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An interesting new piece of research by RAC Insurance has found that nearly a fifth of motorists (18%) would not inform their insurer if they picked up penalty points while driving, potentially putting themselves at risk of holding invalid insurance, as well as future prosecution.
The data also shows that a quarter (25%) of motorists surveyed who already have penalty points did not inform any organisation when they received them. Whether they did this knowingly or unwittingly, it effectively means more than 700,000 motorists could now be driving without valid car insurance.
Driving an uninsured vehicle can result in prosecution and between six and eight penalty points, explains RAC. Penalty points are given to motorists for a wide range of offences, from failing to comply with traffic signals and signs, driving a defective vehicle and speeding, right up to the most serious offences including drink and drug driving, and dangerous and reckless driving.
The implications of not declaring penalty points are serious, with motorists risking having a worthless insurance policy and hefty penalties from the police, says RAC. If they were to be involved in an accident they could then face further penalty points, an unlimited fine and be disqualified from driving. The police could even seize and potentially destroy the uninsured vehicle.
“Our research points to one of two likely scenarios: either motorists are simply forgetting to inform the relevant authorities when they receive points, or they are intentionally not telling them in order to keep their insurance premium lower,” commented RAC Insurance director Mark Godfrey.
“In either case, the result is hundreds of thousands of drivers on our roads who are effectively uninsured by default,” he added. “This could have very serious, and indeed costly implications should they be involved in an accident, and could cause no end of problems should they need to make an insurance claim themselves.”
If you require specialist criminal defence advice on this or any other matter, give us a call on 01383 807550 (Dunfermline), 01592 859236 (Kirkcaldy) or 01259 725922 (Alloa), or contact us online here.
