Kevin. Have you changed insurance companies in the last few weeks? BBC Watchdog last week featured some very similar stories to yours. Here is the link.....http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2010/10/car_impounded.html#moreHere is some of the story...............But what if officers are acting on information that's incorrect? What if they've been led to believe that a completely innocent driver who's kept up to date with his premiums is driving round with no cover?This very thing happened to Stephen Farndon. He says, "I had to sit in the back of a police vehicle and have them read me my rights telling me it would be 6-8 points on my license and a 200 pound fine. It made me feel like a criminal."Before stopping uninsured drivers, the police check the car's number plate with something called the Motor Insurance Database - a computerised system run by the Motor Insurers' Bureau.While the details of all insured cars are supposed to appear on this system, not all of them do. That's because there can be a delay between a driver taking out or renewing a policy, and the company updating the records on the database.Flatmates Joseph Samson and Sam Wills now know all about this. Joseph insured his car one in July and two days later lent it to Sam. Sam was later stopped by the police because they thought he had no insurance. Sam was covered to drive under Joseph's insurance, so knew there had been a mistake. Understandably, he thought the problem would be resolved when he showed the police the insurance documents he had with him. Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple."They wouldn't accept it as valid. And there seemed to be nothing I could say to the police that would enable me to persuade them not to take the car away", says Sam.Embarrassed, Sam had to return to Joseph without a car and with a £150 fine to boot.After much negotiation, Joseph did eventually manage to get his car back the next day - and the police agreed to waive the £150 charge. But a question still remains - why didn't his correct details appear on the Motor Insurance Database?In reality, insurance companies don't have to update the database every time a policy is taken out or renewed - they've got a window of seven days in which to do it. However, that's seven days in which a driver could be driving around in a car which the police believe is uninsured. Even more worrying is the fact that Watchdog has heard from drivers whose companies have taken even longer to update on the computer records. Jayne Warren's teenage son Jake had his moped seized after he was pulled over by the police. This was nearly a fortnight after his insurance had been paid for.In May this year, Jayne amended her son's bike policy. "They assured me that the documents were definitely on their way. The documents weren't sent out, the database wasn't updated and after being stopped three times on the 19th May the bike was seized", says Jayne.Jake was unlucky enough to be stopped 12 days after he took out his insurance, well past the seven day window which the insurance company had to update the database. Jayne was forced to pay a £150 fine in order to release her son's bike.Unsure who to blame, Jayne feels like she's going round in circles:"I've contacted the broker. The broker said it was the police's fault. The police went to their legal department and came back and said no it's the brokers fault. When I went back to the broker, they've now told me to go to the underwriter of the insurance policy."... Nobody will admit to being at fault. And nobody will take responsibility and I'm 150 pounds out of pocket", she adds.So, just how many other innocent motorists are in danger of having their cars confiscated? Last year, the police wrongfully impounded 236 vehicles in London alone.Each year, more than 600,000 drivers - for at least one week - are at risk of the police believing that they're uninsured. Two years ago, Stephen Farndon started a campaign to force insurers to update the database as soon as policies were taken out or renewed. He felt incensed after having been a victim of the database delay himself - twice.The first time, Stephen was driving with his family in the car when the police stopped him, believing he wasn't insured."After the police seized my vehicle we had to unpack all our belongings, grab the babe in arms and we were escorted off the slip road in this direction", says Stephen. "And at that point I became really angry because I knew that I was completely innocent and yet they had taken my car. It was legalised theft."Stephen's insurer did reimburse the costs and also paid him compensation. Stephen changed his insurance company and couldn't believe his bad luck when later that year it happened again.Fortunately, on the second occasion they let him go with an order to produce his insurance certificate within seven days to a local police station. Five months on though, Stephen is still registered as uninsured on the database.Stephen feels the MIB and police aren't to blame because they're just following orders. For him, the blame lies with the Department of Transport as they make the rules.Whether it's down to the police, the insurers or the Department of Transport, one thing is certain - until someone takes responsibility, innocent drivers remain at risk.
Ellie Rose ● 5816d