producing documents to the gardai please help

M

mollee

Guest
Hi I'd like some advice on this. I'm worried absolutely sick! I was stopped the other day by the guards. My first day of driving in months as I was injured and couldn't drive. My car wasn't taxed I know this is my fault and I should have had it sorted. The guard asked me to produce evidence that the car is taxed in the next ten days. This car was givin g to me by my father. He lost the owner certificate so I can't get it taxed. I I explained this to the guard but he says hew wants it taxed in the next ten days. My father was actually going to get a form for a replacement this week. So can i tax the car with no ownership cert? If not I'd imagine it will take more than ten days to get it sorted? He also asked that i produce an nct cert, the car hasn't been nct'd as again it had been lying up in my fathers yard for the past year. So i'd hardly be able to get this done in ten days either. I do want to sort all this out but I'm terrified it won't be done in ten days. The most worrying thing is that he also asked me for my cert of insurance to be produced. The injury that prevented me from driving has stopped me from being able to work. I insured it months ago but then my accident happened. I rang up my insurance company that evening to ask for a certificate as i've recently moved house and am afraid i won't be able to find it quickly enough. I was told my insurance had being cancelled as a direct debit had defaaulted.. I presuamed I know stupid of me i'd enough money in the bank to cover me. I didn't really think about it as i haven't being driving. I didn't get the letter as the insurance company had sent it to my old address. I nearly died when i found out i wasn't insured and got cover striaght away paying over the phone with a credit card. So now i'm in bigger trouble than before! i really am at my wits end worrying about this and any advice is very very welcome.
 
I've no words of comfort I'm afraid or good news.

To tax a car, it must be insured, and as your car was not insured at the time you were stopped, it couldn't be taxed, even if you had all the other relevant documentation.

You will be facing prosecution for no tax and driving with no insurance.
 
Get it sorted, you will be prosecuted though.

Driving with no insurance carries a disqualification at the discretion of the judge, your story should persuade the Judge to exercise his discretion and not ban you. I would suggest engaging a solicitor when you get the summons.

I say again, get the ownership sorted, get it taxed, get it insured.
 
thanks for the replies, i have it insured i got it covered as soon as the girl told me i paid on the phone. do i go to the guards and explain what happened?
 
You can try explaining to the Gardai, but I don't think you have a leg to stand on with no insurance, tax or NCT.
 
Try not to worry too much.

If your father is still the owner of the car, let him tax it (including back tax). The car is taxed, not you. Bear in mind you could still be prosecuted for no tax/tax displayed on the date you were stopped, but these are minor worries and a judge (if the guard prosecutes you) will often strike out these offences when the offender produces evidence that there is no loss of revenue.

Book your NCT test and print off your booking date.

Your insurance situation is black and white, really. You are at the mercy of the guard in this case.

Go to the guard, bringing evidence of tax, insurance and NCT booking. He will listen to you and should point out to the judge that you have made efforts to correct things before(n.b.)summons were issued.

The 10 day period is the standard period allowed, so explain to the guard the difficulties you are in, (bearing in mind the Bank holiday ). He has discretion in this regard and may give you a break.

While you have committed some offences and might have to go to court, you should receive a sympathetic hearing. Bring medical certs, tax, insurance NCT etc and most importantly of all - let your solicitor do the worrying.
 
if your dad has lost his papers you can get what's called a form of affadavid in your local motor tax office, get a garage to stamp it and a solicitor to sign it and you can get it taxed there and then. you maybe able to book a cancellation at your local nct centre.quickest way to do this should be through local garage, let them put it through for you, as the nct centres often ring local garages to say they have a cancellations. the insurance is a diferrent matter all you can do is tell the truth and hope for lienency though i cant condone anyone driving uninsured whatever the circumstances
 
Thanks so much for the replies. I really appreciate them! I feel so ashamed about the insurance incident I would never have driven the car if I'd have known I wasn't covered. I honestly stupidly thought I was covered. Well whats done is done and I'll take the advice of all the kind people who have advised me on this thread. I've never been in trouble before with the gardai no parking tickets not even a speeding ticket. Thats what has me worried the most. And what a way to have my first run in with the guards! Thanks again!
 
seantheman said:
you maybe able to book a cancellation at your local nct centre.quickest way to do this should be through local garage, let them put it through for you, as the nct centres often ring local garages to say they have a cancellations.
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You can see any available slots when you book NCT online.
 
deadwood said:
...
If your father is still the owner of the car, let him tax it (including back tax). ...
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Even if OP's father is the registered owner of the car, unless he has insurance cover on it, he cannot tax it.

