I Was Not The Registered Keeper Of The Car

Question:

No insurance

Good afternoon, Excuse the email rather than phone call but I am at work and unable to talk privately at the moment.

On Friday evening I was driving to x and was stopped by x police en route for not having the correct insurance on the vehicle I was driving. The history is that I have a different car for which I have fully comp insurance and am the registered owner. I was driving a car I am in the process of purchasing.

This belongs to the mother of a friend but due to a loss of the V5 in the post between her and myself ( already reported and the she is awaiting another) it is not yet registered to me. I believed that I could drive this on my existing insurance, but the police who stopped me said that regardless of the issue of the V5, the car was mine and as such I was uninsured.

They issued a fixed penalty notice of £200 and said it would be an endorsement of 6 points on my licence. They did not seize the car and took me to somewhere where I could then be collected by a family member who was able to drive my car.

They said they didn’t believe I had done this on purpose as it was clear I did have a policy on the other vehicle, hence not seizing the car and allowing me to find an alternative solution. Also I was in x and a long way from both home in x and x, my destination.

I left the car at my sisters and rang my insurance company on Saturday morning to ensure it was insured. I then drove it home on Sunday.

My other problem is that on looking at my driving licence in preparation to take it to the police station within the 7 days I have noticed it is expired. I have a photo licence and did not realise this was the case. It expired in January last year.

So now I have a compound problem of having no insurance and potentially a non valid licence.

I would like some advice on what my options are. I am obviously guilty of both things and not being aware, or not doing it deliberately are no defence. Particularly on the potential consequences of the two things together.

I can see that not having a valid licence could mean another 6 points which would then mean a loss of my license. Is action on a non valid licence likely to be a certainty? What will happen when I produce it at the police station- which I need to do a.s.a.p.

Many thanks for any advice you can give me at this stage. Your website was by far the most approachable of all that I have looked at. I have no doubt I have got myself into a predicament, unwittingly or otherwise, and I just need to know what my best path through this is.

Many thanks

Paula Says:

Email is fine.

The issue is who owns the car. If you have paid for the car it belongs to you – irrespective of the fact that she is still the registered keeper. Being the registered keeper is not proof of ownership. If you own it because you have paid for it your fully comprehensive insurance wont cover you.

The police are right I’m afraid on the no insurance matter. Your only hope would be to persuade them that the car was not yours if you had not paid for it already?

The licence issue means that you won’t be able to take the fixed penalty offer and you may get another charge of driving without a valid licence. If you have an entitlement to drive (you have passed a full test) this offence is not endorsable – phew! Therefore no risk of extra points. In any event you only get points for one offence if two happen at the same time.

Would you like me to help you with the no insurance issue. We maybe able to persuade the CPS to withdraw it on the basis of their being no criminality on your part – or there maybe a special reasons argument to avoid the penalty points.

Come back to me if I can assist further.