Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello,

I am looking for some advice regarding a recent fine I received for having no insurance.

The offence was committed unknowingly which is why I have decided to request the courts to appeal their fine and points.

My vehicle hadn't been working for quite some time which resulted in many hours being put into getting it up and running again.
After I had finally completed this I decided I needed to drive it home so insured my vehicle online like I have done many times before. I even had someone send me a bank transfer to ensure I had the correct amount available so therefore have a witness who's willing to provide a statement.

Once I had completed this payment, it proceeded to take me back to the insurance company web page and to my knowledge it had been successful.
I drove home that evening and took my car back out again in the morning.

Unfortunately, whilst driving back to my partner in the middle of the day I was pulled over by the police who told me that my vehicle was showing as uninsured and therefore issued me with a fine and points on the roadside. I then proceeded to re-insure my vehicle so he would let me get going.

I am almost certain that my insurance went through, I had enough money on my card as mentioned and also went through all the online banking steps accordingly. At no point did it come up saying this was unsuccessful. My bank didn't contact me either to let me know that a large payment had either been unsuccessful or attempted which I thought was odd as normally the banks would contact you in these events.

As mentioned, I have sent a request to the courts to appeal their decision however, they've requested I complete a form and return this to them and I am running out of time to do so.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should do from here? Any contact details for legal advice relevant to this specific issue? Do I plead Guilty because I technically did commit the offence or not guilty because I did so unwillingly and unknowing.

As far as I was aware, I had completely insured my vehicle so would appreciate any advice.

Many thanks.

So when you absolutely, definitely insured your car, you received the certificate of insurance, yes? And you checked it before you drove the car, yes?

Is the fixed penalty offer still open?

If you plead Not Guilty (which is the only way to "appeal" this) you will almost certainly be convicted (barring some fatal procedural error). There is no need for the police to prove intent for the offence - you either have insurance or you don't. You didn't and had you checked properly you would have discovered that fact.

Being convicted following a trial will cost you considerably more than if you are convicted by way of a guilty plea.

I did as I was leaving get an email from the insurer and stupidly presumed it was my policy documents and didn't open the email to check.

What did their email say ?

To have any defence you will need the company to confirm that you were in fact insured at the time you were driving.

What did their email say ?

I think the contents of this email will say a lot about whether there are 'special reasons' not to endorse...

FFS, if the OP wanted us to explore the possibilities of a defence or special reasons argument, he would have posted the relevant information to enable us to do so. In English.

He presumably just wants some kind of reassurance, and mistyped mumsnet in his browser.