If he had insurance on the car at the time OP was stopped by the Guards, and his insurance policy didn't covered OP's driving, then they both may be in trouble.

If he was the registered owner for the duration of OP's insurance, and she didn't declare this on her insurance application, she may never have had valid insurance and her current policy may not be valid.

If the ownership of the car was never transferred, then OP's father may get summonses.
 
Whilst the insurance issue is the most serious of those mentioned the OP quite knowingly took to the road without a current NCT, and no road tax either.

Not a good attitude.
 
Whilst the insurance issue is the most serious of those mentioned the OP quite knowingly took to the road without a current NCT, and no road tax either.

Not a good attitude.
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No tax OR no NCT OR no insurance may receive some sympathy in court if the missing one was a genuine oversight. However, a judge who listens to every conceivable excuse on a daily basis is unlikely to believe that the absence of all 3 is a simple oversight. As previously advised, get a good solicitor, be prepared to pay a fine and be very apologetic in court if you want to avoid a driving ban.
 
mathepac said:
Even if OP's father is the registered owner of the car, unless he has insurance cover on it, he cannot tax it.
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Thanks Mathepac. I certainly didn't mean to encourage the o.p. to try and pull a fast one - I should have read over my post more thoroughly. I took it as a given they would only do so if everything else was in order. My main point was that the tax issue is not a major one and could be sorted at no loss to the exchequer.
 
If you have all your documents corrected get back to the Guard personally as soon as you can.
Explain to him/her all that happened. Have it written down in a letter if you are nervous. It might get you some slack especially if he/she has not applied for the summonses yet. Even if he summons you for some offences he might let you off with others which will save you a fine. Also the Judge would not be impressed if you come in to court to answer No NCT, No Tax No Insurance so if you can lessen the offences the better.
Sometimes the Guards will be lenient when dealing with you face to face because believe it or not they are human after all and they meet so many thugs they would appreciate someone who meets them half way or even more.
 
Thanks all, for your replies. It has been a very busy week! tax has been done, nct booked. I've produced all to my local garda station. I've explained the situation to the guard I produced my documents to. So now I just wait to see what my fate is. I've learned a big lesson not to be so lax anymore. I just hope I don't get a driving ban. I forgot to ask the guard how long it will be before I hear anything, i.e when I'll get my summons? In this case it wasn't my local guard who stopped me it was a guard from a town about 20 miles away. Do they check the system to see if I've produced my documents or whats the procedure? Again thanks for the replies and I totally accept the flak I've been getting it was all deserved :)
 
mollee said:
Do they check the system to see if I've produced my documents or whats the procedure? Again thanks for the replies and I totally accept the flak I've been getting it was all deserved :)
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The guard who demanded production from you will check for a production record at the station you nominated on PULSE.
Your insurance might still be a problem, so why not give the original guard a ring, or ask your local guard to find out what the story is. One way or another, you'll find out now, rather that receiving a summons unexpectedly in several months time, by which time you might have assumed it was all done and dusted.
 
In a similar vein (and maybe this will be of use to Mollee if/when a summons is received), what is anyone's opinion on the use of solicitors in the district court for a no insurance etc., type of case which is, as Deadwood says, a black & white situation.

I've been doing a search of recent press coverage for these types of cases and it seems remarkably consistent that for no insurance, the fine is in or around €1k and a driving ban varying between 2months to a year is applied in about half the cases.

Coverage of these cases is brief and to the point, so all the different cirumstances/backgrounds aren't known, but my question is whether or not paying for a solicitor would be any better than going to court yourself on the day and (as posters recommend) being apologetic and showing evidence of having rectified the situation?

This is not to knock solicitors or get info on going DIY in court, but it seems that no insurance attracts a hefty fine and the likelyhood of a ban anyway (particularly it seems, if you don't go to court), so would a solicitor make any real difference?
 
Most judges have been solicitors in their time. They would like to encourage people to use solicitors to plead their case . So if you have a solicitor representing you in court the judge takes a more lenient view of the case and the fine, if imposed, will be reduced if a solicitor had been used. Any truth in this?
 
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