A 52-year-old man from Onchan has been fined £650 for driving without insurance.
Neeraj Ramsaran Bhatia was stopped by police while driving a Toyota Land Cruiser on the Old Castletown Road on November 13.
Checks found that he was not insured to drive the vehicle which he said was owned with his business partner.
He was given five days to produce documents but on November 14 produced insurance which started on the day he was stopped by police.
He also produced an old insurance policy which expired in September.
Bhatia, who lives on Majestic Drive, said that he took out the previous policy on November 23, 2019, and had assumed it ran until November 23, 2020. He said that the car was registered in the UK and renewal documents had been sent to his UK address advising him that the policy expired after 10 months, but he had not been able to return to that address during lockdown.
Defence advocate Michael Mudge said: ’This is a simple oversight. Mr Bhatia moves regularly between the UK and Isle of Man as part of his business.
’He assumed the policy expired at the same time as others and didn’t receive the renewal notification as he was trapped in the Isle of Man.’
Magistrates also endorsed Bhatia’s licence with four points and ordered him to pay £50 prosecution costs.
He agreed to pay the fine and costs within one month.