Halloween driving mistake can land drivers with an unlimited fine, six points and a seized car

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and the sober mate who drives everyone home could end up watching the car go off on a flatbed

DRIVERS are being warned that doing a mate a favour on Halloween night could cost them an unlimited fine, six points and the car itself.

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, meaning more parties, more costumes and more people asking the sober one to drive everyone home.

But the friend who takes the keys could be breaking the law without realising it.

Most drivers reckon being fully comp means they can hop in anyone’s motor. For the vast majority, it does not.

Driving other cars cover has quietly disappeared from most comprehensive policies. Where it still exists it is usually only for over 25s, often only in an emergency, and it is third party only.

That means if you prang your mate’s car, nothing is covered.

Get it wrong and police can hand out a £300 fine and six points on the spot. In court the fine is unlimited and you can be banned from driving.

And then there is the car. Police can seize it at the roadside and in some cases destroy it, so the owner can lose their motor simply for lending it to a friend.

‘Two people get punished’

Chris Richards, founder of Temp Insurance UK, said: “Nobody heads out on Halloween planning to break the law. They head out planning to get their mates home in one piece.

“The problem is what people think their policy does. Driving other cars used to be almost standard on a fully comp policy, so a whole generation grew up assuming it was automatic. For most policies now it simply is not there.

“What makes this one sting is that two people get punished. The driver cops six points and a fine. The owner stands on the pavement watching their car go up onto a flatbed, because it is the car that gets seized, not the driver.”

Caught more than ever

Research by Temp Insurance UK, which analysed 16 years of Ministry of Justice records, found 76,983 convictions for uninsured driving in England and Wales last year.

That is up 7 per cent, the second year running the figure has risen and the biggest jump since 2021.

The average fine is £467, and more than one in five drivers convicted is banned from the road.

Drivers aged 21 to 24 are the worst hit, caught at 42.4 per 10,000 licence holders. That is three times the rate of drivers in their forties and more than 20 times the rate of the over 70s.

Where you live matters too. In the West Midlands force area, which covers Wolverhampton and the Black Country, there were 3,449 convictions for uninsured driving last year, or 22.9 per 10,000 vehicles, down 12.3 per cent on the year, with an average fine of £450. That puts the area 11th of the 42 police force areas in England and Wales, above the national average of 20.8. In the Metropolitan Police area it is 59.4 and in Thames Valley just 8.4.

The Motor Insurers’ Bureau reckons 335,000 uninsured drivers are on UK roads on any given day, and that someone becomes the victim of an uninsured or hit-and-run driver every 20 minutes.

What to check before you hand over the keys

The answer is on the certificate of motor insurance, not the glossy booklet. Look under the section headed “Persons or Classes of Persons Entitled to Drive”.

If the line about driving other cars is not there, the cover does not exist. Driving your mate’s car home would mean driving uninsured.

Being named on the owner’s policy is fine. A mate who is not named is not covered, unless something specific says otherwise.

Checking a car is insured at all is free on askMID.com, though it will not show who is allowed to drive it.

Chris added: “Two minutes with the certificate before the keys change hands saves the lot.”