Carrying Insurance Documents With Car

[Cobstar]

Is there a legal requirement to carry your insurance documents with you when you're driving a car?

[Joshie]

No I don't believe so unless the law changed. I never carry mine although I have my driving license with me when I drive.

I always thought you had 5 days to produce them at the local nick.

[toasty]

Agreed.

No need to carry any docs with you, and what's more I reckon it's a bad idea to keep any docs in the car.

Had an arguement (discussion) with the police once, concerning the exact same thing, they asked me why I didn't have my docs with me and I politely explained that if I kept the insurance docs, driving license, and v5 in the car, then should someone pinch my car and get stopped by the police then they'll have all the proof they need to prove it's theirs!! [img]images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

The policeman in question seemed to disagree but could offer no explanation as to why he was right and I was wrong [img]images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Anyway I have a police station just down the road, so a producer is no big deal anyway.

[runrowsam]

When I owned my Mini I was asked on several occasions to prove the vehicle was mine and insured etc. I was also breathalysed 6 times in 2 months. Talk about target car!

On all occasions where documentation was requested I was given 5 working days to do so at my local copshop. Had many an arsehole try and insist I was driving uninsured though. Actually asked me to get out of the car and accompany him to the station. What bastards, if the car is actually mine, what grounds can they have for trying to arrest me? Got out of it by asking him to see/hear his information confirming that I was uninsured. He just said he "had reason to believe" I was uninsured. To$$er on a power mission.

Rock on
Sam [img]images/graemlins/thumbs.gif[/img]

[JamesB]

I have always thought that it was a legal requirement to carry your insurance certificate in the car although I have no idea who first told me. Old wives' tale, perhaps? [img]images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] I can't really see any harm in it as it doesn't act as any form of ID. As long as you keep your licence on you, ID can be proved.

V5 however should be carefully concealed in the priest hole, especially these days with car thieves breaking into houses in order to nick car keys, V5, the lot! [img]images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

[Paul-RS]

copper told me, he had to tell me its an offence not to have them on you.

but he also agreed personally, that i should not have them in the car either.

most i usually carry is a drivers licence.

producer is safest way.

[scillyisles]

I'm amazed at how so many of you seem to have a fuzzy view of the law. [img]images/graemlins/033102bad_1_prv.gif[/img]
There is no legal requirement to carry any documents in the car nor is there any legal requirement to carry your driving licence with you. If stopped by a police officer they can ask to see the documents but you are allowed 5 days to produce them at a police station of your choosing. So if you get stopped in Scotland and live in Cornwall you can choose to produce them at your local police station in Cornwall.
Even if you do have the documents on you - I'd advise avoiding showing them to plod - you're much better off showing them to an uninterested police officer in your local station. [img]images/graemlins/thumbs.gif[/img]

[Cobstar]

Hi scillyisles

Thanks for that.

I was pretty confident that there was no such requirement but having been a passenger in a car that was involved in a minor shunt, two people told me on the same day that you were supposed to carry your insurance docs in the car. One said her friend had been told this by a policeman who stopped her car and asked to see docs.

I don't carry any docs in the car but usually have my driving licence in my bag.

[v3n]

100% u dont have to carry any of your driving docs in the car its not a legal requirement

just makes a policemans job easier

oh and if u get a producer its 7 days from midnight of the day u got the producer