Driving Documents - Insurance PDF

OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1...

OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance Lesson Aim: The learner will be able to explain legislation covering driving documents and the associated offences Learning Outcomes: Introduction On successful completion of the lesson, Every motor vehicle used or kept on a public students will be able to:- road must be covered by an insurance policy to ensure that monetary compensation is 1. State the offences created by Section available for any injury or damage resulting 143 and 144A of the Road Traffic Act from the use of the vehicle on the road. 1988 (pg. 2 - 3) 1 st Amended 1 March 2024 v.4 OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance Insurance Parties In any insurance claim the parties involved are described as follows:- The insurance company is held to be the 1st party The user of the motor vehicle is held to be the 2nd party The person injured or whose property is damaged is the 3rd party Note:- The legal minimum requirement for insurance cover for motorists consists of insurance to cover 3rd party risks only. Owner/ Keeper You should understand that the owner of the vehicle is what it says—the person who owns the vehicle. The keeper of the vehicle may well be different to the owner, and there may well be a driver who is neither the owner or the keeper. Examples:- 1. Smiths are a national company and purchase 40 vehicles. Smiths are the owners. 2. They have a subsidiary company called Smarts who are allocated 10 vehicles and keep them at their depot. Smarts are the keepers. 3. Smarts employ 10 delivery people who use the vehicles. The delivery people are the drivers. Offences Section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 creates an offence for any person to use, or cause or permit the use, of a motor vehicle on a road or other public place without a policy of insurance covering 3rd party risks being in force. If a keeper wishes to keep a vehicle but not insure it (or pay for Excise) then they must remove the vehicle from the road and public places. The keeper must inform DVLA and complete a Statutory Off Road Notice (SORN). Under Section 144A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 the registered keeper of a vehicle commits an offence if the vehicle is not insured, even if the vehicle is not being used on a road or public place. 2 Road Policing OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance In essence, this means that if a vehicle is not subject to a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) with the DVLA then it must be insured. Statutory Defence Section 143 of the Act provides that a person charged with driving without insurance will not be convicted if the defence can prove that all of the following circumstances applied to the case:- 1. the vehicle did not belong to the driver, and 2. the vehicle was not hired to the driver, and 3. the vehicle was being driven by them in the course of their employment, and 4. the person neither knew nor had reason to believe that there was no insurance cover. Example:- Jackson is employed as a delivery driver by a company called Smarts Haulage Ltd. He is employed to deliver locally using a delivery van, which Smarts own, supply and maintain. In the course of his employment Jackson is stopped by the police while driving the van and is issued with a HO/RT1 and it is ascertained that there is no insurance for the vehicle. It can be seen that Jackson would meet the statutory defence in this case as:- He does not own the vehicle He does not hire the vehicle He was using the vehicle in the course of his employment He would expect the vehicle to be covered by insurance as he was supplied with the vehicle to use in his role and would have no reason to suspect otherwise 3 Road Policing OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance Exemptions from Requiring Insurance There are a number of exemptions from the requirement that every vehicle on the road must hold a certificate of insurance, some of these are:- 1. Vehicles owned by the Crown (Government/Armed Forces) 2. Local Authorities vehicles 3. Police Authority vehicles 4. A vehicle driven for police purposes by or under the direction of a Constable In reality, most of these vehicles will be covered by a large scale, multi-vehicle, multi-person policy. Consider Police Scotland, the number and range of vehicles they own and use across Scotland and the range of employees permitted to drive these vehicles. It would be impossible to list every vehicle used and every authorised user on an insurance policy. Police Scotland’s insurance policy covers use by any authorised person using any vehicle owned or used by Police Scotland. Certificates, Policies and Cover Notes The insurance company will also provide a Certificate of Insurance which is the legal document required by a keeper/driver to satisfy the requirements of the Road Traffic Act. Prior to issuing a complete Certificate of Insurance the insurance company may issue a temporary Certificate of Insurance called a Cover Note. This note contains the same information as the certificate and is usually valid for a short period of time. The cover note is proof of insurance during its period of validity. Most companies now provide electronic copies of Certificates and the keeper may allow a Constable to view the electronic copy. Alternatively provided the details are correct and valid a printed copy is acceptable proof. Note:- Please note there is no requirement for the police to provide electronic equipment in order to view the certificate. If a vehicle is exempt from requiring insurance it is the keeper/drivers responsibility to provide proof of the exemption. An example certificate is provided in Appendix A. 4 Road Policing OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance Police Powers Section 165 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 Police officers have the power to require the production of a Certificate of Insurance from any person who:- is driving a motor vehicle on a road, or the officer has reasonable cause to believe has been the driver of a motor vehicle at a time when a collision occurred owing to its presence on a road or other public place, or the officer has reasonable cause to believe has committed an offence in relation to the use of a motor vehicle on a road. Note:- Requirement to produce driving documentation (e.g. driving licence, insurance certificate and DOT certificate) is carried out through a HO/RT1 procedure HO/RT1 stands for Home Office/Road Traffic Form 1. HO/RT1 Procedure It is an offence for a person lawfully required to produce their driving documents, e.g., their driving licence, certificate of insurance and "test certificate" (if one is