Against the law to store a car without insurance?

[akku]

www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=14308

Looks like another victory for industry interests over common sense.

Basically a bill going before the house of commons to make it illegal to store or own a car without having insurance on it. A new offense of "keeping a car without insurance" so they don't have to catch you on the road, any car kept at home which isn't insured and "whollop" you get fined and points on your licence.

So what about storage of long term projects? Hmmmm... Bet they refer you to the waste materials storage regs or something.

Sorry if its a repost, I checked ut didn't see it.

[bstardchild]

I think there is some stuff about this on the DVLA Site - have to go and have a brouse

[BenzBoy]

That's shocking. What, exactly, are off-the-road cars to be insured against? Totally outrageous.

[Seth]

Well, the insurance industry will have to change if that happens. I asked a couple about insuring the Oxford while its off the road and they said that policies are only designed for roadworthy cars and an off the road project wouldn't be covered. There are policies for garage stored projects I think (and maybe included in house contents anyway) but that leaves me a bit stuck as I don't have one.

[reallyloud]

This could mean the that the thousands of forgot random cars stocked up in barns and private land, would be subject to insurance? What if their owners can't be found? Will there be a DVLA style crusher?

What a stupid idea. It truly is. Another case of picking on and charging the generally law abiding classic car community. Maybe the insurance companies should spend a little more time driving up and down the queens highway and stop the vast volumes of battered early nineties car driven by yobs....I can spot an uninsured car from miles away - why can't they?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hey, thats going to bring massive benefits to all parties, what a great idea.

[arthurbrown]

What a crock of old tosh.

What do they need to be insured against?

Take for instance the tat me & berlinetta hoard in our barn.... If it goes up in flames then that's already covered by the portion of the rent that goes towards the owner's insurance costs. Admittedly, I would get nowt, but that's by the by. he'd still get the money back for any damages etc.

And what else, theft?
I would like to know how someone would get to the place in the first place as it's like fort knox. IF someone got past the huge security gate & ditches, and the dogs, and the farmer with his big shooty-bangy and the locks on the barn and the alarm system, then they can help themselves!

[bstardchild]

Few searches later - round the houses internet style

From a press release from MIIC (Subsidary of MIB) Dated 30th September 2005
New crackdown on uninsured drivers

There will soon be no escape for persistent uninsured drivers following the government’s amendments to the Road Safety Bill, according to the Motor Insurers’ Bureau.

The new proposals will make it an offence to own a car that is uninsured or not registered as off the road. If caught, drivers could pay a £60 fine or see their vehicles seized and crushed.

The MIB will supply the police with details of suspected uninsured vehicles from its database, which contains information covering current and lapsed insurance policies in the UK.

The MIB’s chief executive, Ashton West, commented: “The net is closing ever tighter on uninsured drivers who continually cheat the system. We will help police forces across the country to identify and prosecute these rogue motorists.”

Mr West also believes that targeting uninsured drivers will improve Britain’s road safety record.

“Uninsured drivers are six times more likely to have been convicted of driving unroadworthy vehicles than honest motorists and nine times more likely to have been convicted of drink-driving,” he continued. “In addition, it’s highly likely that their vehicles have no MOTs are untaxed and are generally unroadworthy. By cracking down on these drivers, we should also make our roads safer for everyone else to use.”

If you require more information or would like to speak with Ashton West, please contact:

Neil Cameron – tel: [phone]
[e-mail]

Ric Shadforth – tel: [phone]
[e-mail]

I've left the email addresses undoctored so the Bots can pick em up and spam em ;D

So from what I can see if the car is not registered as off the road (SORN) then you are fair game to be fined for not being insured if the proposals are accepted

[spottedlaurel]

Barmy, and hopefully it'll never happen.

AFAIK there is no law that says your house should be insured, for buildings or contents (though the mortgage will require the former). So why should some immobile piece of metal, plastic and rubber need it?

[autohausdolby]

It's true, if a car is sorned it doesn't apply.

It is a pain in the if you are a trader and have to put all your stock on the motor vehicle insurance data base unless you sorn them when you buy them.

[bstardchild]

I've replied in the thread on Piston heads too - damn it's such a long time since I posted there I forgot my log on details (me post count has dropped a bit too!!!)

[Mr_Bo11ox]

It seems its not so grim. Here is the latest road safety bill:

www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmbills/170/2006170.pdf

If you go to page 27 line 35, it says that the new offence of 'keeping vehicle which does not meet insurance requirements' cannot be pinned on someone if the car is not used on a road or other public place. so not too different from the current situation. It does not even say that the vehicle must be declared 'sorn' to avoid this offence.

[autohausdolby]

Tidy

[BenzBoy]

You get into bother for not SORNing your car anyway - it either has to be taxed (and therefore insured in a lot of cases) or SORN and kept off the public highway, so I can't really see any difference.
If someone wanted to drive a car without insurance it'd just mean they'd have to SORN it too.

So yeah not too bad after all. It irks me that the multi-billion pound insurance industry has done this though. No vested interest there then! Scumbags.

[reanimation]

Oh no not more stupidity. Mines not insured but it should be, but i forked out a whopping £600 for home insurance and the MR2 yesterday! if it was to become a requirement by law, i can imagine the prices of garaged cars insurance rising. with all these increasing regs it very difficult to responsibly own cars, yet I know two people with out tax (months + months out) and at least one has no MOT too, thats void insurance (if they got it) isn't it?

[ScotsDave]

I haven't read all the stuff in this thread but......

The new proposals will make it an offence to own a car that is uninsured [glow=red,2,300]or[/glow] not registered as off the road. If caught, drivers could pay a £60 fine or see their vehicles seized and crushed.

......my interpretation is that the important word here is "OR" - if it's not SORN'd then it has to be insured. Doesn't seem too big an issue as all off road cars have to be SORN'd anyway. curse word if you forget though

[reanimation]

fair enough i guess then, my 3dr doesnt need sorn cos its been off the road for ever, so i guess its to tackle people like me with mysterious cars. How are the tax dodgers getting away though?!

[Paul H]

I guess that one of the reasons for this is that to stop people renewing their road tax with an insurance certificate that has only a few days left on it, and then not bothering to renew the insurance....

[herald948]

Yet another non-crime created by this government. As if we didnt have enough real crimes.

OK, I'm writing to my MP.

I suggest you all do the same. Particularly those of you in Labour seats and ESPECIALLY those of you in marginals. Nothing makes an MP sweat like the thought of having their nose yanked out of the trough.

If it goes through I suspect there will be "collectors" policies to cover off-the-road wrecks for not-a-lot.

[JonnySierra]

I'm a criminal!

There really needs to be common sense involved here. My Fiesta arrived taxed, but not driveable, so I kept it off the road 'til it was repaired. Why should I have to cash the tax in, SORN it, then have the hassle of re-taxing it once it's insured a fortnight later? A Fiesta which won't go, locked in a 40ft container in the middle of nowhere, isn't much of a risk to anyone....