Keeping a Motor Vehicle Without Insurance

In today's article I am going to explore one of those niggly little offences that a lot of people don't even realise is an offence - keeping a motor vehicle without insurance.

I was recently chatting to a lawyer friend about this and even he was totally oblivious to the rules.

It is an offence under section 144A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 for the registered keeper of a vehicle to keep that vehicle unless it is covered by a valid policy of insurance and:

• Either, the policy of insurance identifies that particular vehicle by its registration mark;
• Or, the registered keeper of the vehicle is also the owner, who is named on the policy or certificate of insurance as a person covered to drive any vehicle or any vehicle of that particular description.

The maximum sentence on summary conviction is a fine at level 3 (£1,000). The offence, which is dealt with via the Single Justice Procedure, is non-endorseable.

In practical terms this means is that if a car is not insured then it should not be parked on a road or other public place. It can only be parked in a private place and must be covered by a valid SORN.

The DVLA receives a notification when the insurance on a vehicle lapses. It then uses automatic number plate recognition technology to identify uninsured vehicles that are parked on the road or other public place or that are kept elsewhere but without a valid SORN.

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