Wife Driving A Moped Without Insurance

Question:

Yesterday my wife aged 64, was stopped on her 49cc moped by the Police. The officer said her wheel looked wobbly. Anyway, during the discussion, he checked the Insurance and found that my wife was not named on my Insurance policy for the moped. He didn’t pursue the matter about the wheel, but did issue her with a note to present a Cert of Insurance within the next 7 days.

She holds a Provisonal Driving Licence, but has forgotten to renew her CBT Test Certificate in the last 3 years. (She used to be insured, but when I tried to get her on my policy last year, they said that she now required the CBT before they could put her on.)

I am insured to drive it, as I have a full car licence, but the bike is registered in her name. We have made an appointment for her to take the CBT test on Thursday and we can then get a new Certificate of Insurance before Monday, when she needs to go to the police station to present it.

My question is, will that be acceptable to them, or will they say that she was not insured at the time and thus is in breach of the law? My fear is that I could be prosecuted for knowingly letting her ride the moped. If I am banned from driving, I will lose my livelihood, or would we just receive points and a fine?

Paula Says:

I’m afraid any new certificate of insurance won’t be good enough. The only certificate that would avoid your wife getting 6-8 points on her licence is one that was effective at the time of the alleged offence. You are not going to be able to get one I’m afraid if she was not covered at the time.

You could also be prosecuted for permitting her to drive without insurance which carries 6-8 penalty points as well.

Did you wife know that she was not covered or did you fail to mention that to her. If she didn’t know then she may have a special reasons argument to avoid the points.