 months, you are let off!)

Answer 8

When you were stopped by Police, did they caution you? as in....did they say to you...

" you do not have to say anything, but I must caution you that if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court it may harm your defence, if you do say anything it may be given in evidence"

If they had run a check on your registration for insurance and seen that there was nothing on the database, then they have reasonable grounds to suspect you of having committed the offence of 'no insurance', and stop you.
As soon as an Officer suspects an offence has been committed he has to caution you, as above, so you do not incriminate yourself unknowly. If he has not cautioned you, any questions and answers he puts to you cannot be used in court.

Did you admit to the offence at the time? It is possible that you had insurance for a different vehicle and if he has not asked you this then it is not as clear cut as you might think. You could be driving on someones insurance.

If you have not admitted the offence, at the time, after caution, and he has not given you a demand for production of insurance, then it could be seen as an abuse of process and thrown out.

Any further questions, e mail me.

Good luck

Answer 9

When you go to court apologise and admit the offence but don't be a wise **** and put on the I did not know story as judges hate that. You will probably get a fine and some points on your licence but if you annoy the judge he could also ban you and he/she can also impose a prison sentence. If you have held you licence for less than two years he/she can also revoke your licence and order you a resit. It could take up to six months to be summoned to court . Yes they were (police) right in doing what they did as they were satisfied that you were who you are if they weren't they would have detained you

Answer 10

The police don't have to give you a ticket. I can't tell you how long it will take for your court appearence to come through but you should be able to plead by post. I would have thought that if this is your first offence the most you will get is 3 points and a £60ish fine.

Answer 11

The Police should if they had been doing their job correctly given you a producer for your local Police station.
The only reason I can think of is that perhaps they are giving you a couple of days to see if you will insure it, and if you don't your reg.number will be given out, this happened to a friend of mine who was stopped for a bald tyre, three days later they turned up and checked her car..
A summons can take up to two Weeks to come through the post but in any case the police should have given you a slip telling you why, what time the street which were stopped in, also their details.
Another case for a law for one a different law for everyone else,
If you would have been a 21 y.o man without insurance you would have been taken down the cop shop.