no insurance case

Dan_

Hi

After a bit of advice if possible or the name of a good cheap solicitor. I am up for no insurance in a few weeks. I know i should have checked, but i drove my sisters car without checking if i was insured on it. But its my second time for no insurance and the first time i was given a 6months ban.

I did have insurance the first time but was not present in court on the day and the case went ahead without me there.

I got a well known solicitor to lodge an appeal but he did not turn up on the day and to this day have never called me after taking full payment.

So because this is my second time i believe its a automatic 2 years ban.

Im not looking to get away with it, but i an looking to get off with a fine as my licience it very important to me. i have recently set up my own business and have a back to work enterprise allowence and a ban will more or less kill my business and i need a van.

Anyway hope somebody here can give me some advice

Thanks

coylemj

You obviously didn't learn the lesson from the first time and I'm not talking about driving with no insurance, I'm talking about using bargain basement solicitors, you get what you pay for!

jenny jinks

You have a good defence. There is a European Directive on this. If your sister had a policy of insurance on the car at the time the insurer would have had to indemnify any third party even though you are not named on the policy. What area are you in?
In some District Courts a second no insurance conviction means jail, let alone a ban.

Dan_

Thanks jenny ill look into that.. it will be in richmond court so i'm not sure what will happen. I did read on my sisters cert that people are insured for the upkeep of the car, and at the time i was on the way back from doing a service in a garage i have in kildare, thats what i wanted the solicitor to look into for me, and try appeal my last ban.

As for coyle, i don't remember saying how much my last solicitor/barrister cost me? but maybe you already know. Thanks for your complete random comment.

coylemj

Dan_ wrote: »

As for coyle, i don't remember saying how much my last solicitor/barrister cost me? but maybe you already know. Thanks for your complete random comment.

Sorry, I should have said 'incompetent' rather than 'bargain basement', what's the difference? You paid the first guy in full, he failed to turn up for the court and you haven't been able to contact him since, let's not argue over petty words.

Dan_

coylemj wrote: »

Sorry, I mean to say 'incompetent' rather than 'bargain basement', what's the difference? You paid the first guy in full, he failed to turn up for the court and you haven't been able to contact him since, let's not argue over petty words.

I would love to say the name of the company but obviously i cant, was charged 1000 and would not go to court unless i paid in full. I am no expert on how much a solicitor costs but for 1 trip to court and some office work i am sure he was paid well.

i am happy enough to just forget about the last ban, i just dont want this one to be based on my second ban.

Is there any places that are known for road traffic cases. as i really need my licence.

gustafo

Whatever way you look at it you will get a ban so you might aswell face up to it now, for a 2nd time getting caught without insurance you will have no hope of getting away with just a fine any solicitor will tell you that.

coylemj

You said you were insured the first time around so why were you prosecuted? If you had a valid cert. but just forgot to produce it at your local Garda station you didn't need to employ a solicitor.

Leaving aside the fact that the solicitor didn't turn up, why didn't you go to the court yourself (or send your brother/friend) with the cert. to show the Garda? What was the solicitor going to say if he had turned up - did you have a valid defence and/or did you give him an insurance cert. to produce in court?

If you had a valid cert. to show that you were insured on the date in question then what would have happened is that you'd turn up in the court, produce the cert. either before the court if you can find the Garda or in court when your case is called, then you give an excuse why you forgot to produce the cert., apologise for wasting everyone's time and you'd be fined 50 euros for failing to produce but the 'no insurance' summons would be struck out.

Dan_

Yes i did have a valid cert at the time and i did not turn up in court, so in my absence the judge issued me with a 6months ban, fair enough i should have been there. When i realised i was given a conviction i obviously didn't want that on my record so hired a solicitor to lodge an appeal in the circuit court. When i got the date in the post i called the solicitor to let him know, and was told there was no one available! He also said that i cannot represent myself in a circuit court. not sure how true this is but believed him and ended up leaving it sit.

