If you drive a car in the UK, you are legally required to be insured to drive it. This is because everyone who is driving needs to have a degree of financial protection. The minimum degree of insurance that you need to have is Third Party cover.
You might think that if you damage your car, this is your problem, and only you should be responsible for fixing the damage. However, the vast majority of accidents involve other parties, and the damage you might cause in an accident is often not to your own property. As a result, you need to have insurance that at least covers the third party in any accident you might have.
What is Insurance?
An Insurance policy is a type of contract. You take out this contract so that you receive financial protection or reimbursement again financial losses you might incur under certain circumstances. The insurance company charges you for this potential reimbursement based on how likely they feel they are to need to pay out.
What does car insurance cover?
Car Insurance can cover a wide variety of potential risks. How much cover you receive depends upon the level of cover that you purchase. Third Party insurance covers only the other parties in an accident, not you. Third Party, Fire and Theft insurance also covers you in the case of a fire or your car being stolen. Comprehensive Insurance covers both a third party in an accident, and you.
How do I check if I am insured?
It is possible to check if you are insured on a vehicle, or if a vehicle is insured at all. The Motor Insurer’s Database is a near-comprehensive database of which cars are insured, and by whom. The police use the MID to check if cars on the road are legal to drive, and private individuals can do the same.
What happens if I don’t have insurance?
If you don’t have insurance, you can be fined a fixed penalty of £300, and you will be given six points on your driving licence. If you go to court, you could face a greater fine – potentially unlimited. You could also be disqualified from driving.
Do I need insurance to drive someone else’s car?
Yes – you always need to be insured on a car to be able to drive it. You can drive a car you don’t own if you are insured to drive it. This comes either from being listed as a driver on someone else’s insurance, or you insuring yourself temporarily on a car that someone else owns.
Car Insurance from GoShorty
Car insurance is mandatory. However, getting temporary car insurance is easy with GoShorty. You don’t need to insure yourself for longer than you need to. At GoShorty, you can insure yourself to drive a car for between 1 hour and 28 days with short term car insurance. This can be on someone else’s car. With GoShorty, you don’t need to worry about getting insurance – only get the cover you need, and find out how much you could save compared to getting insured over a year.
Owning and maintaining a car can be an expensive process. You have all the fuel and maintenance costs to pay for, let alone the insurance costs. However, do you really need to insure a car all year round if you only use it occasionally? What if you are able to borrow a car for the times you need? Is there any point to being a named driver all year around, or is there an easier way to be insured for a week or so at a time?
What does one week car insurance cover?
One week of temporary car insurance covers you for everything that a year long car insurance policy would. This means that you receive fully comprehensive cover, for the time that you need and not unnecessarily longer.
You can insure a car that does not belong to you with temporary insurance. This means that you can be insured on a car without being a named driver. As a result, you cannot affect the No Claims Discount of the car’s owner – even if you have an accident.
Why would I get a week of car insurance?
There are lots of reasons to only get one week of car insurance. You might need to insure a car for a week if you are:
To get a week of car insurance, you need to provide some information to us. Firstly, we need some information on the vehicle that you want to drive. This usually means details about the car’s registration number, make and model. Then we need to know how long you want to insure. We don’t only do one week car insurance, we offer cover for between 1hr and 28 days. Next, we’ll need some details on you. This might be personal information, like your name, date of birth, address and the like. It might also be some info on your driving history – for example, your license details.
How much does it cost to insure a car for a week?
The price of insuring any car depends upon a number of factors. We need some information before we can offer you a price. This includes:
Your age
Location
Driving history
Your driving licence type
How long you’ve been driving for
The make and model of your car
How old your car is
The value of your car
Insurance from GoShorty
Short term car insurance from GoShorty is perfect for any of the reasons listed above. If you only need to insure a car short term, then there is no point in paying for a full year of insurance. Get cover from GoShorty with a temporary insurance quote and save.
There are circumstances where you might think you’re insured to drive…but before getting behind the wheel, always double-check. A hasty decision could result in serious consequences.
These days, police using number plate recognition software to check the Motor Insurance Database (MID) in seconds, so it’s really easy to get caught.
While some may wilfully drive uninsured, for others, it’s simply a lack of awareness, such as:
Thinking because you have comprehensive insurance, you can ‘drive any car’. This is a common misconception but is often not the case. Even if included, it may only provide third party cover for those aged over 25.
Not checking if your car has auto-renewed – so missing a paper or email reminder – and if it hasn’t, failing to buy a replacement cover.
Taking a car for a test drive and believing it will be insured – if it’s a private seller, it won’t be.
So what happens if you’re pulled over and you’re caught driving without insurance? As experts in temporary car insurance, we know a thing or two about the subject. So, we’re going to answer all your questions on the subject.
Will I be punished for driving without insurance?
Yes. Sure, there may be a little wiggle room in a few cases (more on that later), but the reality is that driving without valid insurance is a ticking time bomb. If you don’t have at least third party insurance, you’re looking to get punished.
So, is it always illegal to drive without insurance? What does the law say?
