Driving Without Insurance Offences

Have you been accused of driving without insurance? Are you concerned about what might happen next? Our driving without insurance solicitors have a wealth of combined expertise that they will use to provide you with robust representation if you are facing such an accusation.

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If you believe your case is likely to have serious consequences for you now, or in the future and you have the means to pay for this service

Do we offer free consultations?

The law concerning driving without insurance is clear cut, which means the penalties can be severe. Depending on the circumstances and whether you are charged with any other related driving offences, you can lose your license and receive a substantial fine. This means that, if you are accused of driving without insurance, you will need urgent legal advice to reduce the impact on your life.

At JD Spicer Zeb Solicitors, we understand how daunting it can be to face an accusation of driving without insurance. As such, our team of expert criminal defence solicitors are on hand to provide immediate support, helping you to avoid charges or minimise penalties where conviction is unavoidable.

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Why choose JD Spicer Zeb?

1000's of Cases Dropped
24/7 Emergency Phonelines
100's of Years Combined Experience
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Recent Cases

There is limited recourse for you if you are falsely accused. Click a selection of the cases we have covered. The best thing you can do is to instruct an excellent solicitor from the outset.

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S.18 GBH Dropped After Driving At Man Luton Crown Court 2024

Not Guilty Private Client Charged With Racially Aggravated Assault Road Rage 2024

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Not Guilty Disqualified Driving Willesden Magistrates Court 2024

Driving without Due Care And Attention dropped Police Station

Drug Driving Charge Dropped Bromley Magistrates Court 2024

Not Guilty Drink Driving - Willesden Magistrate's Court 2023

Not guilty Drunk in charge of a motor vehicle Magistrates 2023

How quickly do you respond?

We respond quickly even during out of hours. We do not get our work by paying for online adverts but based on the fact that few criminal law firms can match our 45 years of experience. Most of our cases are still from word-of-mouth recommendations from satisfied clients. We are called daily by dissatisfied clients from firms with less experience than us. We respond very quickly to new enquiries. We know what clients seek and so we update clients rapidly.

Can you get cases dropped?

Yes, read about the recent cases we've helped our clients with here.

We always keep you updated and give straightforward advice. We will get cases dropped early where the case is weak or should not be prosecuted. We will be upfront with you about where you can benefit from a good result with an early guilty plea, such as a discount on your sentence. As we work on cases across all levels with clients from all walks of life, we are excellent at giving clear, spot-on advice. As an established firm, we can allocate a whole team to your case often at short notice to secure evidence to minimise the damage to you.

Have you won any awards?

OUR PROFESSIONAL BODY THE LAW SOCIETY AWARDED US IN OCTOBER 2020 WITH THE EXCELLENCE IN CLIENT SERVICE AWARD AND STATED -

"JD Spicer Zeb demonstrated a clear commitment to client service through their work with vulnerable and diverse individuals in what can be severely traumatic circumstances".

Do you offer free consultations?

Where it is possible, we aim to provide an initial consultation to you. If we can speak to you, we can if required inform you about –

Whether we can take the case on and our relevant experience.
Public and private funding benefits.
Assistance in applying for legal aid where we are likely to accept instructions.
An outline of options in police interview only. We will not advise you on which option to adopt.
Providing our free written guide explaining the police station process.
The gravity of routine and day-to-day offences you face.
Consequences of not attending the court or police station.
Consequences of interfering with any witnesses.
Retaining any evidence in support of your case.
If possible an outline of the elements of the offence that the police or CPS must prove.
This consultation will normally be by telephone or email and will only be for as long as we deem necessary to establish if we can act for you. If we cannot usefully give you any advice in this manner then we will not continue with the consultation. We will not discuss the case in depth for you to be able to decide on your plea or any significant aspect of the case, as this cannot be undertaken informally.
Referring you, if possible, to other firms for matters out of our specialism or if we cannot help.

