insurance

bettyoleary

today the gauds took my car off me, they said i had no tax and insurance. I gave them the envelope with the tax on i just hadnt opened it. It was until end of march . My insurance is until july. I just have it on email and aig never sent paper copies but i could show it. The guards said the insurance isnt valid on phone and it has to be a paper copy. The car has been taken away and i cant get to work

kirving

You should have posted this in the Insurance forum, link below. It will be moved by a Moderator.

https://www.boards.ie/categories/insurance-aircraft-maritime-motor

The Gardai taking your car was harsh (they could have asked you to provide proof at a Garda station) - but it's your responsibility to have the valid discs in the window.

(I think paper discs are a stupid way of doing it personally, but that's beside the point.)

While some companies may ask you to print the disc at home, were you able to show the Garda an online copy of your Certificate of Insurance?

bettyoleary

the guards that took the car didnt ask,When i went to angelsea street the guard wouldnt look at my phone he said it wasnt valid if its not a paper cpy. I said should i print it at internet cafe and he said no it has to be sent from insurance company

bettyoleary

Thank you for answering. I know its harsh. i would never drive car without insurance and i am a nurse and have been swabbing for covid for last 2 yrs . I am really tired and would never do anything illegal. I just was tired today

bettyoleary

i dont know what happened todayi know i did show him on the phone but he wouldnt look. i have great respect for the guards

Eoinbmw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120233777#Comment_120233777

Or maybe the gaurd was a hard ass!

bettyoleary

I dont know he was an old fella behind the counter on the computer. I could see it was all new to him and perhaps that was it or maybe he just didnt like me . Who knows

bettyoleary

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120233818#Comment_120233818

i didnt have an attitude i promise

bettyoleary

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120233869#Comment_120233869

Ok all my friends are behind me tom in work. My docs are legal , despite being from liverpool!!!! I hope your rightxx

jimmycrackcorm

Your car was impounded because you didn't have both an insurance disc nor a tax disc displayed on your window.

Sound fair as those are motoring offences.

bettyoleary

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120233911#Comment_120233911

Yes your right i should have had them and i knew for ages. I couldnt be bothered with insurance txting I just paid and i had the tax disk in my shopping bag for ages. I did email aig twice though and ask them to send disk, but no reply. It is my fault for all that i know but to take the car is harsh

bettyoleary

i know reading your message, you are right. I should have done that. Stop moaning me and deal with it!!!

mrsbeebee

Did the insurance company send you a cert and disc to print yourself? Or send out a copy in tbe post? If neither, and you have a valid live policy, I'd complain to them. You should have recieved one.

Spear

Moved to a forum that's actually related to the topic instead.

bettyoleary

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120233964#Comment_120233964

No they just sent an email with a attachment which i assume was a print out didc. I dont have a printer so i couldnt print and bcos i have always had insurance i thought the email documents would suffice. I know in Uk we dont have to display but in Ireland we do so i should have done it its my fault . i know.

mrsbeebee

We all make mistakes. I'd print it out, bring to the gardai, grovel a bit and apologise. Hope it all goes well 🙏

bettyoleary

Thats exactly what my friend told me to do. Thanks for support and Ill do tomorrowxx

bettyoleary

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120233701#Comment_120233701

i was but he wouldnt look.

walterking

Either this is a total wind up or the op lacks grey matter.

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120233827#Comment_120233827

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beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120233911#Comment_120233911

The garda was correct-no display of tax or insurance,no car.Insurance cert and disc should have been requested from the insurance company.I cannot see how a photocopy would be accepted unless it was done on a super duper copier to get the ink tones exactly right.

Atlantic Dawn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120234303#Comment_120234303

A lot of insurers now send PDFs of insurance discs to customers to print themselves, this has been going on for 10 plus years. Regulations require there to be a green strip (no RGB value of 'green' is specified) and the disc a certain size, once this is fullfilled it's road legal. The OP should have printed the disc in colour.

From a motor tax point of view the Garda has the technology available to see on the spot if the car is taxed, disc displayed or not. From an out of tax basis it must be over 2 months out before it can be seized on the roadside.

cml387

If the OP's story is correct then she has been very badly treated.

There was no reason to impound the car as the tax and insurance were both in date. That they were not displayed is a minor offence and not one that would justify seizing the car.

If the garda said you have to get the disk from the insurance company he is factually wrong. My insurance company send out the cert as a PDF which I print out. It does need to be a colour printer though.

homosapien91

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120234369#Comment_120234369

I started driving in 2016 and I dont recall ever having the cert with disc posted to me its always been by email and I have had to print it off myself. This was especially the case during Covid when everyone was working from home including the insurance companies so it is just the norm now I think

coylemj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120235653#Comment_120235653

That's a very big 'if' in my book.

OP claims she had a valid tax disc in an unopened envelope in the car. But the Gardai can check if the car is taxed and they appear to have held the view that it was not taxed.

She says that her insurance expires in July. Which means that she renewed or took out a new policy in July 2022 and has been driving around for the past six months without a valid insurance disc on her windscreen.

MikeCairo78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120236740#Comment_120236740

The guards can also see straight away if the car is insured - I was pulled over recently driving my partners vehicle - was speeding, unknown to myself. The guard confirmed that the only thing I needed to do was to bring my drivers licence to the station as he could see the car was taxed and insured from his own system, I just needed to confirm that I was insured to drive it(which I was). I work in insurance and had been told that for the last couple of years all private vehicles(non fleet/motor trade) was on national system, I doubted it, but this was demonstration that it was. So I suppose this is a long way of saying that the vehicle wasnt impounded just because tax and insurance werent displayed(though this is a law) something else went on to draw the ire of the Garda

coylemj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120236813#Comment_120236813

The only details the Gardai can see about your insurance on their system is based on the declaration you made the last time you taxed the car. And from discussions here, it seems you can enter any old garbage you choose to and it can't be verified. In the days of Nutgrove and other walk-in tax offices, you had to show the insurance cert to the official at the counter before they handed you the new tax disc. That's not the case with online renewals so they can't verify that you have a current policy of insurance. Meaning that whatever it says on the Garda system isn't of any value.

If I was a Garda at a checkpoint, I would want to see a disc on the windscreen or a cert which shows that the person at the wheel is covered to drive that car. For most people, their tax and insurance will have different expiry dates so even if a driver has a valid tax disc on the windscreen, he could have renewed the tax 11 months ago with an insurance policy that was about to expire. So even with a driver who is 100% compliant, the insurance data on the Garda system could say that his insurance expired 11 months ago. Which is why the Gardai insist on seeing a current insurance disc.

MikeCairo78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120236903#Comment_120236903

You are wrong

MikeCairo78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120237276#Comment_120237276

sorry hit return there - all Insurers have issued across to Gardai all Insured policy details. Registration / policy number / expiry day. The national fleet database(for motor fleets and motor traders) will be added to this in March. Nothing to do with what you complete on the motor tax form. The intention is to have a system just like the UK where there is no need for your insurance disc.

coylemj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120237295#Comment_120237295

That’s very interesting. Though some references to that database claim that it requires the passing of the Road Traffic and Roads Bill (2021) which has not yet been passed into law.

But if it is now active, the Garda who stopped the OP could have established (as she claims) that she was insured.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120237495#Comment_120237495

Not all Gardai have the Mobility Device that gives access to insurance details.