Driving Without Insurance

It is a criminal offence to drive on any public road without having at least third-party insurance in place covering a driver’s use of that vehicle.

If you are found guilty of driving without insurance, the minimum points you will receive on your license is six. You will also receive a £300 fixed penalty fine. Depending on the seriousness of the offence or previous offences, you may be disqualified from driving for up to a year and subject to an unlimited fine (based on your income).

Driving without valid insurance is a “strict liability” offence. This means that the mindset/ intention of the driver at the time of the driving is irrelevant. If there is no valid insurance in place and the vehicle is used on a road or ‘public place’ then an offence will have been committed. It will then be up to the driver to argue against the Prosecution’s case with a defence and supporting evidence.

Defences to a charge of driving without insurance can be:

• Using a vehicle without insurance on private land and the vehicle never entered a road or public place.
• The vehicle did not belong to the driver and was not in the driver’s possession under a contract of hiring or of loan.
• Using a vehicle during the driver’s employment.
• The driver neither knowing nor having reason to believe there was no valid insurance in place.

It is not a defence, only what is called mitigation. For the driver to rely on their insurer “renewing” the policy even if the policy was on “auto-renewal.” It is still up to the driver to check that they have valid insurance in place at the time of driving the vehicle.

If you’ve been charged with driving with no insurance and you believe that you had valid insurance in place at the time of the offence, or you were led to believe this, contact our Crime Team today on +44 1484 519 999 or email.