No company car insurance leads to driving ban

Saturday 21 September 2019

A woman has been disqualified from driving for a year and given a £300 fine, after a misunderstanding with her employer meant insurance on a company car she was using had not been renewed.

29-year-old Antje-Kristin Ansorge had been driving the Vets4Pets-branded car for months without any third-party coverage, but claimed she had not noticed.

The expired insurance disc was spotted by a traffic warden on the South Esplanade earlier this year, who reported the offence to Vets4Pets. The company was ordered by Guernsey Police to give the name of the driver.

Although Ansorge had insured the car previously, she said more people had been using it since and she expected the company to take care of the issue.

Pictured: Guernsey's Royal Court House.

The defendant has no previous convictions and was not involved in a traffic accident while the car was uninsured.

In her mitigation, defence Advocate Tee said Ansorge "didn't intend to commit this offence" and would have "difficulty performing her job" without a driving licence.

On sentencing, Judge Graeme McKerrell said he was "sure this was an unintentional offence", but that drivers are responsible for checking their cars are insured before using them.

"Assumptions should not be made," he added. "Consequences that follow from that can be significant."

Pictured top: File image.