It is against the law to use a vehicle if you do not have a valid insurance certificate that says you are covered to use it at that particular time.
Driving without insurance is treated very seriously in the Magistrates Court because of the potential implications if you were to crash when uninsured.
To be found guilty of driving without insurance the Prosecution simply have to prove that you were driving a motor vehicle on a public road at the time of the alleged offence. Because this is a documentary offence the burden passes to the Defendant (you) to prove that you were actually insured at the time you were driving. This is because it would be almost impossible for the Prosecution to prove that you were not insured and they would have to go through every insurance company in the Country using their insurance database to try and establish there was no certificate in place.
Something that catches most people out when accused of having no insurance is that you dont actually have to be driving the vehicle to be guilty of the no insurance offence. The law states that you only have to be using the vehicle. Having use of the vehicle can mean that the vehicle can simply be parked on a public road outside your house and if it has no insurance you will be liable for the punishment.
Another way in which a lot of people get caught out in relation to insurance offences is because they believe that their fully comprehensive insurance covers them to drive a vehicle owned by another person with their permission. A lot of fully comprehensive insurance policies do not actually have this type of cover as of right. This element of the cover is also sometimes dependant on the age of the policy holder.
It is extremely important to make sure that you fully understand the terms of your insurance policy and that whenever you drive either your own car or someone else's, that you are actually insured.
Driving without insurance is treated very seriously in the Magistrates Court because of the potential implications if you were to crash when uninsured.
To be found guilty of driving without insurance the Prosecution simply have to prove that you were driving a motor vehicle on a public road at the time of the alleged offence. Because this is a documentary offence the burden passes to the Defendant (you) to prove that you were actually insured at the time you were driving. This is because it would be almost impossible for the Prosecution to prove that you were not insured and they would have to go through every insurance company in the Country using their insurance database to try and establish there was no certificate in place.
Something that catches most people out when accused of having no insurance is that you dont actually have to be driving the vehicle to be guilty of the no insurance offence. The law states that you only have to be using the vehicle. Having use of the vehicle can mean that the vehicle can simply be parked on a public road outside your house and if it has no insurance you will be liable for the punishment.
Another way in which a lot of people get caught out in relation to insurance offences is because they believe that their fully comprehensive insurance covers them to drive a vehicle owned by another person with their permission. A lot of fully comprehensive insurance policies do not actually have this type of cover as of right. This element of the cover is also sometimes dependant on the age of the policy holder.
It is extremely important to make sure that you fully understand the terms of your insurance policy and that whenever you drive either your own car or someone else's, that you are actually insured.
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