'merely owning a car without having valid insurance will become an offence'

[Einarrson]

I heard about this on the radio this morning but didn't hear anything else.

New regulations have given police the power to seize cars from driveways or garages if owners do not have insurance. They will no longer have to wait to catch someone driving without cover  -  merely owning a car without having valid insurance will become an offence.

Accidents and injuries caused by uninsured drivers cost more than £400 million a year  -  a cost currently paid through a central fund, the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB), which levies insurers.
John Newall, owner of Lockyer Insurance

This adds an average of £30 to each law-abiding driver's insurance, but there are concerns the new powers could result in some honest motorists being inadvertently caught up in the net.


This includes owners of motor homes, classic cars and motor bikes who may have only insured these vehicles for summer use, keeping them on driveways or in garages during winter.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1358689/Waging-war-car-menace-costs-30-year-each.html#ixzz1FZSrshld

[Gazza36]

Also, your vehicle must be taxed or SORN otherwise they can now seize it from private property apparently.

[diplomat2.6]

Presumably you will also have to MOT the car otherwise the insurance won't be valid and it also need to be taxed to get MOT'd (well, at least you could cash in the tax afterwards - this has always been a grey area)  What about cars undergoing restoration? How much work counts as restoration?

The fine of £100 seems as though it will be the cheapest option   

[bstardchild]

Also, your vehicle must be taxed or SORN otherwise they can now seize it from private property apparently.

The SORN bit exempts you from insurance needs  

So keep up to date with the SORN's and it's not a problem

Trouble with all this legislation is it's not going to stop the people that drive without tax and insurance - it just makes it more difficult for those of us who have multiple cars and don't use them all at the same time

It's also on of the reasons why my Monza is now off the road and once I've transfered the current plate to retention I will be effectively scrapping the car (as far as DVLA are concerned) avoiding the need for any future SORN or Insurance as the car won't exist and won't have number plates or chassis tags to identify it - effectively no longer a car

[Johnraka]

Agree with BC, if it is off the road and 'Sorned' then insurance should not be needed - and off the road would include a private drive, private land and a garage - even your front or back garden is off the road...

[Gazza36]

Also, your vehicle must be taxed or SORN otherwise they can now seize it from private property apparently.

The SORN bit exempts you from insurance needs  

So keep up to date with the SORN's and it's not a problem

Yes

[Johnny A]

try and find um you bastards! All are stored up at the unit... which no one knows the location of!

[YasmineLee]

who thinks they should use the time catching thous driving illegally with no tax or mot or even usurance

[bmwtourer]

i remember about 3 years ago when they first mentioned this and there was uproar from people who are restoring cars .. as the point was what was the point of insuring a shell !! never though they would do it as they scrapped the idea after all the uproar .. i suppose its to stop all the trader policy drivers but it will punish law abiding citizens as always .. this country stinks

[YasmineLee]

we need to find a lawyer i think. make a caser with the european court of human rights

[man of kent]

I've had it confirmed from the my MP that if the car is off the road with a SORN there is no obligation to insure it. I fell for all the hype and assumed it was ALL cars. It isn't, just cars on the road that need insurance.

Make sure you SORN it and it only lasts 12 months and then you have to redo it.

Where it all goes wrong is that the government counts all the reg nos., then the number with a SORN, deduct one from the other and decide that that number are on the road illegally without insurance and this ammo is used by all the do gooders and insurance companies to put the rates up.

They did this years ago with road tax.

What the idiots dont seem to understand is that cars get scrapped & unrecorded, moved around, set on fire, stolen, pushed into a river, go overseas and generally lost.

The prime mover for this is probably the insurance companies.

[YasmineLee]

actually ur right there. when i had my bike stolen set of fire and recoved, the insurance paid out but stated getting hassled from the tax man as was'nt retaxing. took me 3 months to finally get the tx man to talk to the insurance and vice versa to get the record set st8!!!

[diplomat2.6]

So you could still have a sorn car, drive it round and crash it. Therefore the whole thing is completely pointless. Most of this will largely be relevant to those who cannot pay fines and whose car is completely worthless anyway. Very Daily Mail!

