Insurance

No, before you drive any motor vehicle on a public road you must have valid insurance. Many providers offer temporary or short-term car insurance which would cover you for circumstances such as this.
You must not drive a motor vehicle until you have insurance.

If you drive an uninsured vehicle on the road you could be prosecuted and your vehicle could be seized.

Money Supermarket provides further information on short term car insurance.

Very few, if any of the insurance companies sell insurance door to door anymore. If a door to door salesperson offers you car insurance and it is significantly cheaper than any of the other quotes, then beware.

It is not advisable to obtain insurance from a door to door salesperson at all, unless you can verify that they do work for the company and the insurance is valid. You are advised to contact the company yourself to verify the salesperson's details. It is advisable not to use any telephone numbers supplied by the salesperson but to obtain the telephone number yourself.

When you take out car insurance, you will receive an insurance certificate by email or post along with and a pack containing a policy booklet, schedule and possibly other documentation. If the salesperson only gives you a certificate and a schedule then it is possible that it is not a genuine certificate and you will not have any insurance.

For more information about door to door sales and your rights as a consumer, please see the government guidance at GOV.UK - door to door sales

Depending on the offence, penalty points and disqualifications are valid for either 3 or 10 years, but they remain on your record for an additional year. Please see the link in Related Information which tells you how long points will remain on your driving record.

If you apply for a driving licence at the age of 17, any points you received as a 15-year-old will be shown on your driving record - you can view your driving record via the link in Related Information.

If you acquire further points on your licence so that the number reaches 6 or more within 2 years of passing your test your licence will be revoked and if you obtain 12 points with a 3 year period, you will be disqualified.

You will need to check with your insurance company that you have appropriate cover for driving abroad.

Please see the link in Related Information which outlines the minimum cover provided by insurers and the countries covered. There may be an extra premium involved and you may require extra cover.

Your insurer may also provide a Green Card which proves that the minimum legal requirement for insurance cover for countries which accept the document has been met. Even if your insurance company don't issue you with a Green Card, it may still be worth requesting one as it is a document that is well recognised by police abroad.

This information has been reproduced with the kind permission of the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB).

• If the insurer's name is known check the MIB website for any Green Card Agents who will handle the claim on behalf of the foreign insurer.
• If the insurer's name is not known, contact the MIB's Green card department on 01908 830001.
• if the accident involves a foreign lorry, take a note of the registration plate from the front of the lorry (there may be a different number on the trailer) as well as the policy and Green card numbers.
• For security reasons, we can't reproduce a Green card here, however, the numbered boxes relate as follows:
  3- validity dates
  4 - Green card number
  5 - Registration or chassis number
  6 - Category and make of vehicle
  7 - Policy holder and user name and address
  8 - Insurer's name

For more information see website in related information.

If you acquire 6 or more penalty points within 2 years of passing your first driving test you will automatically have your licence revoked. To get it back you must apply and pay for a new provisional licence, drive as a learner (supervision, 'L' plates etc.) and pass both theory (including hazard perception) and practical tests again.

You can acquire penalty points on your provisional licence before you pass your test but if you then receive more points after passing your test, taking the total to 6 or more, your licence will be revoked. Having your licence revoked when you have acquired 6 or more penalty points does not 'wipe the slate clean', any live penalty points will still be shown on your licence when you get it back.

Revocation only applies where the offence that causes the points to number 6 or more is committed during the probationary period (2 years from passing your test). This means that if you obtain 6 points or more points before you have taken your test you can still pass your test and obtain your licence, but if you obtain any more points within 2 years of passing your test, your licence will be revoked.

Note: If the points on your licence number 12 or more within a three year period, you will be liable to be disqualified under the 'totting up' provisions – usually for at least 6 months.

Note: The penalty for using a mobile phone whilst driving is 6 penalty points and a £200 fine. For newly qualified drivers this could result in your licence being revoked for a single offence.

Unless you have notified the DVLA that your vehicle is being kept off the road by means of a Statutory off Road Notice (SORN), you are not exempt from having to insure your car.

In line with Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE), it is now a legal requirement for the registered keeper of a vehicle to insure it even if it is not being used and/or is parked on private land. The only exemption to this is if it has a SORN.

Please see the websites in Related Information.

Many insurers will set limits in relation to this – check in your insurance documentation or with your insurance company.

