Speakers' Corner

How MPs are making an illegal U-turn on protection for innocent motorists

Motoring lawyer Jeanette Miller is the senior partner of Geoffrey Miller Solicitors, one of the UK’s only firms specialising solely in defending drivers facing prosecution for motoring offences. She says the government is making an illegal U-turn on protection for innocent motorists

I currently have a client on trial for the serious criminal offence of failing to provide a specimen of breath without reasonable excuse.

This chap was the designated driver on a night out with friends when he was caught up in the middle of a fight between one of his mates and a group of bouncers. He was later stopped by police while driving to hospital for treatment on a suspected broken nose and broken ribs – and his injuries were so severe, he was unable to blow into the breathalyser.

Despite his offer to provide a blood or urine sample, he was charged nonetheless.

The man – let’s call him Mr Lucky – was advised to get legal help to defend his case, so he approached a local non-specialist law firm for representation under the legal aid scheme, as he couldn’t afford a privately paying motoring law firm such as mine.

When it came to his trial date in June, Mr Lucky’s lawyers sent a trainee to court who said her firm were in difficulty representing him due to problems in preparing the case. We are not sure what those problems are because when we eventually received their file, no work at all had been done. So, again, thankfully, the court gave Mr Lucky an adjournment and said, “Get yourself a specialist motoring offence solicitor, and come back for your trial in August.”

So Mr Lucky called me. He told me his story and I explained how much we would charge (almost four times what a £60-an-hour legal aid lawyer costs, but around the same level a personal injury lawyer can recover for their time).

He cannot afford to lose his licence or get a criminal record and so he has spent his life savings and borrowed money from relatives to pay his legal fees and we are now preparing his case for trial. I am confident that he will be found not guilty.

Despite the misfortune, I have referred to my client as Mr Lucky because when we do secure his acquittal, he will be entitled to recover the majority of his legal costs from the court. However if Mr Lucky was in this situation in 2012, even if he is found not guilty, he would only be able to recover a very small proportion of his legal fees.

This is because the government plans to introduce new rules to limit cost recovery in this situation to legal aid rates (£60 per hour) regardless of the actual charges incurred in proving your innocence.

As this case shows, capping cost recovery would be hugely unfair.

What is even more upsetting is that when the Labour government suggested this in 2009, today’s Tory ministers openly supported our campaign to block these proposals. Now the coalition appears to have done a U-turn, and are using some misleading spin to justify their changes.

Ministers say this cap is needed to stop celebrities “coining it in” when they use loophole lawyers to get off speeding charges on technicalities.

This is not who it will truly affect though: it is clients like Mr Lucky. It will be innocent people who are not criminals who suffer; people who are faced with crazy prosecutions because of sometimes over-zealous police officers, and a Crown Prosecution Service with many solicitors who have poor judgement and lack commercial and common sense.

A petition we set up in 2009 to block Labour’s similar proposals was signed by 22,000 people. We were supported by senior Tories. Now they are going back on their word.

The coalition has snuck these proposals into a parliamentary bill dealing with a host of other proposed changes to also reduce legal aid budgets. They probably assumed that this issue would be lost in the detail, but they were wrong.

This U-turn will eradicate access to justice for those who need it most: innocent defendants who cannot afford to pay their legal fees, but who would get virtually nothing back when they are eventually vindicated.

Why is getting rid of rubbish such a chore?

Can ridding your home of unwanted items make you a tidy profit? Or will you have to pay for the privilege?

By Maria McCarthy

I've been trying to get rid of a knackered old armchair recently Given it's saggy-seated state I realised that it might not get snapped up on eBay. But the experience has been so challenging I've felt as though I was attempting to offload weapons-grade plutonium.

My first approach was to local charities – but as it's too old to have a fire certificate they couldn't accept it. And taking it to the local recycling centre myself wasn't an option because it was too large to fit in my car.

Council charges

Then I tried my local council, who said they would charge £32 to take away up to five items of furniture. They wouldn't be able to pick the armchair up from my flat; their insurance doesn't cover entering anyone's premises so I'd have to manhandle it downstairs myself.

Even though it would work out expensive for just one item, I was open to that idea until I heard that their collection days were Tuesday or Thursday and they couldn't tell me in advance which it would be. I didn't think that having an old armchair sitting in the communal garden, possibly for several days would make me very popular with my neighbours, so I declined.

Then I asked a local handyman to take it in his van. But he said there could be a problem at the recycling centre if he turned up in his business van because they might see him as bringing “trade waste” and refuse him entry.

Getting desperate now, I toyed with the idea of taking an axe to the wretched thing and getting rid of one chunk a fortnight in my regular rubbish collection. It seemed absurd that the process was so difficult and I felt sorry for elderly or disabled people who would struggle with this situation far more than me.

As it happens, my story has a happy ending as a friend who is taking an upholstery evening class was delighted to take it off my hands. But other than that, what are the options for getting rid of bulky household rubbish such as old furniture and broken washing machines?

Get online

What you see as rubbish could be valuable to someone else, so try websites like ebay and Gumtree. Offer it for sale initially and see if you can get some money for it.

You can offer goods for free via Freecycle. It can be excellent but some people report problems with timewasters who don't show up.

Your local authority

They don't have a responsibility to collect bulky items, though some of them do anyway. Charges and collection criteria vary so call up and check with your council. Some recycling centres may accept rubbish brought in a handyman's van if you call beforehand and confirm that it belongs to you.

Private waste collectors

There are companies and individuals that will take your bulky rubbish way. Some are established outfits, whilst others fit more into the old “rag and bone man” image. As the value of scrap metal is rising, they'll be especially interested in old white goods. You may be able to get these taken away free of charge. If you use one of these companies it's important to check that they have a “waste carriers licence” and that you are given a “waste transfer note” to prove that you've disposed of your waste responsibly and not given it to someone who's going to fly-tip.

