# Industry News – Continuous Insurance Enforcement



## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

In 2006 an amendment to the Road Traffic Act became law, and one of these amendments was a new offence:

*" Offence of keeping vehicle which does not meet insurance requirements*

Basically it will be illegal to keep a taxed vehicle and not insure it.

By the looks of things, this will soon be enforced from early 2011 and anyone keeping a vehicle which does not appear on both the DVLA & MID records will be contacted with a notice advising them to declare the vehicle off road (SORN) or to purchase appropriate insurance.

Failing to take action will result in £100 fixed penalty and a wheel clamping (although I can see this may be difficult for those cars locked up in a garage) and prosecution could follow with a fine of up to £1,000.

The whole idea behind it is that MID & DVLA database will work together to try and further prevent uninsured drivers.

This will also have a big impact on people driving taxed but uninsured vehicles on "driving other cars" extensions too, as there will need to be a primary policy in force if the vehicle is taxed.


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## Maggi200 (Aug 21, 2009)

If the fine is £100, and insurance will be more, where is the incentive?


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## mwbpsx (Jun 23, 2006)

This is something else that winds me up:devil:

When the police catch uninsured drivers the first thing they should be forced to do is pay a fine equivalent to the premium they should have paid. Then perhaps these people will think twice about driving without cover. In many cases the threat of crushing the car is pointless when they just go out and buy another £50 scrapper. Also they should not have the option of weekly payments, confiscate the 42" plasma they bought with the insurance money:thumb:


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## pdv40 (Sep 11, 2008)

maggi112 said:


> If the fine is £100, and insurance will be more, where is the incentive?


In the government's back pocket :thumb:


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

The initial penalty will be £100, which could be followed by a prosecution and a fine up to £1,000.

I have been hit twice by uninsured drivers and, even knowing the industry inside out and how it all works, it was a right pain and cost me a lot. Both went to the stage of bailiffs, one claimed he had no money (everything was in his girlfriends name, even "his" brand new Toyota Celica he was driving around at the time the bailiffs went round) and the other refused to answer the door to the bailiffs so the case was dropped! wtf!?!

I'm all for any measure that reduces the amount of uninsured drivers on the road.

The purpose of this is more to prevent those who have an uninsured taxed car thinking they are less likely to get caught if the car is taxed. It will also make the DVLA & MID a stronger database to identify uninsured drivers.

Personally i think those who pay their premiums and insure properly should be welcoming the move.


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## rob750 (Apr 17, 2006)

Sorry guys forgive my innocence I thought this law when first mentioned also applied to SORN cars aswell ? Do I read that SORN Cars are exampt

Thanks in advance


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

SORN'd cars are exempt.

Basically if you car is SORN'd, there is no legal requirement to have insurance in force. Of course you may wish to take out some kind of "laid up" insurance to protect your asset.

If your car is taxed, it is a legal requirement that insurance is in force.

So it you have a laid up taxed vehicle, it's either insure it or SORN it.


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