A DISTRICT Court judge has criticised motor insurance companies, saying that while they profess to be concerned about road safety they fail to check whether or not a driver is insurable.
Judge William Hamill was speaking at Enniscorthy District Court, where a number of cases of driving without insurance came before him. When attempting to show they were insured, a number of defendants had produced letters from their insurance company stating they were insured.
In one case, Judge Hamill told solicitor Hilary Delahunty that anyone could obtain such a letter. “If I was a disqualified driver, an insurance company will send me a piece of paper saying I am insured, and then of course when it comes to covering me in the event of an accident, the insurance company will void the policy.
“So on the face of it, a person may appear insured,” said the judge, but because they have not disclosed everything to the insurance company they are in reality not insured.
Judge Hamill went on to say that certain companies may not void a policy even when they find out about undisclosed indiscretions. “I had a recent case where Quinn Direct said they would honour a policy even after a driver was convicted of failing to stop for a garda and driving on the footpath, so I don’t know where that leaves us.”
Drivers who do not disclose previous convictions for road traffic offences to insurance firms are not covered and can therefore be prosecuted for driving without insurance. It is impossible for gardaí to know if a person has done this, however, as they may have what appears to be a valid insurance disc on display in their car.
Speaking to Insp Pat Cody, the judge asked if this made the Garda’s job harder. Insp Cody agreed that gardaí had no way of checking on the roadside whether or not an insurance disc was valid.
Judge Hamill concluded: “I have not heard of many representations made by the gardaí to sort this situation out, and it clearly needs to be changed.”