Under the Road Traffic Act 1988, a car on the road or other public place must be insured. At the very least this should be third party insurance.
If you’re involved in an accident – even if it’s not your fault, checks will be made. Not only that, but police use number plate recognition cameras to pick up on uninsured drivers. You can’t simply buy cover retrospectively – it must be valid at the time you’re stopped.
What happens when you’re stopped by the police and accused of driving without insurance?
If this actually happens to you, you’ll be asked to present your insurance documents. They won’t necessarily expect you to have them on you that second, but if you do, that would help. You’ll be given seven days to provide up-to-date insurance documents to the police. These must show that you had a valid policy in place covering the period that they stopped you.
What is the penalty for driving without insurance?
Police can impose a couple of different punishments. The absolute minimum penalty for driving without insurance is:
A fixed penalty of £300
six to eight penalty points on your licence
If the case goes to court, there could be an unlimited fine and a driving disqualification.
Points are recorded for four years and disqualification is likely with 12 or more penalty points within three years. If you’re disqualified for any period longer than 56 days, you’ll need to apply for a new licence.
Police can seize an uninsured car and either destroy the vehicle or have it sold at auction. Uninsured driving convictions also show up on DBS checks. In the most serious cases, where there is a fatality, there can be jail sentences of up to two years, or 10 years if ‘dangerous driving’ is proved.
Even if a car is not being driven, if it’s uninsured, you could be given a £100 fine and a £20 storage charge per day and £150 collection fee if it’s seized by police.
However, driving without insurance in itself is not an imprisonable offence and does not appear on a conviction on a criminal record.
But I’ve got comprehensive insurance, surely that means I can drive any car I want?
No! Or at least, not necessarily. Sure, a lot of comprehensive car insurance policies include ‘drive other cars’ (DOC) cover, but it may not be the catch-all you’re hoping for.
This cover is primarily aimed at allowing you to drive someone else’s car in an emergency, rather than regularly. Many insurers don’t even offer it anymore. It’s also subject to a number of terms and conditions.
If you do have this as part of your cover, then at the very least you’ll need to get explicit permission from the vehicle owner and even then you may only have third party cover. Always check the details of your policy.
If you are caught trying to use DOC as your excuse you could even land the owner of the car in hot water too.
Are there any loopholes or legal reasons for driving without insurance?
There are a number of ‘mitigating circumstances’ that may be considered if you’re caught driving without insurance. These aren’t a given though, and you can’t rely on them.
Some instances where people may have had a punishment reduced have included, but are not limited to:
An insurance company cancelling a driver’s policy without notifying them – which would be an incredibly rare scenario
A driver having a genuine reason to believe they are driving with insurance
There may be other circumstances that are considered.
Simply forgetting to renew your policy is not an excuse.
What about cars that are not driven?
In most cases, if a car is out of action, it still needs to be insured. This is the case if it’s on the street as a stationary car can still be in an accident. You can declare a car Statutory Off Road Notice (SORN), meaning it does not need to be insured, but it cannot be left on a public road.
What circumstances don’t I need insurance to drive?
There are actually a number of circumstances where you don’t need to insure your car. However, these don’t generally let you drive the car.
Your car doesn’t need insurance if:
You have a Statutory Off Road Notice (SORN)
The has been scrapped, stolen or exported with the required notice in place
The car is between registered keepers or dealers
The car has been registered as ‘in trade’ with the DVLA
The only time you can drive a car without insurance is on private land. All the other times require the car to be off-road in some way.
My insurance policy isn’t showing up on the Motor Insurance Database (MID), can I drive?
Whenever you insure your car, your policy will show up on the Motor Insurance Database.
You can learn more about what the MID is here, but in short, it’s a database that details all the cars and their insurance status.
Insurance can take a few days to show up on the MID though. So, if you’re driving immediately after buying a policy, there’s a chance you won’t show up when the police check your number plate. In this instance, you’re still insured, so don’t worry. Just make sure you have your policy details to hand to prove it and explain the situation.
I’m insured, but I’ve been hit by an uninsured driver, what then?
Even if you’re meeting all the motoring laws yourself, and driving with insurance, you may still find yourself in an awkward situation. If you’re unlucky enough to be in a car accident with someone that was driving without insurance, there are a few things you’ll need to do.
First of all, if the other driver says they are uninsured or refuses to supply insurance details, you should report them to the police.
If they simply didn’t have their details, you can look to see if it’s an uninsured vehicle by checking its details on the Motor Insurance Database website.
There’s a straightforward and affordable way to make sure you don’t have to risk driving uninsured. Comprehensive short term car insurance or temporary van insurance from GoShorty can be purchased from one hour up to 28 days and provides ultimate reinsurance.
So, this would cover a test drive or can be taken out on a regular basis if you want to car share or borrow a vehicle from time to time. Our temporary car insurance is available for drivers aged 18 to 75 and is a fast and certain way to ensure you don’t need to drive uninsured.
Don’t risk driving without insurance – get cover today with a temporary insurance quote from GoShorty.