# What is the general penalty for driving without insurance?



## Brendan Burgess (17 Sep 2015)

I am writing an article about the way those of us who pay our insurance, also pay the claims of those who drive without insurance. 

I am trying to find out what the penalties are for those who drive without insurance.  

It seems to be at the discretion of the judge and while it can be up to €5,000, the usual fine seems to be about €300.  Does anyone know if there are statistics on this? 

Brendan


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## mathepac (17 Sep 2015)

Brendan, I searched *CSO* but can't see where such useful information might be recorded. I tried *Crime & Justice* but I can't see anything obvious. Having said that I'm not a stats guru or CSO expert. Maybe a call to + would prove fruitful.

Sorry, mathepac


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## trojan (18 Sep 2015)

mathepac said:


> Brendan, I searched *CSO* but can't see where such useful information might be recorded. I tried *Crime & Justice* but I can't see anything obvious. Having said that I'm not a stats guru or CSO expert. Maybe a call to + would prove fruitful.
> 
> Sorry, mathepac


I gather a garda can seizure a car without insurance.  In fact some time ago i watched a sole Garda at a checkpoint doing this. The car was pulled to the side of the road, after sometime the driver walked away and eventually a tow truck came and finally the Garda drove away. I t taught me a lesson. You will also incur 5 penalty points


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## Brendan Burgess (18 Sep 2015)

I spoke to the Garda Press Office and he said while they might exercise their discretion on some things, they exercise no discretion on cars without insurance. They are all impounded. The excuse "sorry I have it insured, but just don't have the disc" is not accepted. 

They won't release the car until a valid cert of insurance is produced. 

But as I write this, it occurs to me that  people report being told to bring the cert to the Garda Station within 10 days? Surely, they would bring it a lot sooner to get their car back? 

Brendan


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## noproblem (18 Sep 2015)

trojan said:


> I gather a garda can seizure a car without insurance.  In fact some time ago i watched a sole Garda at a checkpoint doing this. The car was pulled to the side of the road, after sometime the driver walked away and eventually a tow truck came and finally the Garda drove away. I t taught me a lesson. You will also incur 5 penalty points


Not saying what you've written is untrue but how did you know what the person was pulled over for? Also, I doubt very much a Garda would leave a person on the side of the road like that and drive their car away. In particular, I'm thinking of a woman, even though it shouldn't make any difference if it was either sex.


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## Steven Barrett (18 Sep 2015)

noproblem said:


> Not saying what you've written is untrue but how did you know what the person was pulled over for? Also, I doubt very much a Garda would leave a person on the side of the road like that and drive their car away. In particular, I'm thinking of a woman, even though it shouldn't make any difference if it was either sex.



I have no sympathy for people who drive around with no insurance. They are lucky they aren't thrown in jail until someone produces their insurance disc. Having to ring a friend or a taxi isn't that bad considering the law they are breaking.


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie


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## peteb (18 Sep 2015)

noproblem said:


> Not saying what you've written is untrue but how did you know what the person was pulled over for? Also, I doubt very much a Garda would leave a person on the side of the road like that and drive their car away. In particular, I'm thinking of a woman, even though it shouldn't make any difference if it was either sex.



I'm personally aware of a woman that happened to. Equality and all that, you can't tailor the law to the fairer sex!


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## MrEarl (19 Sep 2015)

SBarrett said:


> I have no sympathy for people who drive around with no insurance. They are lucky they aren't thrown in jail until someone produces their insurance disc. Having to ring a friend or a taxi isn't that bad considering the law they are breaking.
> 
> Steven
> www.bluewaterfp.ie



Hello Mr. Barrett,

I think there is a very clear difference to be made here, between those without motor insurance and those failing to display their insurance disc (for whatever reason).  They are two entirely different categories.

Those with no insurance, would need more than 24-hours to obtain insurance cover, get a policy and disc issued and furthermore, the date of issue of the policy would be visible.  Those with no insurance should be jailed and their cars taken away from them, licences cancelled etc.  Absolutely zero tolerance for them. The only thing that will help ensure everyone has insurance, is very serious punishment and thats what is necessary, no leniency for someone just because they come from a broken home etc.

Those with insurance but failing to display their disc, because they forgot to put the new one in the car, or some other reason, can get their hands on their policy document and disc with in a maximum of 24-hours I am sure (even if they have to drive to the insurance company's office and get a duplicate printed). While there needs to be some form of punishment for failing to display the disc, I don't think it should be anything like the same as the punishment required for having no insurance.  Perhaps 24-hours to show an original disc and certificate at the Garda station, coupled with a fixed fine might be sufficient.


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## rubicon (19 Sep 2015)

Know a guy who was caught driving with no insurance, no driving licence and he never held a full driving licence anyway, got fined €800 which I thought  was a total joke when I heard it.
This only happened about 8 months ago.
Not his first time being caught as well.


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## MrEarl (20 Sep 2015)

rubicon said:


> Know a guy who was caught driving with no insurance, no driving licence and he never held a full driving licence anyway, got fined €800 which I thought  was a total joke when I heard it. This only happened about 8 months ago. Not his first time being caught as well.



Absolute disgrace.  The Minister for Justice should be acting to prevent this happening again in the future....


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## Purple (21 Sep 2015)

noproblem said:


> Not saying what you've written is untrue but how did you know what the person was pulled over for? Also, I doubt very much a Garda would leave a person on the side of the road like that and drive their car away. In particular, I'm thinking of a woman, even though it shouldn't make any difference if it was either sex.



I agree with you only in so much as the person in question should be arrested and held until they can demonstrate that they do have insurance or until it is confirmed that they do not have insurance and they are charged.

Women are far less likely to attacked than men so the Gardai should have no problem just taking the car, no matter what the gender of the driver. If they do get attacked walking home, or to wherever they are going, then tough luck; they shouldn’t have been driving without insurance.


Brendan, do the insurance companies tell us what proportion of our premiums go towards covering uninsured drivers?


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## terrysgirl33 (21 Sep 2015)

By accident, my husband and I ended up driving around without an insurance disk for about 7 months this year.  As it happens I had the insurance disk in my bag with me.  We spotted it and put the disk in, so it's possible to drive around for quite some time without being spotted.


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## thedaddyman (21 Sep 2015)

Have to admit, I've driven for a couple of days without changing my own disc as well, I get the new one and it sits at home until I realize the month has changed

Worth watching the Gardaí twitter feed, on a regular basis they tweet about cars they've impounded for issues such as no insurance


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## Purple (21 Sep 2015)

thedaddyman said:


> Have to admit, I've driven for a couple of days without changing my own disc as well, I get the new one and it sits at home until I realize the month has changed
> 
> Worth watching the Gardaí twitter feed, on a regular basis they tweet about cars they've impounded for issues such as no insurance


No displaying a disc is a world away from not having insurance.


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## losttheplot (22 Sep 2015)

I'm sure there are some chancers who do display a disc but don't have insurance. How much will an insurance company chase you if you cancel a policy and don't return the disc and certificate. Also probably constantly changing ownership of the car to avoid tax too.

Is there not a national database with insurance and car registration details that could be accessed by Gardai. This could be linked to speed camera vans or toll cameras and easily catch uninsured or untaxed cars on the road. Would be a major deterrent to driving without tax or insurance and free up Garda resources.

I actually drove for 6 months with an out of date insurance disc, only noticed when I went to tax the car and looked for the insurance policy number.


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