Van insurance news roundup: 7 days ending 2nd September 2012:
So you might think that you’re safe and happy with all the mucking about you’re doing with your van, but you couldn’t be more wrong: the police are on the lookout for van drivers.
In fact, there are nearly 50 van drivers that re decidedly less jolly than they were last week, what with the recent undercover sting operation set up on the A27 and A3 near Havant. Police officers pulled over a total of 88 vehicles, and 47 of them won the dubious honour of leaving with 47 tickets – great for the police, but bad for any lead-footed van drivers.
Not only will these blokes need to pay out on any fixed penalties for things like speeding, MOT violations, and not driving with valid van insurance, but they’ll have to answer to their insurance companies as well; providers take a dim view of their customers flouting the law, after all. Hope those 47 van drivers are looking forward to rate hikes at renewal time!
Of course, you could end up being slapped with more than just a fine if you get caught out with no car insurance nowadays, thanks to the new continuous enforcement regulations that require you to have a vehicle insured no matter if you’re driving it or not. You could end up getting your van seized outright by the authorities now – a fate that befell one woman this week as well after the police began poking into her suspiciously-parked van.
The woman, who was parked in the car park of Coxheath Village Hall of all places, drew the attention of a local Police Community Support Officer. The PCSO investigated – as is their wont to do – and found out there wasn’t a lick of valid insurance on the vehicle.
So what happened? Well the van’s owner left with the parting gifts of six points on her licence, a £200 fixed penalty, and lost her van, so let that be a lesson to you if you think the police aren’t taking insurance matters seriously. We suppose the other lesson you might want to take away from all this is to not park your car in the village hall car park if you’re trying to avoid notice, but some people just aren’t that bright, apparently – or just enjoy taking public transport.