Driving Without Insurance 2 Years Ago

Question:

I Was stopped in Oct x By Police stating that I had no valid motor insurance. I showed my insurance document & they said that if I showed that at the police station within 7 days I would be charged for using false documents.

I contacted my insurance company the day later and they said that my insurance had been cancelled. But I had not been giving any notice to this, they claimed that it had not been paid. Which I was unaware of.

I contacted the police and they said they would contact me when I would appear in court to have my say.

In March 2009 I received a letter from north Tyneside courts telling me I had unpaid fines.

When I contacted them they said I have been convicted of driving without valid motor insurance & my licence had been revoked without any notice.

I wish to appeal against this decision as I feel my insurance company should have notified me about my insurance being cancelled also I feel if I had of been present at the hearing I could of had my say on the offence.

I have not had any previous convictions before this and it has reduced my chance of getting employment.

Is there anything that could be done about this at court?

Maybe getting my licence back or having my points revoked for alternative punishment? if possible

Paula Says:

I don’t mean to be nasty but can you tell me why you haven’t done anything about this since you found out about the unpaid fines in March x? You should have made a statutory declaration within 21 days of finding out about the conviction or appealed to the crown court immediately.

Any attempt to try and get the conviction set aside or appeal to the crown court will be treated as way out of time I’m afraid. The magistrates and the crown court are unlikely to entertain your application due to the passage of time.

In any event you didn’t have a defence if your insurance had been cancelled and you didn’t have a special reasons argument if the payment failed due to insufficient funds.

Come back to me if I have misunderstood the dates.