This happened to my 23 year old son over the weekend.

He had arrived home around 3am parked along from our house, sat in the car listening to a bit of music finishing, the police car passed him, the music finished and he got out the car and was walking away , when the following happened : (his words)

I have 2 cars registered in my name. The only reason being is my first car had a faulty turbo and also had head-engine problems and my friends car continually kept breaking down. As her daughter has medical conditions which mean she must have access to a car to get to hospitals, appointments, etc, at any given time. So, as I am unable to be without a car for work, I went and bought a second car which would allow me to drive it while my car was in the garage getting fixed for over a week. It also meant once I got my car back from the garage, she could use the new car. I had the guy selling the car to me drive to my house to drop off the new car with his brother. The new car sat in my driveway until it got road taxed and insured. At no point in my driving years have I knowingly driven any car without insurance.

I called my insurance company, Churchill, and they said I could not change the car on my Fully Comprehensive policy. My policy started in February 2012, but a massive repair cost on that vehicle meant it was not worth fixing, so the car was scrapped. I then bought a cheap car to bridge the gap until I could get some money together to buy something a bit more reliable and robust, which I did, buying my aforementioned 'first car'. So, I have had 3 cars on the policy so far, but they would not allow me to change the policy to the 'Second car' or even add the car to the policy, regardless of cost. Taking into consideration transport to work and her daughters health conditions, we simply need 2 cars for while I am at work.

Since Churchill would not allow me to add or change to the Second car on the policy, I got my friend to look at a new insurance policy for this second car. She found the best quote online and then phoned the company (Privilege) to confirm everything - it was going to be more than x3 the price to add me as a Named Driver, but they advised my Fully Comprehensive cover with Churchill would allow me to drive the second car with only 3rd Party Fire & Theft. This wasn't the end of the World, as the increases in both our premiums would probably be just as expensive if a claim was ever made on this car by either of us. So, we went with that policy. As far as I was aware, we were both insured to drive both cars.

I have a Fully Comprehensive policy on my 'first car'
She has a Fully Comprehensive policy on the 'second car'

I got stopped by the Police late last night driving the 'second car', they checked registration, my license, etc. They came back and said there are no Named Drivers on the policy and requested I provide the insurance and registration documents to the Police station within 7 days.

I never received the full V5 registration document, so last week I sent the V5C back to the DVLA with a covering letter explaining it had now been 8 weeks since I bought the car and still haven't received the V5 to this date. I still have no registration document, and have been unable to contact the DVLA today (Sunday, closed). So, I cannot provide the Police with the registration document.

I then checked the full terms of my Policy for my First car, which states 'this certificate does not entitle you to drive any other car' - contrary to what Privilege had said and so, I feel like we have been mis-sold the policy. In fairness, I should have checked my documents, but had not. No excuses there.

So it looks like my Fully Comprehensive Churchill insurance does NOT allow me to drive the second car - or any other car - as either Fully Comp or 3rd Party.

I am going to have to explain this to the officers within 7 days. What punishment am I likely to receive for this 'offence' which I have unknowingly committed. I know everybody says that, but I genuinely did not know any better, nor did my friend, we just took the advice of Privilege who sold the policy to her.

Any advice?

Thanks

Note: I am 23 years old, had a full UK license for 4 years with not a single driving offence on my record, nor any other offences. First time in my life I have had the Police question me as a suspect rather than a witness, so I find it all rather quite daunting!

At no time did the police actually see him physically driving the car, he was put in the van then taken out and handcuffed, he objected to this as he was not being aggressive or resisting. He was then taken 25 miles to the county police station and was hauled out of the van by the handcuffs , he said to the policeman is there any need to pull me along as I am not resisting and am capable of walking alongside you he was told he was then going to be charged with resisting arrest.He was then taken in and strip searched before being released 25 miles from home at 4.30 in the morning.

Any advice welcome.

Rob