subject: Penalties for Driving without Motor Insurance [print this page] Penalties for Driving without Motor Insurance
It is considered illegal and an offence to drive a vehicle without motor insurance against third party risk. Driving a vehicle on a road without with out the right motor insurance for the vehicle will result in a fixed penalty notice or penalization.
According to the seriousness of the offence, the level of the maximum fine can go upto 5,000 UK pounds, and the automatic endorsement of an offender's license with six to eight penalty points. The courts can order the immediate disqualification of the offender. The police also have wide powers to stop vehicles and inspect certificates, and this leads to around 300,000 convictions for uninsured driving every year.
Driving without insurance can be punishable within the fixed penalty system. The fixed penalty of 200 UK pounds and six penalty points allows a more thorough enforcement of this offence.
The possibility of a fixed penalty gives the police an extra option for dealing with the offence concerned, but it does not prevent the police's ability to prosecute in appropriate cases when they consider that to be the best course of action. The police have the power to seize, and in some cases, destroy the vehicle that is being driven uninsured.
Any vehicle seized under these powers will only be released on payment of the fixed penalty and must show a valid insurance certificate. The vehicle will only be released to the registered keeper of the vehicle or, if there is no registered keeper, to the person appearing to be the owner. The police can dispose of vehicles not claimed within a set time. The Road Safety Act 2006 makes provision for harsher sentences for those who kill or are involved in accidents while driving uninsured.
The UK Department for Transport has worked out an effective way to control uninsured driving. Provisions in the Serious Organized Crime and Police Act 2005 enable the police to use their access to the Motor Insurance Database in conjunction with their Automatic Number Plate Reading equipment.
There is also a plan to enforce a continuous insurance enforcement scheme provides a new fixed penalty for people who ignore official reminders that their insurance has expired. The scheme is expected to come into force during 2011. This will apply to vehicles that are not declared as being off the road through Statutory off Road Notification (SORN) and not insured. Continuing offenders will risk having their vehicle seized and destroyed.
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