Also, many people believe that they have a ‘grace period’ in which to renew their recently expired insurance policy, only to find out that they don’t. Of course, there are always drivers around who choose to intentionally break the law in the hope that it will save them some money.

Whether intentional or not, any driver who gets caught driving without insurance can receive a fine of up to £5000 and 6 to 8 penalty points on their driving licence. It is even possible to face a driving ban in some cases. Police now also have the power to perform spot checks and so can issue fixed, on-the-spot penalty fines. These immediate penalties entail a fine of £200 and six penalty points on the offending motorist’s license.

With the police now able to confiscate and destroy any vehicle which turns out to be uninsured, and with convictions of uninsured motoring offences rising every year, it simply doesn’t pay to drive without insurance.

The facts of the case became quite complicated. Mr J entered a not guilty plea as he was of the view that the trade policy in force covered him as an employee of the company that he worked for. However, there was some ambiguity as Mr J was the registered keeper of the vehicle and the vehicle was now owned by the company. Mr J was advised that there would be a defence to his case, in any event, by virtue of Section 143(3) of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Section 143(3) provides a special defence for employees using vehicles in the course of their employment in ignorance of the lack of cover. The burden of proof is on the defendant to show on the balance of probabilities that he thought that a valid certificate of insurance was in place.

In Mr J’s case, the insurance company did confirm that they would indemnify Mr J in the event of an accident and therefore the prosecution decided to discontinue the case against Mr J.