Invalid car Insurance due to no tax???? A serious question

[HonestJohn]

I am a Taxi driver and rent my car.

Today, a person reversed into my car rendering it un-usable, therefore, I took it back to the company rent from.

The company I rent from (I think) is probably one in the same company that I work from, or at least they have very close links with each other.

The rental people have 2 spare cars, both UN-TAXED.

They gave me one of them to "use for today" whilst they get the other taxed today.

I have phoned them back up to ask if they have taxed the other vehicle and as yet, he hasn't!

I also stated that I do not think I should be driving the one I have without tax, and all he said was "if you get stopped or caught , i'll simply back tax it".

I went back to my "boss" (the taxi operator I work through), and told him I am not happy with the fact there is no tax on the car lent to me. Needless to say, he wasn't very happy too, due to the fact, he can get done for it as well as he is the "licenced operator"!.

I haven't used it for taxi-ing today, because I do not regard it as a lawful vehicle fit for the road.

This is my question: (I need this to fire back at the rental company).

If I got stopped, grassed or had an accident, knowing there was no tax on the vehicle, would my insurance be in-validated?(I have fully comp/public liability ins. (Taxipak) thru my taxi company I work for).

Also, could my local council revoke my "Private Hire licence" if I got caught?

I have just phoned DVLA and the woman there advised me not to drive it and said that "more than likely the ins. would be invalid".

Just wondering if there are any ins. people/police etc here that could confirm/deny this. Especially if you know about Taxi Insurance/ Licencing etc.

[SSXeon]

I don't know in which area you work, but if you worked in this area, this would be a day off and loss of income would be added to the insurance claim.

Providing the person who revsersed into your car is responsible - then you can claim loss of income.

As to driving another vehicle without first getting the necessary local council approvals - would simply not be possible here.

If you want to risk your licence (and your livelyhood) in order to be able to drive for a couple of days - DON'T

If my partner is off the road for a week or so due to the car being in the garage - its tough and we have no income

Before a Taxi or Private Hire vehicle can operate as such in our council, the car has to be plated by them and there are several annual checks made on the vehicle and every 2 years a police and medical check is made on drivers. The last check went even a stage further - cannot remember the name of it, but it involved him paying yet another governmental force to look into his background.

[SirkoZ]

Your car insurance is subject to (amongst other stuff) your car being 100% road worthy and legal, if you don't have road tax then you are not insured which means you are paying insurance for nothing. It also means that shoud you have an accident that you are liable for the damage yourself and that you may also be taken to court (magistrates) on the charge of driving without insurance (not nice) and also for not having road tax. The chances of the owner of the vehicle being allowed to pay back tax is very low as there is a clamp down on unlicensec vehicles right now and you would most likely be fined for ?1,000 with a risk of the car being scrapped if you failed to pay. The main point here is that YOU would be liable for the fine as YOU are the driver, so the owner would be pretty safe.

So, for not having tax on this car you are risking a possible court appearance for no tax and as a result, no insurance which could leave you with fines over ?2,000 and up to 10 points on your licence! I am not too sure about the situation with the council and your right to be a taxi, but with no insurance and transporting paying customers I would advise you to stop now! It's not worth it....

[Mtthwpez]

The only time it is legal to drive without roadtax is when you go for an MOT..and you're still only allowed to drive to and from the MOT test station... You must still have insurance though... I imagine (although never tried) that if you crashed your car during the drive to the MOT station, then your insurance would pay out... BUT you'd really need proof of an MOT appointment for the time you were drivin untaxed..

at the end of the day, yes you need road tax... you could get away with it.. but an insurance company may well want proof in the event of a claim that the vehicle was fully road legal.

[jundede09]

Looks good to me. But if youre not playing games, then what are you using this kickass system for?