My memory gets worse, but i'm sure when i was starting out driving that having no insurance was an automatic ban.
If not then this would possibly be a deterrent.
I have a philosophy that the sort of peole who would drive insured are the people that only learn when hit in the pocket, so standard fine of 6 months salary, (or benefits as appropriate), if they don't pay, automatic triggering of bailiff action to recover.
While the costs of being uninsured are less than doing as the rest of us do, this will only get worse.
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'but I do know that Islam makes it clear that you have to follow the laws of the land you are living in'
Er, I'm not sure that the Mods will want this discussion but actually the Koran says completely the opposite.
I did a 2,000 word essay on this very point.
I will leave it there.
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I've only skimmed through this thread but I just wondered - How rich does one have to be before one can claim to underwrite themselves? For example, can Paul McCartney (900 million plus) drive without conventional insurance, safe in the knowledge that he can easily afford to pay for any carnage that he causes on the road. Does David Beckham (100 million plus) really need insurance? Ginger Spice (30 million plus)???
How does it work?
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BBD
I don't know the details but it is (or used to be) possible to self insure, though one had to prove capacity to meet claims by lodging a large sum of money into court. The Accountant General of the Supreme Court would then invest the sum on the insured's behalf, usually by placing it on deposit. Interest was, IIRC, paid bi-annually to the insured.
Used mainly by operators of big fleets such as utility companies.
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Fascinating... I wonder how this would translate to driving abroad.
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I think you're right, Brompto.
I think I remember hearing that the sum used to be half a million quid but was increased a few years ago to 15 million quid.
Not sure of the exact figures and I would welcome being corrected; but that was the order of magnitude of the amount of money to be deposited in order to be exempt from motor insurance.
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When I started driving in the late sixties people used to be sent to prison for driving without motor insurance. I know because I was very nearly found to be driving uninsured on a technicality, but, fortunately, I managed to find a way around it. Being in this situation really did frighten me, I can tell you.
The authorities couldn't send people to prison for no insurance today because all the prisons are full already! But there's no better deterrent, believe me!
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"in the late sixties people used to be sent to prison for driving without motor insurance"
Well this is the one thing my dad absolutely hammered into me when I passed in the early 80s. You do NOT drive without insurance. Not under any circumstances whatsoever. Ever. "You'll knock down a working father of six and you'll be paying for it for the rest of your life"
He never mentioned drink-driving, getaway driving, speeding, general thuggery etc. But driving without insurance... jeez, he'd have kicked seven bells out of me.
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