Who is responsible for arranging car insurance?
When it comes to car insurance organisation, it’s important to remember one thing: you can’t drive a vehicle if there isn’t insurance in place.
No insurance? It’s a criminal offence
Not having appropriate car insurance in place when you are legally required to do so is a criminal offence, and therefore is likely to have serious consequences. The minimum legal requirement for car insurance in the UK is third party car insurance. This means you’re covered if you have an accident causing damage or injury to any other person, vehicle, animal or property, but it doesn’t cover any other costs like repair to your own vehicle.
If you drive a vehicle without insurance and you’re caught, you could face the following:
- 6 penalty points on your licence
- A £300 fine
- Court time, which could result in an unlimited fine and disqualification from driving
- Your vehicle being seized by the police and destroyed
If you’re disqualified from driving for longer than 56 days, your driving licence becomes invalid and you’ll need to apply for a new one. You may even need to re-take your driving test.
Even uninsured parked cars leave you facing consequences. You could face a £100 fine, or possibly anything up to £1,000 if your case ends up going to court.
How do the police know if your car is insured?
Not only do the police have access to Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, but they also have the MIB (Motor Insurer’s Bureau) database. This holds records of all insured cars in the country, which is shared across the UK’s entire police force.
When don’t I need car insurance?
You may be wondering when it’s okay to not insure your car. Perhaps you’re off to university and you won’t need your car during term time? Or maybe you’re going travelling for a year?
You car doesn’t need insurance if:
- It’s been declared off the road (SORN)
- It’s registered as “in trade”
- It’s been off public roads since February 1998
- It’s currently in the scrapping process
However, if you decide to use your car when you're home from uni (or borrow a friend or parents' car), you may need to take out temporary student driver insurance.
Getting car insurance
It’s important to note that it is your responsibility to ensure that appropriate car insurance is in place before using any vehicle, or before allowing someone else to use your vehicle, as you can still be held personally liable.