Citation, commencement and interpretation

1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Motor Vehicles (Insurance Requirements) Regulations 2011 and shall come into force on 4th February 2011.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the 1988 Act” means the Road Traffic Act 1988;

“the 2002 Regulations” means the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002( 2 ); and

“certificate of destruction” has the same meaning as that expression has in the End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003( 3 ).

Exceptions to the offence under section 144A

2. For the purposes of section 144B(4)(b) of the 1988 Act (the third condition)—

(a) where the vehicle has been sold or transferred by the registered keeper (other than for the purpose of being destroyed or sent permanently out of Great Britain) the registered keeper of the vehicle must, by the relevant time and in relation to that vehicle, have furnished the information and documents and made the declarations in accordance with regulation 22(2)(b), 23(2) or 24(5) (as the case may be) of the 2002 Regulations;

(b) where the vehicle has been sold or transferred by the registered keeper for the purpose of its destruction, the registered keeper must, by the relevant time and in relation to that vehicle, have—

(i) furnished the information and documents, and made the declarations in accordance with regulation 23(2) or 24(5) (as the case may be) of the 2002 Regulations; or

(ii) been given a certificate of destruction; and

(c) where the vehicle has been sent permanently out of Great Britain, the registered keeper of the vehicle must, by the relevant time and in relation to that vehicle, have notified the Secretary of State in accordance with regulation 17 of the 2002 Regulations.

3. For the purposes of section 144B(5)(c) of the 1988 Act (the fourth condition), the registered keeper of the vehicle must, by the relevant time and in relation to that vehicle, have delivered the required particulars, and made the required declaration, in accordance with paragraph 5(3) of Schedule 4 to the 2002 Regulations.

4. For the purposes of section 144B(6)(c) of the 1988 Act (the fifth condition), the registered keeper of the vehicle must, by the relevant time and in relation to that vehicle, have given notification in accordance with regulation 26A(3) of the 2002 Regulations.

Further exception to the offence under section 144A

5. In section 144B of the 1988 Act (exceptions to the section 144A offence), after subsection (6), insert—

“ (6A) The sixth condition is that—

(a) the registered keeper is at the relevant time the person keeping the vehicle,

(b) neither a licence nor a nil licence under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 ( 4 ) was in force for the vehicle on 31 ^st January 1998,

(c) neither a licence nor a nil licence has been taken out for the vehicle for a period starting after that date, and

(d) the vehicle has not been used or kept on a public road after that date. ” .

Lesser amount of fixed penalty

6. —(1) A fixed penalty payable under section 144C of the 1988 Act shall be treated as having been paid if the amount of £50 is paid before the end of the period of 21 days following the date of the notice given under that section.

(2) A fixed penalty notice under section 144C of the 1988 Act shall state that the fixed penalty payable under that section shall be treated as having been paid if the amount of £50 is paid before the end of the period of 21 days following the date of that notice.

Disclosure of information

7. MIIC shall make available to the Secretary of State, for the purpose of the Secretary of State’s functions in connection with the enforcement of an offence under Part 6 of the 1988 Act, the information referred to in regulation 4(a), (b) and (c) of the Motor Vehicles (Compulsory Insurance) (Information Centre and Compensation Body) Regulations 2003( 5 ) or so much of that information as is required by the Secretary of State for that purpose.