Consultations do not apply to the following cases –

If we do not intend to take the case on.
Road Traffic cases, drink driving, drug driving, driving bans, speeding, no insurance, mobile phone use, points etc.
In all cases where we do not have the capacity to take your case or the availability of suitably qualified staff to provide an initial free consultation. This is applicable in all cases but especially where a more senior lawyer is required because of your personal needs or the complexity of the case.
Harassment/stalking/ coercive behaviour/malicious communications or road traffic cases and most sensitive cases. These cases are often too complicated to assess in short consultations.
The locations concerned may be too distant to represent you adequately or it may not be cost-effective for you or us.
The case is too complicated to assess or raises various charges or facts, complexity, or history to be considered informally or in a short consultation.
In most Legal aid transfers where legal aid is granted to another firm except in very grave cases, we may assess the case and merits for a transfer.
If your relationship has broken down with your existing solicitor or several solicitors.
If you have been released under investigation and have already had a police station attendance.
If you hold legal aid with another firm and seek a second opinion.
If you are calling on behalf of the client as a friend or family member unless you have full authority and full facts.
To businesses.
Advising whether you were given good advice by your other solicitor.
Whether to decide to plead guilty or not guilty.
Whether you have an arguable defence in law or factually complicated defences.
Any advice you have had after your first court appearance.
Any advice on appeal on conviction or sentence.
If we feel we are unable to communicate with you.
If we are likely to be conflicted or breach our professional rules.

Speak to our driving without insurance solicitors in London, Manchester and Birmingham today

For an initial consultation on your legal position and the available options, please call 020 7624 7771.

For urgent advice at any time of day or night, please call our emergency number 07836 577556.

You can also email: solicitors@jdspicer.co.uk or fill out our quick online enquiry form and we will get back to you quickly.

Our driving without insurance solicitors can represent you at Willesden Court if you are due to make an appearance there. This means that our costs will likely be lower, as we are a local firm to the court.

Our driving without insurance expertise

Defending allegations of driving without insurance

If you are found guilty of driving without insurance, the minimum penalty you can expect to face is six penalty points on your license and a £300 fine. However, depending on the circumstances, you could potentially face a driving ban and an unlimited fine.

The penalty you receive could depend on various factors, such as whether you have previously been convicted for driving without insurance, if you are driving without a valid license or if you are driving a higher risk vehicle, such as an HGV.

It may be possible to defend against an allegation of driving without insurance, given the right circumstances.

For example, you may have been driving without insurance if:

Your insurance provider cancelled your policy but failed to notify you
You had genuine reason to believe that you were insured
You were driving someone else’s car and had been assured their policy would cover you

Our expert driving without offence solicitors can carefully assess your situation and put forward a robust defence towards the charges you are facing. This may be via police station representation, or court representation if you have been charged.

Driving a company car without insurance

If you are driving a company car, you must have the relevant insurance. If you do not, you will still be liable for charges.

Equally, if you are an employer and you have knowingly allowed one of your employees to drive without insurance, then you could also face a driving without insurance penalty.

In these situations, businesses tend to be liable for fines as they are seen to be in control and managing the use of the vehicle.

Penalties

The court can impose a range of 6 – 8 penalty points. It has a discretion to impose a disqualification. As mentioned above the court could impose an unlimited fine.

When looking at the penalty to impose, the court will have regard to sentencing guidelines.

The court will consider the culpability and harm caused. For example, if there is evidence of substantial uninsured use and an accident was caused involving injury, the court would consider imposing a discretionary disqualification. At the other end of the scale, if the offence involved a very short period of uninsured use and there were no aggravating factors, the court would look at imposing points. The court will also consider any previous convictions for such offences before deciding on the appropriate sentence. If the number of points imposed takes a person’s total on his driving record to 12 within the last three years, the court will look to disqualifying under the “totting up” procedure.

Even if a person is not driving a car themselves, they could be prosecuted for permitting a person who is not insured to drive their car. The penalties for such an offence are the same for using a car without insurance.

It may be that our solicitors can put forward “special reasons” for not imposing points. This can be a complicated area of law and it would be advisable to get the advice of one of our expert solicitors.

Why choose our driving without insurance solicitors?

If you have previously been to the police station, or are due to appear at court, for driving without insurance, it is essential that you seek out legal advice from a specialist motoring offence solicitor at the earliest opportunity.

If you are facing a driving without insurance penalty, you will usually have the option of using a duty solicitor to defend you. However, this is often not the most effective course of action, as a duty solicitor may lack the specific expertise required to provide you with robust representation.

