Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

2000 No. 131

ROAD TRAFFIC AND VEHICLES

Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

Made

14th April 2000

Coming into operation

29th May 2000

The Department of the Environment, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Articles 103(1) and 218(1) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981(1) and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and shall come into operation on 29th May 2000.

Amendment of the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994

2.—(1) The Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994(2) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) In regulation 3(1) (issue of certificates of insurance or security), for the words after sub-paragraph (b) there shall be substituted—

• “Provided that where a security is intended to cover the use of more than ten motor vehicles at one time the company by whom it was issued may issue one certificate only and the holder of the security may issue duplicate copies of such certificate duly authenticated by him.”.

(3) In regulation 7 (production of evidence of insurance or security on application for excise licences), after paragraph (2) there shall be inserted—

“(3) A person shall not, when applying for a licence under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994(3), be required to comply with the provisions of paragraph (1) if—

(a) the motor vehicle in respect of which the licence is applied for is part of a fleet of not less than 250 motor vehicles owned by one person;

(b) the person who applies for the licence manages the fleet of motor vehicles on behalf of the owner of the fleet under a contract; and

(c) the contract under which the person manages the fleet contains a requirement that all the motor vehicles in the fleet be insured in accordance with the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.

(4) A person applying for a vehicle licence under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 shall not be required to comply with the provisions of paragraph (1) if—

(a) on the date when the licence is to come into operation there will be in force the necessary policy in relation to the use of the vehicle by the applicant or by other persons on his order or with his permission;

(b) the policy has been issued by an insurer which has entered into an agreement with the Department for the purposes of this paragraph of this regulation;

(c) in pursuance of that agreement the insurer has either—

(i) made available for inspection by the Department an electronic data base maintained by it, on which there are recorded sufficient particulars of the policy to enable the Department to satisfy itself that condition (a) is satisfied; or

(ii) confirmed to the Department that condition (a) is satisfied.”.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of the Environment on 14th April 2000.

L.S.

J. Ritchie

A senior officer of the

Department of the Environment

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations amend the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994 as follows—

Regulation 3(1) is amended so as to remove the requirement that a company obtain the consent of the Department before it may issue one certificate of security to cover the use of more than ten motor vehicles and so as to enable the holder of the security to issue duplicate copies of the certificate without being limited by conditions determined by the Department.

Regulation 7 is amended—

(a) so as to permit a person who, under a contract, manages a fleet of not less than 250 motor vehicles owned by one person to apply for a licence under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 without complying with the requirements of paragraph (1) of the regulation (which requires the production of evidence of insurance or security on an application for a vehicle licence), provided that the contract requires all vehicles in the fleet to be insured in accordance with the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981; and

(b) so as to exempt an applicant for a vehicle licence under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 from the requirements of paragraph (1) of the regulation if specified conditions are complied with. The conditions are that the applicant must be covered by a policy issued by an insurer, who has entered into an agreement with the Department, whereby either the Department can verify from a data base maintained by the insurer, or the insurer confirms to the Department, that the necessary policy will be in force when the licence has effect.

(1)

S.I. 1981/154 (N.I. 1); see Article 2(2) for the definition of “Department” and “prescribed”

(2)

S.R. 1994 No. 46

(3)

1994 c. 22