Got stopped driving a friends car...

Teekay94

Hi I recently got stopped driving a friends car on my way to town. His car was out of NCT and tax but it had insurance. However, since it was not my car, I was asked if I was insured and said yes. He asked me to produce the insurance in 10 days. However, I realised my insurance had expired in May and didn't know ( my fault for not checking as I havent driven my car in 4 months as it broke down and i was tooo broke to fix it. ) I did get new insurance but it doesn't cover me the time.i was stopped, so what happens now? Should i still produce the new insurance at the garda station? I'm so scared I might go to prison since I have a Learner permit. Please help.

JustJoe7240

Teekay94 wrote: »

Hi I recently got stopped driving a friends car on my way to town. His car was out of NCT and tax but it had insurance. However, since it was not my car, I was asked if I was insured and said yes. He asked me to produce the insurance in 10 days. However, I realised my insurance had expired in May and didn't know ( my fault for not checking as I havent driven my car in 4 months as it broke down and i was tooo broke to fix it. ) I did get new insurance but it doesn't cover me the time.i was stopped, so what happens now? Should i still produce the new insurance at the garda station? I'm so scared I might go to prison since I have a Learner permit. Please help.

As far as the law is concerned, you were not insured to drive at the time you were stopped, the fact you got insurance afterwards is irrelevant.Don't worry, You won't go to prison over this,worst case is a fine and possibly a disqualification, and most likely penalty points. But you will be summoned to court for driving without insurance. Best bet is to go to your local garda station so they can make note that you appeared.

seanrambo87

Unfortunately you were uninsured, you can talk to the gard but it will make no difference. Regardless as you are a learner your coverage most likely does not extend to drive other vehicles.

I'd also say you'd be lucky not to be getting done for failure to be accompanied aswell as tax Nct etc.

Sorry to be the harbinger of bad news, but, if you plead your case to a judge they may be lenient.

Edit; definitely not a jailing.... Unless you fail to make payment on the fine.

Local_Chap

Regardless of whether you had insurance on your car or not, with a learner permit you don't have open insurance so wouldn't have been insured anyway

Teekay94

JustJoe7240 wrote: »

As far as the law is concerned, you were not insured to drive at the time you were stopped, the fact you got insurance afterwards is irrelevant.Don't worry, You won't go to prison over this,worst case is a fine and possibly a disqualification, and most likely penalty points. But you will be summoned to court for driving without insurance. Best bet is to go to your local garda station so they can make note that you appeared.

So I just go to the garda station and explain that I didn't have insurance at the time I was stopped? It was an honest error on my part.

JustJoe7240

Teekay94 wrote: »

So I just go to the garda station and explain that I didn't have insurance at the time I was stopped? It was an honest error on my part.

It probably won't make a difference as said above, but can't do any harm, As it'll be down to the discretion of the gard what he/she brings you to court over. Hopefully he won't go to town on you with regards to tax/nct etc.

Teekay94

seanrambo87 wrote: »

Unfortunately you were uninsured, you can talk to the gard but it will make no difference. Regardless as you are a learner your coverage most likely does not extend to drive other vehicles.

I'd also say you'd be lucky not to be getting done for failure to be accompanied aswell as tax Nct etc.

Sorry to be the harbinger of bad news, but, if you plead your case to a judge they may be lenient.

Edit; definitely not a jailing.... Unless you fail to make payment on the fine.

Hi,

It wasn't my car. The garda was more interested in if I was insured or not. He just said produce the certificate in the next 10 days. Now I'm gonna look a like a fool and liar since I had said I'm insured. This is bad. So I should get a solicitor then?

Teekay94

JustJoe7240 wrote: »

It probably won't make a difference as said above, but can't do any harm, As it'll be down to the discretion of the gard what he/she brings you to court over. Hopefully he won't go to town on you with regards to tax/nct etc.

I think I'll just go up and explain rather not show up at the garda station at all. I'm genuinely scared at this point.

JustJoe7240

Teekay94 wrote: »

I think I'll just go up and explain rather not show up at the garda station at all. I'm genuinely scared at this point.

Yeah that might be a good shout, maybe i misunderstand, but what actually made you think you'd be insured to drive that car?