required), to fail to produce any of these documents. However, it is recognised that many people do not carry their driving documents with them at all times. Therefore, to avoid prosecution, the person can elect to produce documents(s) at a police station specified by them at the time the requirement to produce the document(s) was made. The document(s) must be produced there within a period of seven days beginning on the day after the day on which the requirement was made. If the document(s) is/are not produced within these seven days, the person may still not be prosecuted provided the document(s) is/are produced as soon as reasonably practicable, e.g., a driver producing a document on return from a holiday lasting longer than seven days, a driver securing documents from a company headquarters, a driver producing a driving licence on its return from DVLA, etc. 5 Road Policing OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance Note:- The previous information broadly relates to Certificates of Insurance, Test Certificates and Driving Licences. Test Certificates and Driving Licences will be covered in more detail in subsequent lesson notes. If the person from whom you require the production of driving documents is unable to do so, you should issue the person with a form known as a HO/RT1, recording the details of the person, the vehicle involved, the time and date, the locus, the documents which must be produced, the nominated police station and your own details. A sample of this form is reproduced at Appendix B, however can also be issued via the Mobile Device. Neither a certificate of insurance nor a test certificate need be produced in person. It is perfectly acceptable for these documents to be produced by a friend or relative on behalf of the person concerned. When documents are produced, the officer accepting their production will check them and, if necessary, record the details by completing a form (HO/RT 2) for return to you. It is now very common for details of motoring documents to be available to you on PNC so a check can be easily conducted. However, there are those instances when this will not be the case and the procedure described above is still a valuable method of checking the validity of driving documents. Section 165A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 Where you have stopped a motor vehicle on a road and required the driver to produce their driving licence and/or insurance certificate and they fail to do so, if you have reasonable grounds to believe that they are committing an offence under Section 87(1) or 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, you may seize the vehicle and remove it. You will learn about Section 87(1) in the lesson on Driving Licences. The vehicle may be retained by the police until valid documents are produced or disposal of the vehicle is arranged. Removal is not an alternative to prosecution and where sufficient evidence exists, the driver should be cautioned and charged and offered a conditional offer of fixed penalty or reported to the Procurator Fiscal. (See Conditional Offers Lesson) 6 Road Policing OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance It is important to realise that this power may be used only for motor vehicles being driven on a road. Before exercising the above power the constable must warn the driver that the vehicle will be seized unless valid documents are produced immediately. This should be recorded in the officer’s notebook or, if it is not possible to carry out the warning, the reason for this should be recorded instead. Where a vehicle has failed to stop or has driven off, the power to seize the vehicle may be exercised within 24 hours. Reasonable force may be used to affect seizure but this does not include a power to enter a private dwelling house. For the purposes of this section, a private dwelling house does not include any garage or other structure occupied with the dwelling house, or any land adjoining to the dwelling house, e.g., gardens, driveways, etc.. 7 Road Policing OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance Activity 1 A1 Look at the questions below and using your knowledge, ascertain the correct answer..1. What vehicles are exempt from section 143 of the Road Traffic Act, 1988? 2. Consider the following examples. Where there is no insurance or other security against 3rd party risks, which example would have a statutory defence under section 143? 1. A van driver, using his company’s vehicle in the course of his employment, who has reason to believe there is such insurance or other cover. 2. A person driving his vehicle to a scrap- merchants for breaking. 3. A person leaving a disused vehicle on the road. 4. A person driving to an insurance broker’s office to renew expired insurance. 8 Road Policing OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance Activity 1 continued A1 3. As a police officer when can you require a person to produce an insurance certificate or cover note? Select all that apply. 1. When they are driving on a road. 2. When they are suspected of having committed a motoring offence. 3. When they are suspected of driving a motor vehicle on a road when involved in a road collision. 4. If you have witnessed an offence and stop them there and then. 9 Road Policing OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance Feedback 1 F1 1. What vehicles are exempt from section 143 of the Road Traffic Act, 1988? Answer: 1. Vehicles owned by the crown (e.g., central government departments). 2. Local authority vehicles. 3. Police authority vehicles. 4. A vehicle driven for police purposes by or under the direction of a Constable (e.g., a vehicle that has been seized). 2. Which of the following, where there is no insurance or other security against 3rd party risks, would not constitute an offence under section 143? Answer: 1 3. As a police officer when can you require a person to produce an insurance certificate or cover note? Answer: 1, 2, 3 & 4 10 Road Policing OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance Appendix A 11 Road Policing OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance Appendix B 12 Road Policing OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance For further information, use the resources shown below:- Legal Database:- Road Traffic Law - R.T.A 1988 - Part VI http://www.grsproadsafety.org Review: You can state the offences created by Section 143 and 144A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 Learning Log: How will what you have learned in this lesson impact your day-to-day role? Are there any skills or knowledge you would like to develop further following this lesson? End of Module 13 Road Policing OFFICIAL  OFFICIAL Unit 9 Lesson 2.1 Driving Documents - Insurance 14 Road Policing OFFICIAL