[bstardchild]

I've had it confirmed from the my MP that if the car is off the road with a SORN there is no obligation to insure it. I fell for all the hype and assumed it was ALL cars. It isn't, just cars on the road that need insurance.

Make sure you SORN it and it only lasts 12 months and then you have to redo it.

If you have a car off the road before SORN came into force then that also exempts it from the requirement - just so everyone is clear

[bstardchild]

So you could still have a sorn car, drive it round and crash it. Therefore the whole thing is completely pointless. Most of this will largely be relevant to those who cannot pay fines and whose car is completely worthless anyway. Very Daily Mail!

Exactly my point earlier - it won't stop those who already ignore the law - it will however give the Police a bit more leverage.....

[Diplo-Matt]

Trouble with all this legislation is it's not going to stop the people that drive without tax and insurance - it just makes it more difficult for those of us who have multiple cars and don't use them all at the same time

I actually think it will make it even worse. I cant see young people stumping up 1500 quid for car insurance when the fines are more often than not less than that, they will just chance it. Even when my cars are off the road i put them on a laid up policy so its not a problem...until today when i transferred the Omega insurance onto the Astra. The omega is taxed, so that i can park it on the road outside my house but it's not insured therefore i will fall into this trap so now i will have to sorn it, and find somewhere to put it thankfully im moving to a house with a drive but its still poorly thought out.

Basically its a law which doesnt address the key issue which are gredy insurance companys. Aside from that we have solictors claiming huge sums for whiplash and other minor injuries on every crash costing insurance companys even more, thus premiums go up and there slowly making the problem worse.

They will never get rid if unisiure drivers and ther are actually making it worse by trying to tackly the problem this way. Even if they start banning people they will be able to drive illegally, and if there prepared to drive without insurance then they will surely be preapred to drive without a license.

[biffbangpow]

well its all a flapping mess

petrol price
car tax
insurance

the lot
its screw , screw and screw some more !

tbh
i think 17 years shouldnt be allowed to drive anything larger than a 1.2 petrol and 1.4 diesel , as per motorbikes !
if they incure 6 points in  2 years , licence revoked , for 5 years
after 2 years the car step up to 1.6 and 2 litre engines ,and so on no expections !

car tax , could be abolished , and added to fuel , then people will see the real cost of motoring

i personally would like to see the introduction of a weekend class , friday 5pm til midnight sunday , get caught after this car is impounded , or crushed !

petrol tbh its a joke , why on earth do we just sit back and take it , today it was reported on the radio it could reach 2 quid alitre , well if its does , we should park our cars on the m1 and burn the fuckers !!!!!!!!

[Diplo-Matt]

i think 17 years shouldnt be allowed to drive anything larger than a 1.2 petrol and 1.4 diesel , as per motorbikes !
if they incure 6 points in  2 years

Its already an instant ban if you occur 6 points within the first year. Also what about those 17 year olds who do drive normally, I learnt to drive at 17 so did Shelli, neither of us had a crash and being able to drive got me a job driving a van so to penalise people in that way is unfair and harmful to young people getting a job. Also engine size doesnt make a shit of difference if you driving down a road at 80 mph and you take a corner to fast. Most 1.2's will push a ton so whats the point in restricting engine size other than getting on everyone elese nerves. How many times have you been stuck behind a scooter doing 40mph?

i personally would like to see the introduction of a weekend class , friday 5pm til midnight sunday , get caught after this car is impounded , or crushed !

So if i break down on way back from a show and miss the curfew my car will get crushed? Nice

Get rid of road tax, stick it on the fuel and while you at get rid of a massive department at the DVLA

[g4rth]

try and find um you bastards! All are stored up at the unit... which no one knows the location of!

they dont need to see the car to know its not sorned, insured....its all on the PNc database...they just send the fines through the post...no way out of it...

[g4rth]

the whole point is to fine people who are using cars when uninsured...if its sorned , then theres no prob' till its being driven...
any car being used on the road while uninsured is being taken from the owners/drivers and crushed...which i quite agree with...

[kevinfourlegs]

Those that use a car on the road without mot, tax and insurance aren't car enthusiasts so they deserve to lose their vehicles.