hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Wed 17 Jun 2020 18:19

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - colm kerrigan

hi there my wife and i were stopped by police on 6th june 2020 constable said i had no car insurance i said yes i had insurance from nov 2019 to sept 2020 he said show me your papers i said they are at home in my safe .. i asked him to ring the co-op insurance and they would verify he just grunted at me and said we are taking your car ,, got home checked my insurance it was allin order i phoned the co-op to verify which they did , i rang 101 and spoke to policeman who told me that certificate of insurance was only a bit of paper the co-op lady was on the other line and she asked to speak to him but he would not speak to her muttering about data protection the co-op person said we speak to the police every day,,i went to the police pound and the lady there said she would not except my certificate of insurance as it was not on her data base then she said come back on mon 8th june i begged her to phone the co-op and she said they are closed now but i told her they close at 6pm and it was then 5.15pm. i had to pay her £150 to get my car,,i then sent the police letter of idemity from the co-op and certificate of insurance ,, then on 11th june i got a fixed penalty notice from the police saying for me to pay them £300 and 6 points on my clean licence,, this i posted back a copy of the notice with letter of idemnity and cert of ins from the co-op insurance and telling them i would see them in court, i have not heard back from them

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Wed 17 Jun 2020 20:52

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - focussed

If what you say about your actions and that your valid insurance is true, this all sounds very odd.

A police officer has to have reasonable grounds to believe that the driver is uninsured or was not driving in accordance with their driving licence.

If your vehicle has been seized for this reason the driver should have received a form 3708 seizure notice. Did you get one of these?

As you produced written evidence that the car was insured within the 7-day period usually allowed, the police officer did not then have "reasonable grounds to suspect that the driver was uninsured" so your car should have been released without payment.

As you now face the prospect of dealing with an uncooperative police officer, and concerning the fine and 6 points, an intransigent DVLA, if your attempts at trying to get this put right within the next 7 days or so are unsuccessful I advise you to contact a solicitor who is active in motoring defence matters.

A useful website with some FAQ's( not promoting their services)

https://www.pattersonlaw.co.uk/faqs-categories/no-insurance-faqs/

Edited by focussed on 17/06/2020 at 21:01

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Wed 17 Jun 2020 23:50

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Avant

"....he just grunted at me and said we are taking your car ,, got home checked my insurance...."

How did you get home?

".... then on 11th june i got a fixed penalty notice from the police saying for me to pay them £300 and 6 points on my clean licence...."

What's the alleged offence?

"....I rang 101 and spoke to policeman who told me that certificate of insurance was only a bit of paper...."

It's normally accepted as proof, and can be checked if necessary.

Either these weren't genuine police officers (although the mention of the police pound suggests they were), or there are bits of the story missing. Can you enlighten us further?

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 00:06

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - focussed

"....he just grunted at me and said we are taking your car ,, got home checked my insurance...."

How did you get home?

".... then on 11th june i got a fixed penalty notice from the police saying for me to pay them £300 and 6 points on my clean licence...."

What's the alleged offence?

"....I rang 101 and spoke to policeman who told me that certificate of insurance was only a bit of paper...."

It's normally accepted as proof, and can be checked if necessary.

Either these weren't genuine police officers (although the mention of the police pound suggests they were), or there are bits of the story missing. Can you enlighten us further?

That's why I wrote "If what you say about your actions and that your valid insurance is true"

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 09:56

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Tester

Having cover from November to September sounds a bit odd, too.

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 12:26

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Bromptonaut

Having cover from November to September sounds a bit odd, too.

My current certificate has often been less than a full year due to new one being issued for change of vehicle or of authorised drivers.

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 14:12

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Tester

Fair enough, I hadn't thought of that.

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 15:48

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Zippy123

Having cover from November to September sounds a bit odd, too.

My current certificate has often been less than a full year due to new one being issued for change of vehicle or of authorised drivers.

Daughter's first policy with a major UK insurer was for 10 months only. I cross checked the prices against other providers and it was cheaper - even when priced up for 12 months.

It was an accelerated NCD policy at which point they give you a years NCD and it is accepted by other insurers.

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 00:10

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Smileyman

Check the motor insurance database to ensure your vehicle has been correctly listed by your insurer. https://www.ownvehicle.askmid.com/

One problem with insurance certificates is when drivers cancel their policies but keep the documents, it gives a false impression of having cover in place.

