Unwelcome attantion of the police

Riding home on my old Fireblade Saturday 18th Sept e about 6:15pm having just joined the A303 near Wincanton a set of blue flashing lights appeared in the mirrors belonging to a traffice car he was coming like his 4rse was on fire. Passing the cars behind me at devasting pace he came up behind me on a single carriageway road with double white lines in the centre so I indicated left moved over to let him by but he pulled along side & indicatded it was me that he wanted !

I had passed a stationary traffic car just after a junction some 2 miles earlier as I joined the A303 but given it no more attention than any other stationary vehicle, presumably this was the same one ? anyway his "follow me sign" came on & we went about 3/4 of a mile to a layby.
He explained that I had been stopped because I had no insurance & his ANPR had had a small fit as I passed him.I explained this was incorrect produced a copy of my insurance policy for the bike After a good look round the bike & checking my chain tension ? I was invited for a sit in the back of his car.
He declined to look at my licence or MOT & explained that my insrance doc didn't prove anything as I could easily have cancelled the direct debit after the first payment so I was duly reported for the offence ! even though I knew & explained I'd paid for the insurance in one go.

Now anyone who's seen that Police camera Action programme might remember the smug look on the officers face as the owner watches helplesly as his car goes of to the pound or crusher because he cant prove to the officer he's insured.
Well here I am at 6:30pm Saturday evening 170 miles from home & hands up anyone who thinks the insurance company office is open so we can confirm I am insured.
At this point he asks where I WAS going & I am jumpiing to conclusions & expecting the worst, he also asked how many miles I'd done that day & what time I started riding etc.
So when he told me take care on the rest of the jouney I was most releived but then he cheerily also added if I saw another traffic car I could expect more of the same.

Now the jouney home was dire, trying to get a handle what had gone wrong my concentration was hopeless.
I got Home at 11.00pm checked all the doc's, payment receipt & bank statements since last october to see that the premium hadn't been refunded - all Ok - still no idea's.
Saturday night & Sunday just couln't figure it.

On Monday I spoke to the insurers who confirmed my insurance was valid buy it wasn't on the Motor insureres database, apparently about 5 % of policies are missed off.

So a word of warning, that insurance certificate you have aint worth the paper it's written on as far as the police are concerned if it aint on the MID.
I'd advise folks to go to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] & check - its free !
1 month on not heard a thing from the Police so I guess they also checked with the insurance company & all is well but I could have well done without the greif.

Well, not fun for you, but at least I now know I'm on the list!

Sorry to hear of your ordeal Nige. Have heard of it before and it has worried me. Thanks for the link, which initially concerned me as it said no record found, then after two attempts it came up with my bike details.
A momentary technical hitch could cause so much trauma .

I'm not sure of this, but there is supposed to be a 'benefit of the doubt system' in place. Very trying to say the least.

-Steve

Hi Nige,

Thanks for posting that one up - with the link. Sorry you had to suffer the stress.

I've check my vehicles and all seems OK, for the moment, but really am I going to have to check this every time I renew or change my insurance? Or more frequently in case some IT system hiccups and takes me off the list!

It's great to know if you follow the rules, pay the tax & insurance, take the training and are considerate to others it still isn't enough because the State is always right and the individual never is! I could go on, I have a personal soap-box and tub for thumping, but it's noisy and I don't have the time right now - I'm too busy earning the cash to pay the tax!

I'm going out for a walk now. Although that's probably not the right thing to do as I'm more likely to get killed walking on the 'highway' than riding down it.

Chris

PS I'm not having a good day!

Good post Nige,

Hmmm, my car aint on the register tho...Bike is and Wife's car is but for some reason my car isn't...need to call the insurance company pronto before i get a pull and duly strip searched, chinese water tortured or finger nails extracted with pliers before they accept my evidence that i am actually insured.. :(

That is a usefull link.