Note that all insurers are different and whilst the above information represents the general position, you should always check with your insurer to make sure.

You can check your driving licence entitlement at View or share your driving licence information

You can check your vehicle tax and MOT at Check if a vehicle is taxed and has an MOT

You can check your insurance at Check if your vehicle is on the Motor Insurance Database

In a 'cash for crash' incident, fraudsters deliberately stage or cause a road traffic collision 'accident' for the purpose of financial gain. There are basically three types of 'cash for crash' scams:

• Staged accidents
• Ghost accidents
• Induced accidents

Staged accident
In this type of accident two fraudsters deliberately stage an accident and crash into one another. Alternatively, they may just damage the vehicles with sledgehammers etc., make up an accident scenario and then claim on the insurance.

Ghost accident
In this scam there is no actual accident or damage to vehicles, the accident is purely fabricated on paper.

Induced accident
In an induced incident, the criminals will target an innocent motorist to make them out to be the 'at fault' driver in an accident. The induced incident can take many forms, some of the most common scenarios are explained below:

• The driver of the vehicle in front suddenly slams their brakes on and you run into the back of it – the driver then insists it's your fault. Some criminals will intentionally disconnect their brake lights so you don't know they're slowing down until it's too late.
• A driver may flash their headlights for you to pull out of a junction or wave you out of a junction, they then fail to let you out and you collide with them – they deny flashing their lights or inviting you to pull out.
• A car is stationary in the middle of a quiet road, often at night, you drive up to it wondering what's going on and stop, the driver of the vehicle then suddenly reverses into you and maintains you drove into them.
• A driver overtakes you and then suddenly swerves in front of you and brakes hard – you collide with the rear of their vehicle and they blame you.

The criminals who set up this type of scam may also be operating in a gang and have witnesses strategically placed on foot or even following in other vehicles, who will stop and say the other driver version of events is correct.

The criminals who cause these incidents usually target their victims and look for people who will be insured and who they perceive won't be too difficult for them to deal with e.g. the elderly, lone females or mums with children. Such incidents are very dangerous because a collision between two vehicles can have serious unforeseen consequences.

Spot the warning signs

• Be suspicious if a driver appears very calm after a collision and has all their details already written down on a piece of paper.
• Be suspicious of exaggerated claims e.g. after a very minor collision you receive information from your insurer in relation to high repair costs for damage to the other vehicle when only minor damage was caused, cost of hire cars/vehicle recovery when the other driver left the scene in their vehicle, injuries such a whiplash from a very minor impact, injury to passengers when the other driver was alone etc.
• Be aware of passengers or the driver in a vehicle you are following looking backwards/paying a lot of attention to your vehicle – they may be weighing up the best time to slam the brakes on and cause an accident.
• Beware of drivers driving extremely slowly or driving slowly and then suddenly speeding up.
• Don't assume that when a driver flashes their headlights, invites you to proceed or puts their indicator on that it's safe. Use your judgement and wait to make sure it's safe before you go.

What can you do

• Be vigilant – it's best to avoid such situations altogether.
• Don't follow vehicles too closely – leave plenty of room so that in the event of something unexpected happening you can stop safely.
• Try to think ahead and anticipate the actions of other drivers.
• Even if you suspect the accident you've been involved in is a scam, you must comply with your legal responsibilities – please see the following link: What are the driver's responsibilities when involved in an accident?
• Be suspicious and don't get too close to vehicles that have stopped in the road for no reason.
• At the scene of an accident never admit liability for anything.
• Get the details of independent witnesses before they have a chance to leave the scene but be aware they may be part of a gang that has set up the scam.
• Insist on calling the police – 101 for the non-emergency number, 999 if an emergency response is required.
• If you suspect a scam it's usually best not to challenge the driver of the other vehicle about it there and then.
• Obtain as much information as you can about the vehicle, passengers (if present), damage to vehicle, location, time, date, weather conditions, witnesses etc.
• If it is safe to do so, take photographs.
• Never agree to settle the matter informally.
• Tell you insurer what has occurred as soon as you can.
• If you suspect a scam, as well as contacting the police and your insurer, notify the Insurance Fraud Bureau via the link below or by calling the Cheatline on 0800 422 0421

Offences
The offences of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud carry a 10-year prison sentence.