If the error is proven to sit with the police, not sure at what point of time is appropriate, based on what you have written I'd be contacting the head of police for the force in question asking for (or demanding) an urgent review of the matter by an independent officer within the force, with a view of issuing a formal complaint if necessary.

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 07:45

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - nellyjak

This all sounds unbelievably bizarre...be interesting to see the response from the OP

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 10:11

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - thunderbird

It's normally accepted as proof, and can be checked if necessary.

If you believe all these Police, Stop, Idiot programmes on the TV the Police do not accept a piece of paper as proof of insurance these days. Seems many motorists take out a policy and either cancel it or simply stop paying if its monthly and keep the certificate to produce if necessary.

A data base check and a call to the insurance company on the certificate is always carried out and that will decide the outcome.

No doubt some errors are made, no system is 100% correct but you would hope the correct corrective action is taken by the Police after proof of insurance is finally confirmed. Surely they are not stupid enough to allow a case to go to court when they are wrong.

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 11:01

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - sammy1

There appears to be a lot of daft and barely believable questions on the forum lately almost as if someone central is making them up, a bit like the problem pages in papers and mags

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 11:03

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - bathtub tom

There appears to be a lot of daft and barely believable questions on the forum lately

that are usually ended with a "problem resolved" and a link to spam.

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 11:06

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - daveyjp

I'll comment as my daughter now does ro me on a regular basis.

"Cool story bro'"!

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 12:34

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Bromptonaut

I'll comment as my daughter now does ro me on a regular basis.

"Cool story bro'"!

I will do as I always do and take an OP at face value unless/until there's something concrete to undermine their account of a n other event.

The usual reason for a stop for insurance is that the vehicle is flagged by ANPR, either at the roadside or on board a police vehicle. Now that could be because the vehicle is genuinely not insured OR it could be some sort of lash up in the insurance database or with the vehicle's details.

Given the alleged offence was on 6th June and the NIP arrived on 11th, with a weekend intervening, there's not much time for anything the OP showed that might undermine the NIP to be dealt with. Looks like it's issued pretty well automatically.

OP needs to get back into the force concerned ASAP seeking an account of what exactly they now think position is.

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 14:03

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Engineer Andy

There appears to be a lot of daft and barely believable questions on the forum lately

that are usually ended with a "problem resolved" and a link to spam.

The OP's post sounds very fishy to me, rambling, not coherent, poor grasp of English.

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 14:12

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - madf

There appears to be a lot of daft and barely believable questions on the forum lately

that are usually ended with a "problem resolved" and a link to spam.

The OP's post sounds very fishy to me, rambling, not coherent, poor grasp of English.

I recall lots of long rambling non motoring posts recently... :-)

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 17:31

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Engineer Andy

There appears to be a lot of daft and barely believable questions on the forum lately

that are usually ended with a "problem resolved" and a link to spam.

The OP's post sounds very fishy to me, rambling, not coherent, poor grasp of English.

I recall lots of long rambling non motoring posts recently... :-)

You say poe-tay-toe, I say poe-tah-toe... ;-)

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 14:49

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - RT

There appears to be a lot of daft and barely believable questions on the forum lately

that are usually ended with a "problem resolved" and a link to spam.

The OP's post sounds very fishy to me, rambling, not coherent, poor grasp of English.

I blame modern education and the lack of standards on text and social media - of course English may not be the OP's first language, in which case his English is better than any of my foreign languages!

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 15:49

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Bromptonaut

I blame modern education and the lack of standards on text and social media - of course English may not be the OP's first language, in which case his English is better than any of my foreign languages!

I do webchat as part of my job. While I have a PC and keyboard a lot of the clients are on phones. Getting punctuation right without as proper keyboard is a 'mare!!

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 17:17

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Engineer Andy

I blame modern education and the lack of standards on text and social media - of course English may not be the OP's first language, in which case his English is better than any of my foreign languages!

I do webchat as part of my job. While I have a PC and keyboard a lot of the clients are on phones. Getting punctuation right without as proper keyboard is a 'mare!!

Well...it depends on how much patience the person has. My opinion is if the person can't be bothered to put a coherent question or account together, then that's not giving any respect to the person they are asking for help.

I know it says on the site that we should be forgiving of people who post typos, etc, but there's mistakes and there's, IMHO, what the OP posted. If they did that in a job, they wouldn't (or shouldn't) last a week.

