'Parked' vehicles now need insurance.

[astr0144]

'Parked' vehicles now need insurance.

Even vehicles kept in a garage must be insured – or owners face a fine or possible seizure.

I wonder how the UK Car Insurance recently new regulations compare with other Countries in Europe or the USA ?

Before 2011 you could keep an Uninsured car outside ones house or on the Road as long as you did not drive it..

Now it seems you cannot even keep it on a driveway or even a garage or maybe even on private land without being Insured.

One has to have ones car pass an MOT and get it insured to be able to get it Taxed to be allowed to drive on the Road.

Often in the past if one had a car that needed some work doing on it.. as long as it had car tax and you did not drive it.. you did not need it insured...

NOW you do or its an offence..

There does not seem any way around it..that I can see..

The only option they offer is that you can have it classed as SORN.. where you have to fill in a form to have it off road..
(Statutory off road notification)

But now if you do that they also cancel ones Car Tax..

It makes it very awkward if one has repair bills and does not have the money upfront to cover the Insurance or a place to keep it off road if on SORN...

and I believe they now have cameras that can detect you if you do drive as the Car Tax is now all done via Computer not the OLD tax Disc..
                   
                          ================

The government is forcing all motorists to insure their vehicle whether they drive it or not, under controversial rules that are designed to combat uninsured driving.

Under the terms of the little-known continuous insurance enforcement law, it will be an offence to "keep" an uninsured vehicle – be it a car, van, motorbike, motorhome or truck – even if it is locked up in the garage or permanently parked on a driveway. Until now it has only been an offence to actively drive an uninsured vehicle.

The change has been introduced quietly, but it will have a big impact on any motorist who has bought a new car but is yet to dispose of the old one, and on sports car owners who park their vehicles for much of the year.

Such drivers will no longer be able to put a car uninsured in the garage or parked off the road. In future they will have to contact the DVLA in Swansea, declare the car as "off the road" by filling in a statutory off road notification (Sorn), and give up the tax disc at the same time.

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The government has introduced the changes, which appear at odds with its campaign to abolish red tape, as part of its fight against uninsured drivers.

A national advertising campaign has been launched by the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB), but few drivers are probably aware of the change.

Mike Penning, the road safety minister, says: "Uninsured drivers are a danger on our roads, killing 160 and injuring a further 23,000 people each year, and they cost honest motorists £500m in extra premiums.

"That is why we are introducing this tough new law, which will leave uninsured drivers with nowhere to hide. Our message is clear: get insured or face a fine, court action or seeing your car seized and destroyed."

However, the plan will have major cost implications for law-abiding vehicle owners who want to park their car temporarily after its insurance expires.


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From Monday 20 June), the DVLA will work with the MIB to identify uninsured vehicles. Motorists will receive a letter telling them their vehicle appears to be uninsured, and warning them they will be fined unless they take action. The first letters will start going out in the next few days. If the keeper fails to insure the vehicle they will be given a £100 fine.

If the vehicle remains uninsured – regardless of whether or not the fine is paid – "further action will be taken", the MIB says. If the vehicle is on public land it could then be clamped, seized and destroyed. Alternatively, court action could be taken with the offender facing a fine of up to £1,000.

Vehicles with a valid Sorn will not need to be insured.

Ashton West, MIB chief executive, says that at any given time about 4% of vehicles have no motor insurance. "The change in law is a stepping up of enforcement activity, so that not only those vehicles driven without insurance will be caught. Now the registered keeper must make sure their vehicle is insured all the time."

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Uninsured driving has become a huge problem in some areas, with some young men who have been "priced out" of insurance buying cars and taking to the road without cover.

Some will wonder why this has been introduced given that it is already an offence to drive an uninsured car. The police seize 180,000 vehicles each year for this offence, with offenders facing a £200 fixed penalty or a court fine of up to £5,000, and possible disqualification. About 200,000 people are convicted of uninsured driving every year.

Every time you give up your tax disc or buy a new one you lose money, unless you time it exactly for the end or the beginning of the month.

The move, however, has been welcomed by the insurance industry. Nigel Bartram, underwriting expert at the UK's biggest insurer, Aviva, says uninsured driving costs premium-paying motorists £30 a year on their insurance policies.

He says:"It is our hope that ridding the roads of uninsured drivers will reduce pressure on premiums. We welcome this as the strongest deterrent yet in the fight against uninsured driving. We know that those motorists driving without insurance are also likely to skip their annual MOT – in fact, they are six times more likely to drive an unsafe vehicle."

In April the prime minister announced his "red tape challenge" to get rid of unnecessary regulations. The AA has asked why driving licences have to be renewed after 10 years, and why some bus lanes are 24 hours, even though the buses don't run through the night.

• Owners can check their vehicle is recorded as insured by using the free service at askMID.com.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/jun/18/parked-vehicles-insurance

[ArMaP]

From what I could find (I'm not a car owner), in Portugal, all people that drive a vehicle have the obligation of being insured, so, in case of accident, the victims of the accident can get compensation.
It doesn't look like a car in a garage needs insurance, but I cannot be sure.

[astr0144]

Thanks for your explanation as to How Portugal may operate.

I agree with the principle in one way..yes it makes sure your covered for most situations..

but it can also be bad and make people loose their cars if money is a problem....which I think can be seen as wrong...as many a person needs to repair a vehicle before they can get it MOTd to Tax it....and may need the funds to do that before they can insure it..and they don't have any where where they can keep the car of the roads..while they repair it..or cannot afford garage prices to repair it as an option even if they have put the vehicle on SORN..
which is what is there only other option by the seem of it.

It maybe that most times.. a vehicle is found to need repair at the time the MOT is due or they find out from a MOT...

and often the Insurance is due at the same time as well as maybe the TAX renewal that 50% of the time may also fall at the same time.(as it can be either taken on a 6 month or 12 month basis).so it becomes a large expense all at the same time.

So they may have the Costs of a MOT... Repairs...Car Insurance. and Car Tax..all at the same time.

and one needs a car to have a MOT and to be insured before that can get their Car Taxed.

I am not sure if you need a MOT to get Car Insurance..I don't think you did in the past or that you do now today.

It hits those who are struggling with money concerns..and no doubt prior many would opt to do things in a certain way..and take chances..

It was so much easier (more affordable to car owners)if one could make repairs on the Roadside if their cars MOT had ran out ..to help it pass an MOT.(as long as they did not drive it and you still had some Car TAX left on it)

Now the system is designed to seem to clamp down much more on them getting away with anything that is not covered in the right way.

From what I could find (I'm not a car owner), in Portugal, all people that drive a vehicle have the obligation of being insured, so, in case of accident, the victims of the accident can get compensation.
It doesn't look like a car in a garage needs insurance, but I cannot be sure.

[ArMaP]

but it can also be bad and make people loose their cars if money is a problem....which I think can be seen as wrong...as many a person needs to repair a vehicle before they can get it MOTd to Tax it....and may need the funds to do that before they can insure it..and they don't have any where where they can keep the car of the roads..while they repair it..or cannot afford garage prices to repair it as an option even if they have put the vehicle on SORN.

That made me think of one thing: what happens if the car is in garage, waiting to be fixed by a mechanic?

It wouldn't make sense to punish the car owner for something he wasn't responsible (the fact that the mechanic is doing some other work and keeps that car on a waiting list), so I think there must be something more about that law.