Gents,
A mate was stopped after his car showed on the Police National PC as not being insured and was impounded, he produced his docs and proved he was but had to pay £110 to get his car back.
Check here to see if your insurance company have uploded your details
Typical. The UK war against the motorist and common sense continues…
I would say that your mate has good cause for complaint Kristorf, however there may be more to it than there seems.
Following your post I checked with our duty traffic Inspector and he confirmed that if your car is seized on suspicion of being uninsured and you then subsequently prove it is insured you are still liable for the recovery cost.
However, here in Suffolk, and personally speaking, I would want to have to have more than just a PNC check to say a car is uninsured before I seize it. If there is any question in my mind that the car may well be insured then I have the option to give the driver a ‘producer’ so that he can produce his documents within 7 days. If he doesn’t then he is still liable to be dealt with for driving without insurance. The problem with this is that potentially I am still allowing an uninsured vehicle to be driven on the road. So there are pluses and minuses to both methods.
Personally, I think the law as it currently stands is about right.
Ask a victim of a road traffic collision with an uninsured driver how they feel about things. Loss of no claims discount is the least of your worries.
Is there a war against motorists? From a law enforcement angle, I don’t think so. The thing is with traffic law it’s very easy: If you don’t want a speeding ticket then don’t speed. If you don’t want a ticket for using a mobile phone while driving then don’t use a mobile phone while driving. If you don’t want to be prosecuted for drink driving then don’t drink and drive. Simple.
Now taxes on petrol and congestion charges etc etc is a different thing altogether. And that may well be a war on motorists!
WB.
(Your friendly neighbourhood plod) 
…that if your car is seized on suspicion of being uninsured and you then subsequently prove it is insured you are still liable for the recovery cost.
It doesn’t matter how you look at it, the above is completely wrong. It doesn’t come under the same category as don’t speed, don’t use you mobile.
It is a given in London that parking fines and tow aways are revenue collections for local government. Seizing a car because it is not on some database somewhere, falls into that category. It is not the same as speeding, or talking on your mobile while driving or the countless other offences possible to commit whilst driving. Because all of those are the responsibility of the individual. Whether some dozy moo has uploaded your data to a central database is something you have no power over, it is not a concious decision you can take. I bet nobody here even knew such stuff was happening including you Whiskey…and you’re plod. I for one have never asked my broker “make sure you upload my data” before handing over my cash.