I am going to ring around tomorrow and see who if any is willing to take on the case.

i am probably pissing into the wind here but worth a shot

Our man in Havana

He also said that i cannot represent myself in a circuit court.

You can represent yourself in any court in the land.

Reloc8

Dan,

Its very hard to try and help you here - there's something not right.

Dan_ wrote: »

Hi

After a bit of advice if possible or the name of a good cheap solicitor. I am up for no insurance in a few weeks. I know i should have checked, but i drove my sisters car without checking if i was insured on it. But its my second time for no insurance and the first time i was given a 6months ban.

I did have insurance the first time but was not present in court on the day and the case went ahead without me there.

I got a well known solicitor to lodge an appeal but he did not turn up on the day and to this day have never called me after taking full payment.

So because this is my second time i believe its a automatic 2 years ban.

Im not looking to get away with it, but i an looking to get off with a fine as my licience it very important to me. i have recently set up my own business and have a back to work enterprise allowence and a ban will more or less kill my business and i need a van.

Anyway hope somebody here can give me some advice

Thanks

OK you missed court, case went on without you, understood.

Dan_ wrote: »

I would love to say the name of the company but obviously i cant, was charged 1000 and would not go to court unless i paid in full. I am no expert on how much a solicitor costs but for 1 trip to court and some office work i am sure he was paid well.

i am happy enough to just forget about the last ban, i just dont want this one to be based on my second ban.

Is there any places that are known for road traffic cases. as i really need my licence.

Sorry is this the first case - the District Court one ? I take it that it is because you mention one trip to court so presumably he turned up for you in the District Court.

Dan_ wrote: »

Yes i did have a valid cert at the time and i did not turn up in court, so in my absence the judge issued me with a 6months ban, fair enough i should have been there. When i realised i was given a conviction i obviously didn't want that on my record so hired a solicitor to lodge an appeal in the circuit court. When i got the date in the post i called the solicitor to let him know, and was told there was no one available! He also said that i cannot represent myself in a circuit court. not sure how true this is but believed him and ended up leaving it sit.

I am going to ring around tomorrow and see who if any is willing to take on the case.

i am probably pissing into the wind here but worth a shot

Presumably you realised on the day that you had been convicted. In that the solicitor you paid to attend District Court phone you and said something along the lines of 'mate you've got a problem here we're going to have to appeal.'

That is, after the point (also hard to accept) where the judge nails you in your absence despite you having a solicitor in court who presumably says 'on my instructions this man was insured. I don't know why he isn't in court. Could you put it back for a week and I'll find out what's going on'.

A request which to be perfectly frank simply would not be refused.

Now the appeal.Some fella who was unavailable when you gave him the date in advance told you you couldn't represent yourself - untrue. Would you not have showed up to the appeal anyway instead of 'letting it sit'. I mean, you would have (presumably) gone to court if your solicitor was going to ?

Did you use the first solicitor who you apparently paid 1000 to go to the District Court ?

Equally if the guy said he couldn't turn up when you rang him with the date, why didn't you go and get a different solicitor, even if you did believe you couldn't represent yourself ?

Dan_ wrote: »

Yes i did have a valid cert at the time and i did not i am probably pissing into the wind here but worth a shot

I just don't understand how all this happened.

In any event, the bottom line is that you are seriously deep in the brown stuff and looking at a mandatory ban. Part of the reasons why I'm flagging the above questions is because those are the ones a judge is likely to ask if you try and appeal the first ban and if your story is not straight as a die you will be hammered.

jenny jinks

The only thing that can be done is an application to re-instate the Appeal in the Circuit Court if it went on without you. It might or migh not work, but you should do it.

You have a good defence to the current District Court case, but the issue is under appeal to the Supreme Court so it is not straightforward. There are solicitors in the Dublin area who can do this work. Most of them get a barrister for it. There are a few who specialise at this sort of work and there have been a number of successes based on a European Directive.
You have a chance of clearing the old conviction, defeating the current charge and keeping your licence.
It is going to take a number or court appearances and take quite some time with no guarantee of ultimate success.