Teekay94

JustJoe7240 wrote: »

Yeah that might be a good shout, maybe i misunderstand, but what actually made you think you'd be insured to drive that car?

I thought if the car was insured it wouldn't be a problem. Lack of knowledge is the issue with me here. This was my first year driving and I'm just learning some of these things. I should have known better better and now I suffer the consequences.

seanrambo87

Boardnashea wrote:

The hen run mentioned above has been bare earth for the past few months. I can't wait for it to start greening up again as the weather warms up again. It is divided in two so am keeping them out of one side to give it a start. Just got to control the nettles and other undesirables. Three goslings hatched over the past couple of days which are lovely. One more egg being kept warm so fingers crossed.

Teekay94 wrote:

It wasn't my car. The garda was more interested in if I was insured or not. He just said produce the certificate in the next 10 days. Now I'm gonna look a like a fool and liar since I had said I'm insured. This is bad. So I should get a solicitor then?

You'll look like neither a fool nor a liar, if you contact the gard in question, or the desk Sgt on duty he will inform the gard in question. You will look honest because you are putting your hands up and admitting your error rather than having them seek you out.

I wouldn't be too worried tbh, even if you get a slight ban (6 months) and a few points chalk it down as a lesson learned hard. You will not be viewed as a criminal, road traffic offences are a civil matter and NOT a criminal matter, best of luck brother.

P.s. this will probably not go to court for 6 months to a year.

seanrambo87

Disregard that first quote in my last post, my phone is two clicks away from being ****ed at a wall

FurBabyMomma

Honestly, you were lucky you were stopped. A learner driver in someone else's car with no insurance and possibly unaccompanied? If you'd have had an accident it would have been a disaster for everyone involved. Take it as a sign and be thankful that all that will happen is a little bit of bother for you, you were lucky. And you are not jail-bound so don't worry about that

Skatedude

Even if your insurance was still in date, It does not mean your insurance covered you to drive his car. Your policy would tell you if you were are not, some do, some dont. Some have driving others cars extension, and It can also depends on your age as well.

but still go to the guards and explain what happened, It would look better in court for you.

coylemj

seanrambo87 wrote: »

You'll look like neither a fool nor a liar, if you contact the gard in question, or the desk Sgt on duty he will inform the gard in question. You will look honest because you are putting your hands up and admitting your error rather than having them seek you out.

Nobody is gong to 'seek him out', the Garda who stopped the OP will check after about two weeks to see if he produced a cert. which shows that he was insured and when he finds that he did not, will start the process of issuing a summons

And 'you will look honest' - what's that supposed to mean? I think this is being incredibly naive. The desk sgt. will not contact the Garda involved, he will ask the OP if he has an insurance cert. to produce.

Skatedude wrote: »

but still go to the guards and explain what happened, It would look better in court for you.

Explain what? It won't make any difference.

This is a binary situation, you either do or you do not have insurance. I'm not passing moral judgement on the OP but as far as the cops are concerned, he was driving with no insurance. A summons will follow.

coylemj

seanrambo87 wrote: »

I wouldn't be too worried tbh, even if you get a slight ban (6 months) and a few points chalk it down as a lesson learned hard. You will not be viewed as a criminal, road traffic offences are a civil matter and NOT a criminal matter, best of luck brother.

All offences under the Road Traffic Acts are criminal. The Gardai do not get involved in civil cases, except if the plaintiff calls one as a witness.

And you are forgetting the effect a conviction for no insurance will have on the OP's future dealings with insurance companies. They don't take it too lightly, he can expect a hefty loading on his next premium.

evolving_doors

Jeez youre a recently qualified driver without insurance for 2 months and your mates car has no tax or NCT!! Are you even insured to drive other cars?
The public should be thankful you were stopped and caught...

But anyway....
bring your insurance to the station
Maybe get legal advice as to what to say first.

jelutong

Did you notify the insurer when taking out the latest policy that a court appearance was coming your way?

CeilingFly

Hard to have any sympathy - the op is on his/her THIRD learner permit. Basically you do not have a licence to drive, yet you drove someone else's car and had no insurance on a learner permit???

Surely in the period of having three learner permits you would have had the wherewithal to actually get the required lessons, take a test and get a licence to drive???

