Inquiry:  I need help with a few questions. My brother has 2 cars. he doesn’t have parking space to park one of his cars so he has been parking one of his cars at my house. He doesn’t have insurance on the car he is parking at my place. he doesn’t drive it either. it is waiting to get sold. I have G2 licence. I dont have a car or insurance. but i use his car sometimes to go for groceries. he doesnt know about this. it is only 10 minutes drive , i never had accident or any speeding or parking tickets either. I wanted to know if i was stopped by a cop or get into an accident what will be the affect on myself as well as my brother and his insurance, since it is his car after all.  thanks in advance for responding.

Response:  Driving without insurance is a very serious charge carrying heavy penalties.  Both the person driving, and the owner of the vehicle, may be charged in such cases.  Total fine (set fine plus Victim Fine Surcharge) on a first offence ranges from a minimum of $6,250 up to a maximum of $31,250 and a suspension of up to one year may be placed against their licence.  On a second offence, the range of fines doubles.  I can not advise you on insurance matters, but as a matter of commonsense  I would expect that without any insurance coverage, any damages, medical expenses, or monetary awards assigned during civil lawsuits would be directly liable to yourself and/or your brother.  Driving without insurance is against the law and puts you a great financial risk.  To put the court fines alone in perspective…if the Court assigned a fine of $12,500, that would account for being able to spend $34.25 every single day for an entire year on public transportation.

If a Defendant is charged with either operating or permitting another person to operate a motor vehicle without insurance, it is important that the charge be vigorously defended at Court.  In some cases, the charge may have a grounds to be eliminated outright at Court.  Failing that, the amount of fine and licence suspension can generally be argued to lower amounts.  We offer a no-cost initial review of cases via our toll-free line 1-866-801-8299.  Anyone receiving such a charge may be very well-served by seeking out legal representation immediately.

Sincerely,
Greg Currie
Office Manager, London