Licence Defence Insurance Cover

Licence Defence Insurance – What is it?

We launched Licence Defence Insurance to help our customers and bikers in general secure expert legal defence, if they are being investigated, or have been charged with a motoring offence (like speeding).

Licence Defence Insurance was created to even out the playing field. Why should only wealthy individuals have access to leading motor defence solicitors when it is needed most? Everyone should have access to justice, no matter what. Just because someone hasn’t driven or ridden to their usual high standards doesn’t mean that they’re a bad person and should be disproportionately penalised. We all make mistakes and we all deserve our side of the story to be fairly heard.

Automated enforcement is increasingly causing motorists to unnecessarily make admissions of guilt. There are cases of people being in unfair positions where duress causes irrational decisions. Decisions that people would normally be more careful about making if they weren’t under pressure.

This specialist product is different to our normal Legal Expenses Insurance, which is to help you get back any uninsured losses after being hit by a third party in a non-fault accident and it helps with things like injury claims or claims for loss of earnings. That type of law is called ‘civil law’.

Motorcycle Licence Defence Insurance covers “criminal law” and specifically Motor Prosecution Defence only. We don’t cover the reckless acts of drink or drug driving because there is no excuse.

Licence Defence Insurance covers the individual, unlike your Motorcycle Insurance Policy, which covers your bike or multiple bikes. Licence Defence Insurance is here to ensure access to justice bikers whether they are on the bike, driving their car or taking their race van to the track.

Motorcycle Licence Defence Insurance – How does it work?

A Licence Defence policy gives you:

• Up to £25,000 of cover to pay specialist motor defence solicitor fees (per claim)
• Access to our helpline which is staffed by motoring offence experts only
• Cover for you (not your vehicle) - so you can use it when driving your Car or Van* as well as when riding your motorcycle
• Cover for offences in the UK, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

*** This policy covers driving or riding any vehicle, for any offence excluding drink and drugs driving offences. You must be legally entitled to operate the vehicle and carry the correct insurance (Excludes driving HGVs where a tachograph is required as these fall under the traffic commissioner) ***

Up to £25,000 towards your legal costs

Licence Defence Insurance provides you with access to some of the UK's leading motor defence solicitors and gives you up to £25,000 cover to pay their fees.

You can take out the policy even if you already have points on your licence and there is no excess to pay.

Once you are informed you're being investigated or prosecuted for a motoring offence, you can call our helpline, which is operated by experts. They specialise in assisting with motoring prosecution defence. The advice and help provided at the outset is specialist and tailored towards your circumstances. This means you will get the best advice available to reassure you, rather than suffering the usual fate of waiting, wondering and worrying.
What happens next very much depends on your individual situation.

Our experts will test the procedures used to investigate or prosecute you. Our experts will also test the quality and admissibility of the evidence submitted.

In order for a prosecution to be successful, any investigation should be lawfully conducted, and a prosecution properly pursued. With best intentions, human error, equipment malfunction and the like does and will occur. Which is why our experts go over everything in fine detail. In order for a prosecution to be successful, evidence must be reliable, lawfully obtained and admissible. Again, with best intentions, this is not always the case and our experts know how to recognise inconsistencies and how to deal with them professionally. If the procedural and evidential tests are passed, our experts will then work with you to mitigate your case in the best way, so they can fight your corner to the best of their ability, giving you the best chance of a positive outcome.

Motorcycle Licence Defence Insurance – Why should you have it?

Imagine you are informed that 3 points and £100 fine is winging its way to you…

What happens next? Well, that depends!

There is a big disparity between regions. Sometimes information provided to you is wrong. Perhaps your case shouldn’t be investigated. Our advice is to never just accept what is being said. Speak to our specialist team and let them advise you. The last thing we want is for something minor to creep up and bite you later.

A live example from our legal specialists, for instance, was 55-year-old lifelong biker.

He allegedly overtook an unmarked Police car on double white lines and was sent a summons out of the blue.
He was asked to produce documents by a letter sent by recorded delivery from the Police. The problem was, this was never received or signed for by the client. He then remembered that he had purchased Licence Defence and contacted us straight away. We assured him he was in safe hands.

“It turned out to be the best thing I had ever done” (Clients own words)

The legal specialists delved into every detail of the case, from checking that the summons was issued correctly right through to gathering evidence to prove the defence case. The client was due to appear in court and as a result of negotiations all charges had been dropped 3 days prior to the court appearance and the court appearance was cancelled.

Why was it cancelled? After proving the letter was not signed for by the defendant and that it was not reasonable to expect a response from the defendant in the circumstances, the case was dismissed by the court!

In the more technical words of the solicitor…. “We argued in accordance with section 172(7)(b) Road Traffic Act 1988 that it was not reasonably practicably for the client to respond. In addition witness statements were obtained by locals to confirm issues with the mail and that the signatures (that someone else signed for the notices) were not our clients by producing the original signatures for him and his partner. The clients charges were withdrawn on both charges after legal arguments to the trial prosecutor.”

So there you have it!