It’s my first post so I want to say hello and ask for your honest opinion.
To make the story short.
I was a multi drop van driver for two years and one day was stopped by police while driving company van that was not insured at all…
To be honest I did not know that it was my responsibility to check if van is insured before work (stupid me).
Van was towed by police and I got a piece of paper. Handed this to my boss as he said ‘no worries mate, I will sort that out’.
After I got a proper letter by post from police I was told by my boss that unfortunately there is nothing he can do and I will need to take 6 points and a fine for what had happened.
As I was in a [zb] situation at the time, I have agreed on that and took points (at least he paid 300 quid fine).
Now to the point.
I leaved this driving job soon after as he start cheating on all drivers and not paying tax and NI.
Now I want to start HGV class 2 and class 1 course and go back to driving.
Can you advise if there is any point of starting course as I have NI10 endorsement on my licence that will expire in July 2021?
I am doing boring office job that is low paid and to be honest I can’t see myself doing that same thing for the rest of my life.
I will really appreciate your advise lads as I do not know any HGV drivver that I can ask for opinion.
businesscompare.com/news/bu … -insurance
Interesting read and I learnt something new today because I always thought the driver was not responsible in such a situation
As for your situation - if I was an employer that that would not put me off hiring you but its possible many company insurers would
if an IN10 is still 6 points then you will be fine most places and deffo ok for agencies so long as you can walk and chew chewing gum at the same time.
over 6 and things get a tad sticky but not impossible if you knock on doors and dont waste your time emailing or phoning.
The points wont be much of an issue, but the IN10 will be an issue with a lot of places.
There was a YouTuber called deady2012 and he had an in10 code, no agency would touch him, no employer would call him back. Although your situation is slightly different being that you trusted your employer to have not shafted you.
My advice would be call in to a few employers and explain the situation, see what they say then go from there. Pointless paying out for your licences if you won’t be able to work.
If you hadn’t accepted it, I would gave gone to court in this case as it says you can get off of you have genuine reason to believe you are insured. In this case you would be.
Its not the 6 points that could be an issue, but an IN10 will have to go to their insurance before they can take you on - whether agency or not. Most will check your licence before you start or ask agency for it.
One advantage of having a license is you are racking up the “time licence held” which goes on your favour with insurance companies. An IN10 won’t affect training at all.
Before you invest in the training etc. Contact a few of the national agencies with office in your area and talk to the people who deal with the drivers. Maybe even go in and see them face to face so they can see you’re keen etc. Then see if they have clients that would accept your licence situation and what kind of money you could be looking at with those clients.
I suspect you will be able to find some agency work but most employers will probably prefer someone else, especially as a new start too
A lot of companies (if not most) insurance requirements are max of 9 points (most 6) and generally no IN, DR or DD convictions will be accepted.
Smaller firms may well be less restrictive on insurance requirements or subject to you agreeing to pay a certain excess etc.
It’s not impossible but as I’m sure you will know an IN code will greatly affect your insurance premium on your own vehicle.
No one can give you a guarantee of being able to get work, only by speaking to agencies and or companies and seeing if they would insure you are you going to have the best helpful replies.
Thanks for all answers.
I was thinking about going back to court but points and endorsement were issued back in 2017 so long time now.
Also since I got points my employer declared bankruptcy (still running company but on someones else name).
I will go for you advice and call agencies/employers and see how situation looks like in my area.
I really want to change a job so not really keen waiting till my endorsement will expire in July 2021.
Will cal few places this week and post the results, maybe it will help other lads that in the same situation.
I think once you accept a FPN it’s considered final. It would probably be very expensive to challenge it now.
I hope your boss gets catastrophically karma’d. He must have cost you a fortune in increased car insurance, and he’s had half your licence away. Did the idiot even pay your fine?
If you ever get into issues with insurance in a company vehicle - ALWAYS opt for Court.
Yes, it is the driver’s responsibility to make sure that they are insured to drive - check with every company that you work for and take a photo of their certificate on your phone would be my advice. Anyone can assume, but if you tell the court you showed due diligence that you checked at the time of hiring, then you will have a defense, if it seems reasonable to a Magistrate you wouldn’t likely get any points or fine.
You can always check ownvehicle.askmid.com - obviously, you have a declaration at the start that this is your vehicle, but if this is the only way of checking…
Bart89:
I was thinking about going back to court but points and endorsement were issued back in 2017 so long time now.
Bart
Don’t quote me, but I think you can make a ‘statutory declaration’ post charge with the court that imposed the points - this may mean you attend that court and obtain the form from the office. You have to declare your reasons for the appeal - I have known someone in a slightly different situation getting the points removed and didn’t have to pay the fine. But this is specific to the circumstances - Did you ask ANY company officer if you were or the vehicle was insured to drive and told Yes! then you have a defence as you have no other way of checking that information.
But as it has happened so long ago - you might be outside of any time limit to appeal. I would speak to a motoring lawyer to see if you can, or if money is tight Citizens Advice - they have legal advisors.