All it would take is a few minutes more, epsecially as they would get a far better reception from those they are asking for help.

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 17:29

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - _

The Askmid database and dartford tunnel and my insurance company all did not recognise my new 2020 registration number when I tried to check, askmid, register for the tunnel and insure the car.

It took a few phone calls to sort everything out.

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 17:39

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - 72 dudes

@ Engineer Andy, I agree wholeheartedly.

I thought the OP might be from Southern Ireland (Colm) in which case maybe the insurance database is a little different to ours.

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Thu 18 Jun 2020 23:18

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Avant

I'm still hoping that Colm will come back and enlighten us further.

Let's not get sidetracked on to use of English. People whose English is imperfect (for whatever reason) may still be in need of help and advice, and are welcome on the forum.

If they're not in genuine need, and follow up their original post with a dodgy link, that welcome evaporates.

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Fri 19 Jun 2020 18:07

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Archie35

I'm still hoping that Colm will come back and enlighten us further.

Let's not get sidetracked on to use of English. People whose English is imperfect (for whatever reason) may still be in need of help and advice, and are welcome on the forum.

If they're not in genuine need, and follow up their original post with a dodgy link, that welcome evaporates.

Totally agree (about not getting sidetracked on use of English - and indeed on not following up). I occasionally had soldiers serving for me who could sometimes barely write a short, simple sentence, and certainly would have written worse English than the OP, yet were truly outstanding people - and not necessarily stupid either. Taught me a lesson about the quality of education in some parts of the country. No reason to distrust the OP just because he cannot spell as well as others. And as to the "well how did you get home then" question further above... ever heard of public transport?!

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Sat 20 Jun 2020 11:27

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - The Heg

There are rather too many inconsistencies here.

The OP could have produced a certificate, but anyone can do that, either by taking out a policy and then cancelling it, or by having it revoked. If the cop at the roadside isn’t happy- and that’ll be because it shows insurance not held on pnc- then they can either ring the insurance company at the roadside, or motor insurance bureau. They’ve been on reduced hours at the moment, but they’re still operating. Remember, it is your responsibility to prove your insurance- carry the docs with you. It’s also worth noting that quite a few policies have removed the “other vehicle” provision, so I wouldn’t mind betting that a few of you on here are driving partners cars without insurance, entirely unknowingly.
You have to take your docs to a police station once the car has been seized, to formally “produce” them. They’re checked and you get a stamp on your seizure form which you then take to the recovery yard. No stamp, no car. The yard (who are not police) have heard it all before.

Whilst it’s possible that a mistake has been made, either by Co-op in registering with MIB, or by the cop, both are unlikely. MIB hold virtually all policies now - they used not to have one or two, including saga- but are pretty much foolproof now. Co op might have transposed a digit, but again, a call to them or MIB would usually sort it. Cops don’t usually take cars for the fun of it incorrectly- it’s more paperwork to get it wrong, plus there’s a cost to the force, and quite often a cake fine for the cop!

So let’s have a bit more meat on the bones. If this is non UK, then that’s different. But given the silence of the OP, I suspect he’s realised that it’s his fault after all....

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Sat 20 Jun 2020 12:06

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - daveyjp

I doubt OP will be back.

However it is also possible to have insurance, but not be insured. Using vehicle for business being the classic.

A friend was once in an accident, rear ended. The person who hit him was taking some papers to her solicitor boss who was due in Court with a client.

As she was using her car for business use without business insurance it turned out expensive for her.

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Sat 20 Jun 2020 12:42

hyundai 1.2 - stopped by traffic police said i had no insurance - Bromptonaut

I doubt OP will be back.

As I pointed out previously the timeline of alleged offence on 06 June (a Saturday), insurance proved to standard for release of vehicle on 08 June (Monday) with NIP served on 11 June (Thursday) is very tight. It implies the NIP was posted on 10 or 11 June, ie issued more or less automatically and before any mistake that might affect the process came to light.

It's possible the problem is now solved. Police have accepted there was a hiccup between insurer and PNC records, insurance was in place on 06 June, and OP is in the clear.

OTOH his conversations with insurer on 08 June may have disclosed that he was not actually insured on the 6th and a new policy facilitated release of his car.

Unless Colm comes back we'll never know.

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