Retailers

If you're buying a new fridge or washing machine many retailers will offer to take away the old one, often free of charge.

Why fully comp insurance won't cover you in court

Motoring lawyer Jeanette Miller is the senior partner of Geoffrey Miller Solicitors, one of the UK’s only firms specialising solely in defending drivers facing prosecution for motoring offences. Jeanette warns that ignorance is no defence when it comes to driving without insurance.

When I first passed my driving test, I remember thinking ‘fully comp’ meant that my insurance enabled me to drive any car with the owner’s consent. But, unbeknown to many motorists, while some policies do extend cover to any vehicle, many do not. 

In my job it’s amazing how many drivers I come across who face six to eight penalty points and a whopping fine (the maximum is £5,000) for driving without insurance when they genuinely believed their fully comprehensive insurance policy covered them to drive, say, their girlfriend’s car.

Unfortunately, the phrase “ignorance is no defence” is definitely applicable here and a driver who unwittingly makes this mistake could end up paying a very heavy price.

The same applies to people who allow direct debit payments for insurance policy premiums to lapse. It’s easily done and can happen to the best of us but if you try telling that to the magistrates it won’t make a lot of difference to the penalty they impose.

Insurance loopholes?

Insurance offences are probably among the most difficult for us to defend because cases usually boil down to a simple factual question: was the driver insured or not?

Incorrectly assuming you were insured doesn’t wash with the courts. Relying on someone else’s assurance that you are insured is also no defence. That is, unless you drive a company-owned vehicle and your employer informed you that you were insured to drive it.

If you relied on a parent’s assurance that you were insured on their car, this can also amount to a ‘special reason’ why the court can choose to impose no penalty.

However, if that kind of argument is raised, the person who gave the assurance that you were insured could find that they are prosecuted for 'causing or permitting' you to drive without insurance (also six to eight points and a fine).

A fairer solution

So why is the penalty so severe? According to market research firm Consumer Intelligence, in 2010 uninsured drivers cost the insurance industry £2 billion.

And in June this year even tougher laws were introduced to catch those evading insurance, accidentally or not. The new rules mean that even if a car is off-road, if it doesn't have insurance the registered keeper could receive a fixed penalty of £100.

On top of this they could have their vehicle clamped, impounded or destroyed, and face a court prosecution with a possible maximum fine of £1,000.

Perhaps it would be fairer if those who found themselves in court solely because of forgetfulness or ignorance faced no more than a cash fine, while those who deliberately drove without insurance faced a possible points sanction as well.

If you have a question for Jeanette on any aspect of motoring law, from parking tickets to speeding fines, please email editor@confused.com and your question with an answer from Jeanette could appear in our next blog.

Should a man accompany a woman to a garage to ensure she gets a good deal?

Do women drivers get a raw deal when it comes to taking their car to a garage, asks Maria McCarthy, author of The Girls' Car Handbook?

“Oh, I couldn't possibly go there by myself. I'll have to wait until my husband/brother/father-in-law is free to come with me.” 

Where is my friend talking about? Where, in modern society could a woman not consider going without a male companion? Downtown LA? A haunted house? No. She's talking about taking her car to her local garage for its annual MOT.

Why garages can be daunting for women

Garages can feel like daunting environments, even to modern, independent women.

This is partly because there aren't that many women working in the motor trade and it's short of positive female role models (teenage motor mechanic Charlene played by Kylie Minogue in distant but fondly remembered episodes of Neighbours almost makes the grade but unfortunately is let down by that dreadful perm).

It’s also partly due to the fact that unfortunately there are still some mechanics out there (in my experience) who fall into the “staring at your breasts” sterotype who give you the impression they are not giving you the best deal because you are a woman who doesn't know what she's talking about.

But the answer for modern girls isn't to clutch at the nearest male for support. Especially since these days many men aren't that confident when it comes to dealing with motoring matters either.

Back in the days of Janet and John books Janet would help mum bake cakes in the kitchen while John helped dad repair the car. But nowadays most cars are too complex electronically for home repair.

This means that there are lots of blokes, especially younger ones, who are every bit as clueless about cars as their female counterparts – the only difference being that they might not be as willing to admit it.

So it's up to you to track down a good garage and a mechanic you can trust. Here are my top tips:

Personal recommendation
Ask family and friends for local garages that they rate.

Membership of a professional body
A garage signed up to the Retail Motor Industry Federation or the National Tyre Distributors Association is a positive sign.

Trained staff
A garage which employs mechanics with a professional qualification such as Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) is also a good sign.

Mystery shopping
The fast-fit chain HiQ has a mystery shopping programme to check that all customers are being treated honestly and respectfully.

Test them with small jobs
Go in for a few small jobs such as a headlight bulb change and see how they behave towards you. If you're getting a positive vibe that's a good sign that you can trust them for larger jobs such as servicing and repairs.

Keep it clear
When discussing a job, clarify if what they're offering is a quote (supplied in writing and giving a definte price for the work), or just an estimate (a rough idea of what they think it might cost).

Ask questions about their hourly labour charge, the cost of parts and whether or not their prices include VAT. Any good garage will be happy to answer these questions and won't brush you off.

Set a ceiling price
If your car needs work doing, set a ceiling price and ask them to stop and call you if it looks as though the cost might go above that.

Complaints

If you do need to complain, approach the individual garage or garage chain in the first instance. If that doesn't solve the problem then contact Consumer Direct, which is part of the Office of Fair Trading.

What do you think? Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? Do men and women get treated the same? Or maybe you think women get treated better? Tell me what you think by posting a comment below.