Uninsured Liabilities
Did you know that if you drive uninsured and cause an accident that causes injury, you can be personally liable for damages indefinitely?
Imagine the worst case scenario whereby you cause a serious accident and paralyse a third party. Their ongoing care costs can run into millions of pounds and technically, as an uninsured driver, you are personally liable in perpetuity.
This means that if you have any assets at the time of the offence these can be seized to cover the costs of the third party. Additionally, even if you have no assets, any future assets you accrue will also be liable to potential seizure.
This means that while you might be young, with few tangible assets at present, if you went on to earn significant sums in the future, had a lottery win, an inheritance etc. any or all of those earnings can be taken from you and passed to the third party.
This is why it is so important to have suitable motor insurance, so that you not only protect other road users, but also protect your own future liabilities.
No Insurance
Additionally, in the immediacy, you can also see your car seized by police and crushed for not being properly insured. Your car will then be either sold (if it is nice, or crushed if it’s a shitbus).
With the increased use ANPR cameras (Automatic Number plate recognition) by police as well as in many filling stations, it is increasingly difficult to continue to drive without insurance.
It’s really easy to accidentally find yourself uninsured, if your bank is late making a standing order or direct debit payment for example, or if there is another issue with your monthly insurance payment, you can soon find yourself being treated like someone who has never had insurance at all.
This is a little unfair because there is no intent if you have bought and paid for valid motor insurance, only to find yourself stopped by the police because of a relatively minor banking glitch.
While there are of course some drivers who buy car insurance on a pay monthly plan, with the intention of cancelling it after a couple of payments so they can keep the paperwork and try to cheat the system, but if you have paid up half or more of the payments, it is very harsh to be castigated for a failed payment.
If you have car insurance offence issues, ask Patterson Law Driving Without Insurance Legal Advice line a question and find out the best way to defend your allegations.