Our dedicating driving offence solicitors have many years of combined experience in defending clients accused of driving without insurance. We use this knowledge to provide expert advice and representation.

When instructed, our team will carefully guide you through the entire process with clear, straightforward advice that allows you to understand your situation, rights, options and the potential outcomes.

Our dedicated driving without insurance solicitors are readily available to act in your defence, around the clock – including on weekends and bank holidays.

Note that we can also represent you at Willesden Court if you are due to make an appearance there for driving without insurance. This means that our costs will likely be lower as we are a local firm to the court.

Funding your motoring law defence

Funding police station representation

If you have been arrested, or are facing an interview under caution, for driving without insurance, you are entitled to receive legal representation. It is important to note that this can be from a solicitor of your choosing and is not means-tested.

Funding your legal defence if you are prosecuted

If you are charged with driving without insurance, it may be possible to have some or all of your legal defence covered by something known as a ‘Representation Order’. This is commonly known as ‘legal aid’.

The level of financial assistance you could receive and the process you use to make an application will usually depend on the type of court the prosecution takes place in.

Private fees

You also have the option to self-fund your legal representation. Should this be your preferred approach, we will be able to clearly explain all of the costs and our fee structures. Whether or not you receive legal aid funding, any contribution you make to your legal defence will be refunded if you are found not guilty.

Frequently asked questions about driving without insurance

What happens if I'm caught driving uninsured?

If you are stopped by the police, they will ask you to provide documents to prove that you have insurance for the vehicle you are driving. If you fail to demonstrate that you have the right cover, or it can be shown that your cover has expired, then the police can hand out a penalty which will vary depending on your circumstances.

The police also have the power to seize and potentially destroy the vehicle that is being driven uninsured.

What is the penalty for driving without insurance?

If you are caught driving without insurance, the police will hand a minimum penalty of:

A fixed fine of £300
6 penalty points on your license

The police may decide whether more serious cases should be handled in court, but this will be determined by various factors. For instance, if you do not have a valid license, the vehicle you were driving is deemed to by high risk (such as a HGV), or you have been accused of committing another driving offence, such as careless driving.

The court could potentially issue:

An unlimited fine
A driving ban

Can I drive without insurance?

Simply put – no. It is against the law to drive a vehicle on a public road without at least the most basic level of car insurance, which is third party insurance. You must also have insurance if you leave a vehicle parked on a street, on a driveway or in a garage.

There are a number of reasons why you might not need motor insurance – but these do not give you the ability to drive the vehicle in question. These are if:

You have a valid Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN)
Your vehicle has been kept off a public road since before 1 February 1998
Your vehicle has been scrapped, stolen or exported and you have provided notice
Your vehicle is between dealers or is being held by an authorised dealer

There are certain ‘special reasons’ for driving without insurance. These are mitigating circumstances which may explain why someone is driving without insurance.

Special reasons may include:

An insurance provider failing to provide notice that insurance has expired
An insurance provider making a mistake, leading to no policy being in force
A person being incorrectly informed by a provider that they can drive a vehicle
A person having a genuine reason to believe that they were insured to drive

Is driving without insurance a criminal conviction?

Driving without insurance is not an imprisonable offence in itself which means that a conviction will not appear on a criminal record.

However, it is important to note that, if you are convicted of driving without insurance, this will remain on your driving license for a minimum of four years and you will need to disclose it to insurance providers for a further year.

How do police catch uninsured drivers?

Data from the Motor Insurance Database (MID) is shared will all UK police forces. This means that the police’s Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras can quickly tell if the vehicle in front of them is insured or not.

The police can also catch uninsured drivers if they pull them over for a separate road traffic offence, such as careless or dangerous driving. They will always ask for relevant documents that prove that the vehicle being driven is properly insured.

Contact our driving without insurance solicitors today

For urgent specialist advice, immediate representation or to speak to our solicitors in London, Manchester and Birmingham confidentially about driving without insurance, please call 020 7624 7771 or email solicitors@jdspicer.co.uk.

Alternatively, you can fill out our quick online enquiry form and we will get back to you quickly.

For immediate representation and advice, call our emergency number 07836 577556 and we will provide you with the urgent assistance you need.

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