The cost to you
Uninsured drivers impose a significant financial burden on other motorists, estimated at around £380m each
year or around £30 of the cost of each insurance premium. The damage inflicted in road traffic accident results in large number
of claims for settlement by the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB).
In addition, uninsured driving imposes other costs on society. Research and surveys reveal that uninsured
drivers are more likely to be involved in road traffic accidents, to be non compliant with other road traffic requirements
and potentially to be involved in other criminal activity.
Compensation
The uninsured drivers’ agreement between the Government and the MIB ensures that the innocent victims
of uninsured drivers don’t go uncompensated. The agreement provides arrangements for the MIB to pay compensation to
those who suffer personal injury or damage to their property as a result of a motor vehicle accident.
In the case of untraced drivers, compensation can only be claimed for damage to property where the vehicle
concerned has been identified.
Compliance and enforcement
The Department for Transport (DfT) announced a package of measures to crack down on the estimated 2m motorists
on our roads driving without insurance. The measures followed the recommendations of Professor David Greenaway’s review
of motor insurance in the UK.
The DfT’s in continuing discussions with the police and the insurance industry to establish the most
effective way of countering the abuse of uninsured driving. Provisions in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005
enable the police to use their access to the Motor Insurance Database in conjunction with their Automatic Number Plate Reading
equipment. As a result the police are now seizing around 1500 uninsured vehicles per week.
The Continuous Insurance Enforcement scheme, will provide a new fixed penalty for people who ignore official
reminders that their insurance has expired. This’ll apply to vehicles that aren’t declared as being off the road
through a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN) and aren’t insured. Continuing offenders will risk having their vehicle
seized and destroyed. Where a motor vehicle isn't used on a road or other public place then there’s no requirement to
purchase insurance cover for 'on road risk' as long as a SORN declaration has been made. This scheme is expected to come into
force during 2009.
Penalties
The seriousness of the offence is reflected in the level of the maximum fine, £5,000, and the automatic endorsement
of an offender’s licence with 6-8 penalty points. The courts can order the immediate disqualification of the offender.
The police also have wide powers to stop vehicles and inspect certificates and this leads to around 300,000 convictions for
uninsured driving every year.
Driving without insurance has been punishable within the fixed penalty system. The fixed penalty of £200 and
six penalty points allow more rigorous enforcement of this offence. The possibility of a fixed penalty gives the police an
extra option for dealing with the offence concerned, but it doesn't preclude the police's ability to prosecute in appropriate
cases when they consider that to be the best course of action.
The police have the power to seize and in appropriate cases, destroy vehicles that are being driven uninsured.
Any vehicle seized under these powers will only be released on payment of the prescribed charges and the production of a valid
insurance document. The vehicle will only be released to the registered keeper of the vehicle or, if there's no registered
keeper, to the person appearing to be the owner. The police can dispose of vehicles not claimed within a prescribed time.
The Road Safety Act 2006 makes provision for harsher sentences for those who kill or are involved in accidents
while driving uninsured.
