Accident while unwittingly uninsured

[JonnyDory]

Does anyone know of someone who has had an accident when they happened to be uninsured I.e. didn't realise the renewal hadn't gone through? Just wondering what happens in practice. My friend has been contacted by an investigations company and we are wondering what will happen.

Are the Police involved?

You can put in an out of cover claim. If the lack of cover is due to an error in the insurance company side then they should still honour your claim.

If they deny the claim it is unlikely you will have police involvement, there has to be an element of intent for there to be fraud, not just making a mistake.

Thanks for your responses! The police are not involved and it was not really the fault of the insurance company as far as I know. It's reassuring that the police are unlikely to be involved. So it might just be a matter of settling the claim (details not known). Thanks again!

I am not certain about the previous reply. No one is saying the OP has committed fraud, but insurance is an absolute offence, i.e. you are either insured or not and being uninsured is a serious matter. The police may not get involved but it is a possibility. If the OP is at fault then they would be personally liable for the damage if uninsured.

What’s the circumstances of a renewal not going through? Did the insurance company contact to say it would rollover on a certain day and then not do it? Or did the friend cancel the renewal or something else?
It might influence the outcome depending on the circumstances.

Ignorance is not an acceptable defence with regards to lack of insurance. Either the insurance company were at fault of the driver was. Which one was it?
If its the drivers fault then no amount of eyelash fluttering and oopsies makes it better.
Was another car or person involved? Was property damaged?

Just to put a slight spanner in the works. My step son ended up loosing his licence as he was unwittingly uninsured. His 1st year renewal auto renewed but his 2nd year didnt. He was unaware and got picked up on an ANPR camera and got given 6 points. As he'd had a full licence for less than 2 years he lost his licence and had to retake his test.
As your friend has had an accident whilst uninsured they should be prepared to receive points and a fine.
The police didn't care that an auto renew failed in that instance so they would be very unlikely to accept it as an excuse when an accident involving an uninsured driver has happened.

Is this a traffic accident? If so I don’t think the advice there will be no legal consequences are correct. There are other types of insurance which you are not legally obliged to have.

Thanks for your responses especially those who have expert knowledge or personal experience.

@Sooveritallnow thanks for sharing, was the fine a standard amount or decided by a court? Was it hefty? Thanks in advance.

I suppose any fine would depend on what you mean by 'unwittingly uninsured'

Did your friend get a letter telling them that the policy would auto renew and it didn't, and what was the reason? Insurance company didn't take the payment, or tried to and there wasn't enough money in the account? What timescale are we talking about?

If the accident happened days after the renewal date, they were told that the policy would renew and the payment method was valid (money in account or credit available, same card details) and the insurance company was at fault, they probably have a much better chance than if the insurance company either said that the policy would not renew unless they contacted them/logged into their online account, the payment card was not valid/insufficient funds, it had been some time and they'd actually written to them about it etc etc. Also are there any mitigating circumstances like serious illness (themselves or close family member).

But a lesson for the future about keeping on top of important household admin if this is the main reason for the 'unwittingly uninsured' especially if they find that the consequences are serious and/or expensive.

It was a fixed fine and 6 points, however he did not have an accident.
If they so choose to make an example of your friend the fine can be up to £5k, 8 points and a ban.

It also will need declaring as a conviction so can make future morning very expensive for some time

However as a side note I believe fines can now be unlimited, if it is contested, and depending on the severity of the circumstances, if it goes to Court.

It is also one of the only times the defendant has to prove their innocence rather then prosecution proving guilt, so without a valid certificate covering the time period in question it's almost guaranteed your friend will be convicted.

OK we will see what happens thanks

Contact the other party and offer to pay for their losses themselves without the insurers.

This is advantageous to them as it won't show as a claim on their insurance either.

Depends - if the money has gone through to the insurance company but online it says not renewed you might have a case

This happened to my friends dh. He crashed into a wall so no other party involved. However , the police were involved and he ultimately ended up being sent to prison for 4 weeks (only spent 2 weeks in there though). Even though he was there for such a short time it was traumatising for the whole family.

tbh he did deserve to go to prison. If you’re mature enough to drive a car you’re mature enough to make sure you are insured

I asked Direct Line this recently. They said I would be covered until I paid the renewal (Santander had gone down and all my payments were rejected). I don't know how long this would have applied for.