What is an IN10 Conviction?
An IN10 conviction is a notice you'll be given if you're caught driving or parking your car on a public road without insurance. An IN10 conviction is not a recordable offence, meaning it won't go onto your criminal record. Despite this, it's subject to strong punishment, and can have ramifications for your car insurance premiums, as you'll need to declare any convictions to your insurer before you take out a policy.
For more information, head over to our guide on convicted driver insurance.
What is the punishment for driving without insurance?
Driving without insurance will land you with at minimum, a fine and 6 points on your licence. As this kind of offence carries a minimum of 6 points you can expect to see a sharp increase in your insurance premiums following it. Other convictions which begin at 3 points for minor offences tend to see significantly reduced insurance rises. For more information, here's our guide for more on penalty points and their impact on your car insurance.
If your case is taken to court the punishment can become more severe, and you can receive an unlimited fine and even the possibility of being disqualified from driving in the most serious of cases.
The police have the option to impound the vehicle you were driving uninsured, and could destroy it in certain cases.
How does anyone know I'm driving without insurance?
Police have access to number plate recognition technology, often referred to as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). If you drive past a camera equipped with ANPR technology, they will be able to see very quickly if your car is insured as the number plate will be cross-referenced against their database.
When you're stopped and asked for your documents you have 7 days to provide valid insurance documents to the police, so in case of a mistake you do have some time to provide the correct certification.
If your policy has been cancelled without your knowledge, you may be able to dispute the case. It needs to be shown that your insurance company had taken reasonable steps to notify you of the cancellation.
How does an IN10 conviction affect my car insurance?
Most driving convictions negatively affect your car insurance, and an IN10 conviction is no different. It can be tough to find cheap car insurance after a conviction but there are a few tricks you can use to lower your premiums slightly.
For example, you could think about taking out a black box insurance policy, which tracks your driving in order to offer you lower rates, so long as you drive safely.
In some scenarios where you may have been given an IN10 conviction in conjunction with a speeding notice, you may have the option to take a speed awareness course to reduce the penalty points you receive, which could help your chances.