The sooner the recently passed legislation is enacted and implemented the better and learner permits are treated by holders as simply a permit to allow them learn to drive accompanied by a qualified driver.

BTW - what would you have done if you had an accident?

coylemj

Can we get one thing straight here.... there is absolutely no point in the OP going near a Garda station without an insurance cert showing that he was insured to drive that specific car on the day he was stopped, something that we know he cannot do. Going to grovel and apologise cuts no ice, they won't want to know. Save your apology for the judge.

Producing a driving licence that was renewed a few days after you were stopped driving on an expired licence usually gets you off the hook if everything else (insurance/tax/NCT) was in order, you can expect no such leeway when it comes to insurance.

Henry Ford III

Trouble headed your way OP. You say an honest mistake, but in all honesty what you did was pretty silly.

Teekay94

I'm aware this is a messed up situation. It was stupid of me to do so and I have to pay for my mistake. Now I'm gonna have a criminal record and that was the last thing I wanted. I'll go to talk to a solicitor before I go to the garda station.

coylemj

Teekay94 wrote: »

I'll go to talk to a solicitor before I go to the garda station.

I'll save you the cost of the consultation - do nothing until you get a summons. There is no point in going to the Garda station.

EagererBeaver

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Trouble headed your way OP. You say an honest mistake, but in all honesty what you did was pretty silly.

Skeptical over how "honest" a mistake this can be. Driving a friend's car, unaccompanied, while a learner and someone just "forgets" that they don't have insurance? Bull****.

You'll get the book thrown at you. Fine. Disqualification. Points. Conviction. But you'll not go to jail.

Metalrobe

Get a solicitor or you will get a heavier fine. They will explain you were unaware and didn't do it intentionally or regularly. Unfortunately its a least 6 penalty points which will disqualify you from driving on a learner permit. A conviction will see you with a pretty heavy loading once you can drive again. I think it only counts for three years after your conviction as far as im aware so there may be hope.

If you know what gard it is it is no harm to visit the station to see what they can do. Its probably not going to cut any salt but worth a try. As a side not be very careful when driving other peoples cars even when you have a full licence. A lot of insurance companys have engine size retrictions. You would not have been insured anyways even if you had a full licence and your own insurance policy as the car did not have a valid nct.

Best of luck

fritzelly

jelutong wrote: »

Did you notify the insurer when taking out the latest policy that a court appearance was coming your way?

Probably not and invalidating the insurance - tho with the points heading his way gonna be near impossible to get insurance anytime soon

coylemj

jelutong wrote: »

Did you notify the insurer when taking out the latest policy that a court appearance was coming your way?

fritzelly wrote: »

Probably not and invalidating the insurance - tho with the points heading his way gonna be near impossible to get insurance anytime soon

OP will probably end up in court but I don't think his present situation is a notifiable event from an insurance perspective. When he gets a summons, there will be a case pending and his situation will have changed but as of now, he doesn't have anything that he needs to declare on a proposal for insurance.

Take speeding - if you're driving down the N11 at slightly above the speed limit and a speed van flashes you (but it could be the guy in front), do you have to declare it to your insurance company? Until you get an official letter with a fine and points or a summons to appear in court, there is nothing that needs to be declared.

Pelvis

seanrambo87 wrote: »

You will not be viewed as a criminal, road traffic offences are a civil matter and NOT a criminal matter

Is this true? Even dangerous driving offenses?

fritzelly

Any pending action - OP will receive a conviction - has to be declared. OP has shown himself to be a very high risk client.
You cannot declare what you don't know so the speed camera example is irrelevant

coylemj

fritzelly wrote: »

Any pending action - OP will receive a conviction - has to be declared.

There is no 'pending action' until he gets a summons.

fritzelly wrote: »

You cannot declare what you don't know so the speed camera example is irrelevant

And the OP doesn't yet know if he will be summonsed. Until the summons is served on him.

wexie

fritzelly wrote: »

Any pending action - OP will receive a conviction - has to be declared. OP has shown himself to be a very high risk client.
You cannot declare what you don't know so the speed camera example is irrelevant

He also doesn't 'know' he'll get a conviction for driving without insurance.

Of course it's likely, but the question on the insurance forms isn't : 'are you likely to get a conviction for motoring offences'.....the question is 'do you have (currently) any convictions for motoring offences'.