Provisional in the North

fjon

I saw this in another thread, and rather than going off topic by bringing this up there, I thought I would start a new thread here. The below quote made me think about something:

ninja900: wrote:

Learners are not licensed to drive on motorways. It is a condition of every insurance policy that you hold a valid licence; if you violate the conditions of your provisional licence you are effectively driving unlicensed, and therefore also technically uninsured.

seamus wrote:

That's a techniciality that would be tough to argue. A provisional driver on the motorway is no more carrying a void licence, than a normal driver driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Prov drivers are not "unlicensed" to drive on the motorway, they are "Prohibited", exactly the same as speeding, drink-driving, incorrect overtaking are prohibited. None of these activities however, invalidate your licence either. Insurance companies are bound to insure you by law, even if you crash while breaking the law.

In the UK, as far as I know the situation is different. A provisional driver driving alone, is effectively driving legally unlicenced, and therefore uninsured.

A provisional license is only valid within the Republic of Ireland. If you drive in the UK (e.g. Northern Ireland), you are breaking the law. But will your insurance still cover you? Is an Irish provisional driver in NI driving with a void license, or is he simply breaking the law, the same way as someone driving the wrong way down a one-way street, or drink driving?
I am not talking about what the PSNI/ garda reaction would be, am just curious to see how an insurance company woul react.
Your thoughts?

Nuttzz

hard one, when I first got my licence my policy covered me driving throughout europe even though my licence was only valid in ireland, I suppose different countries would have different rules, I could imagine a night or two in the clink if unluckly enough tbh