Letter of indemnity after driving without insurance

[Erik27]

Our 17yo daughter was stopped by the police as she did not have car insurance which we did not realise. 

 

The reason is that Admiral had requested that we send a number of ID documents - we sent what we could (driving licence, V5) but were unable to provide any of the specific documents required such as mortgage letter, pension letter, utility bill, landline phone bill etc (there were 8 options) as she is 17, needs to legally be in full time education until she is 18 and, therefore unable to provide any of these documents. 

 

As we were in communication with them about this we genuinely did not know they had cancelled it. 

 

My daughter had her car seized then later received a conditional penalty notice of £300 fine and 6 points - thus losing her licence.  Naturally I raised a complaint on the grounds of age discrimination and Admiral have admitted full liability and provided us with a letter of indemnity (attached) stating the fault was theirs and that she would have been covered at the time the police stopped her and that she would not have had any knowledge that she was not covered on insurance. 

 

What do we now do with our conditional penalty notice? We were given 28 days from 21 October to either accept the points or agree to go to court.  We have done neither yet - do we really have to go to court at our expense?  Or can the police now drop the penalty notice?

 

30-Oct-20 - Admiral Indemnity letter - 201007103.pdf

[dx100uk]

The police should now cancel the penalty notice

Fwd a copy of the letter to them

 

Dx

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG. I've moved your thread to the motoring offences forum as the police are involved at the moment.

 

I've also popped a few paragraphs into your post to make it easier for the advisers to read and be able to help you.

 

HB

[Man in the middle]

Contact the police, tell them what you have told us and they should cancel the FP offer. If they don't, your daughter will have to wait for a Single Justice Procedure Notice informing her she is being prosecuted for the offence. She should respond to this by pleading Not Guilty. There is a section on the SJ form to explain why she is pleading Not Guilty and she can explain again what has happened.

 

Two things to note:

 

1. You will not be able to recover the sum paid to get the car back from the pound.  The vehicle was almost certainly seized lawfully (the police were not in a position to make the enquiries you have made subsequently).

 

2. If she does end up going to court whilst she is still 17 you will not be able to accompany her into the courtroom. It will be a youth court and permission has to be sought for any "non-combatants" to be present. It is unlikely to be granted in your daughter's case but there is nothing to stop you attending the court house and asking the Bench if you can be present in the courtroom for your daughter's case. That said, it will probably be six months before the matter reaches court (if indeed it gets that far).

[honeybee13]

Thank you, MitM, I was hoping you'd see this thread.

 

HB

[Erik27]

Thank you for this,  in fact the insurance company, when admitting liability, have refunded us the amount it cost us to get the car back from the pound along with £50 additional.  I believe this is because they have accepted they have acted unlawfully with regard to age discrimination.

 

I'm not sure I fully understand the Single Justice Procedure Notice - would we not just opt to go to court if the police don't revoke this penalty notice? 

 

However, I would hope to avoid court as Admiral have admitted liability.

[dx100uk]

Surely the SJPN will be cancelled if she informs the police.?

or are the wheels of justice that slow...

[brassnecked]

Definitely inform the police and provide a copy of the letter NOT the original, that would be for court, police sometimes lose evidence.  if they have any sense they will cancel the penalty before the court process starts.  If they refuse, its either your daughter pleads Not Guilty and goes to court where case should be thrown out and police look silly, or accepts the automatic ban.

[Man in the middle]

In all honestly I cannot imagine the police taking the matter any further when they see the letter of indemnity.