Driving Without Insurance

Are you looking for the best Road Traffic Solicitors to defend you on a charge of Driving Without Insurance?

When it comes to protecting your driving licence, we understand the potentially devastating impact of a road traffic charge on the reputation, livelihood and liberty of those we represent.

So if you’re facing what for you is the legal minefield of a driving without insurance, or causing or permitting another person to drive without insurance, tip the scales in your favour - Get in touch now.

What is the law on Driving Without Insurance?

Under section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, it is an offence to use a motor vehicle on a road or public place, such as a car park, without insurance cover.  To be charged with this offence it is not necessary that the motor vehicle was driven.  For example, if it is parked or stationary on a road or other public place - even if it is broken down - insurance is required. 

It is also an offence to ‘cause or permit’ any other person to use a motor vehicle without insurance cover, so a person is guilty of an offence if he allows another person to use his car in the knowledge that they are not insured for that use.

Given that the various legal questions arising from no insurance charges, it makes sense to protect your licence by obtaining early expert advice as to what can be done in your case.

What are the penalties?

No insurance offences will result in endorsement of your licence with 6 to 8 penalty points or, depending on your driving record, a period of disqualification. A fine of up to £5000 can also be imposed.  In certain cases, an uninsured vehicle can be seized and destroyed.

Again, given the wide range of potential penalties, it makes sense to obtain expert guidance on what can properly be done to avoid or reduce the penalties in your case.

How can we help?

You can count on our award-winning team to identify the right questions, provide the right answers and deliver the best solutions.

Here are just some of the ways in which we can help:

• Fixed Penalty advice. If you are offered a Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty or ‘police ticket’, we can guide you on the potential pros and cons of accepting or rejecting that Offer or ‘ticket’.
• Driving in course of employment. Is yours a case where you drove your employer’s vehicle in the course of your work? And had no reason to think that the vehicle was not insured? If so, it may be possible to persuade the prosecutor or court that you have a complete defence to the charge.
• Special Reasons for not endorsing your licence or not disqualifying. If insurance cover can’t be demonstrated, can it be shown that you had a genuine and reasonable belief that you were insured to use the vehicle? For example, were you assured by the owner of the vehicle that you were insured to use it? Were you unaware that your insurance policy had been cancelled due to an error by your insurer or the bank responsible for processing your payments? Examples such as this may allow us to argue that there are what the law calls ‘special reasons’ for the court not to endorse your driving licence or to disqualify you from driving.

What are the costs?

Firstly, given the importance of you finding exactly the right lawyer to protect your driving licence, we have the confidence to provide every client with a first, diagnostic consultation, free of charge.

Thereafter, depending upon your financial position and the nature of your case, it may be possible for us to represent you under the Scottish Legal Aid scheme. If, however, Legal Aid is not available or appropriate in your case, whilst any fee chargeable thereafter will depend upon the complexity of your case, we are always happy to provide you with the certainty of a fee agreed in advance, and, if you prefer, usually the reassurance of a fixed fee arrangement, rather than fees based upon each item of work.

Equally, if you have a motor insurance policy or house insurance policy which provides you with cover for the legal costs of defending a motoring prosecution in Scotland, we would always be content to discuss acting for you on this basis. If you are in any doubt as to the terms of cover under any such insurance policy, again, we would be happy to examine the terms of any such policy at your first free consultation.

To tip the scales in your favour, get in touch now.

So, once again, why choose Adams Whyte Road Traffic Solicitors to defend you?

Here are just 5 reasons:

• We are already the trusted choice of thousands of clients who over the years have relied on the expertise of our motoring law solicitors to deliver for them the best possible result in road traffic cases right across the country.
• For the countless clients who, year after year, choose us to protect their driving licence, we have an impressively high rate of success and satisfaction.
• Those who recommend or instruct us include individuals from fields as varied as law and policing, to medicine and banking, to sport and entertainment.
• In fighting to keep you on the road, our specialist solicitors provide the highest standards of technical knowledge, forensic analysis, and courtroom advocacy, for example in exposing and arguing against any technical or legal flaws in the case against you.
• Given the importance of you finding the right lawyer to protect your driving licence, we have the confidence to provide every client with a first, diagnostic consultation, free of charge.

To give yourself the best chance of the best outcome, get in touch now.