AA Insurance has welcomed the Government’s Road Transport ‘Red Tape Challenge’ launched on Friday 20th May, which is asking the public to help identify bureaucratic and arcane legislation that could be dropped or simplified.
Included are regulations concerning motor insurance and AA Insurance has welcomed the initiative.
Insurance certificates:
One prime candidate is the requirement for motorists to have a paper or electronically issued motor insurance certificate and it’s suggested that abolishing the need for one would reduce administration costs and make life simpler for drivers and businesses.
Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance says: “An insurance certificate is simply paper evidence that a vehicle is insured and, in practice, it’s rarely needed. Proof of cover is held by the national Motor Insurance Database (MID) which car owners, the Police and other authorities can readily access.”
Equally, existence of a certificate doesn’t prove that a car is insured, as many people who have attempted to defraud their insurer by cancelling their direct debit payments have found to their cost: a police officer stopping a car will ignore the certificate and check with the MID and the insurer to confirm that the cover has not been cancelled. In the same way, a forged certificate is also worthless.
“So,” says Mr Douglas, “in theory, abolition would be welcome and it could reduce attempts at fraud.
“However, certificates should still be available to customers who want them. For example, buying a tax disc at a post office still requires production of a certificate, although counter staff should be able to check the MID; while it is advisable to carry a certificate and a translation of it, if you take your car out of the UK. Garages also require proof of insurance cover before allowing a buyer to drive the car away.”
Mr Douglas adds: “To extend the concept of abolishing certificates altogether, may be the Government should also consider abolishing the paper tax disc and MOT certificate – after all, both are also supported by databases and are easily accessed by the police and other authorities if proof is needed.”
‘Green Cards’:
Another regulation, dating back to 1971, concerns the issue of International Motor Insurance Cards (often known as a Green Card).
Simon Douglas says: “This is an area that confuses many drivers who plan to drive their car outside the UK. The green card is no longer needed in Europe as every insured car in the EC can legally be driven in most European countries and is covered by at least third party insurance.
“European legislation has superseded the International Motor Insurance Cards regulations. While it’s not a legal requirement to carry a green card, drivers can and should ask for a copy of an insurance certificate and a translation of it before they travel to simplify dealing with the local country’s authorities in the event of an accident – so the regulations and their requirements could be considerably simplified.”
Edmund King, President of the AA, has also suggested a range of other areas that should be addressed:
Workplace Parking Levy: This should be scrapped as it acts as a “tax on work”.
Motorway Service Areas: Could there be more de-regulation to reduce prices? Why can’t hotels on MSA’s serve alcohol if someone is staying the night?
Parking: Why do some on-street play and display machines prohibit a driver from giving his un-used ticket to another driver? If someone has bought some time they should be entitled to give it away.
And why do some machines not give change? And if not, why can’t the time in the car park be extended to the value of coins inserted?
Bus lanes: Why do some bus lanes restrict cars for 24 hrs whilst bus services don’t run for 24 hours?
Importing cars from EC: AA gets lots of complaints about the complexity of this.
Driving licence: Why should it be renewed after ten years?
Tolls: Abolish them at Dartford
Source : The AA Press Release
