Insurance

It is an offence to ride a motorcycle without at least third party insurance cover. Any police officer who has reasonable cause to believe you were riding a motorcycle, and have either been involved in an accident or committed an offence, is entitled to ask you to produce your insurance certificate.

Until recently insurance companies would write to you just before your policy expired asking if you wished to renew. This is no longer a legal requirement, so it is up to you to make sure you renew your policy each year.

Car policies also used to cover riding motorcycles as long as you did not own them. While you may still have a policy providing this cover, you should check very carefully. We particularly find people fall foul of this when they renew the policy and the new policy does not provide the same level of cover as the old one.

Despite riding without insurance you can still claim compensation if you have an accident.

What am I looking at?

You are likely to receive 6 to 8 points on your licence, possible disqualification and a fine up to £5,000. In serious cases you may also face a community punishment or even jail. The police do not have to issue an NIP and have 6 months from the offence to issue a summons.

What effect does this have on liability?

A conviction is not good when arguing over who was responsible. However, while the other side may try and make some headway with an argument that you are dishonest and should not be believed, no insurance is not generally relevant to the liability issues.  

If you are facing prosecution following an accident then call us on 01296 662770 to speak to a qualified lawyer. If it goes nowhere there is no cost.