Government to crackdown on uninsured drivers

The Government has revealed tough new measures to crackdown on around two millions drivers who take to the roads while not insured.

The new measures will make it an offence to keep an uninsured vehicle - rather than just to drive when uninsured - making it easier to catch uninsured drivers and keep them off the roads, according to Road Safety Minister Paul Clark.

The Government says that uninsured driving adds around £30 a year to every motorist’s insurance premium.

He said: “Each year uninsured and untraced drivers kill 160 people and injure 23,000, and uninsured driving costs law-abiding motorists more than £400 million in extra premiums.

“We’ve already taken action to force this irresponsible minority off the roads - increased police powers mean more than 400 uninsured vehicles are seized every day. But these tough new measures will catch anyone who is keeping an uninsured vehicle, leaving them with nowhere to hide.”

Under the new system the DVLA will work in partnership with the insurance industry to identify uninsured vehicles.

Motorists will receive a letter telling them that their vehicle appears to be uninsured and warning them that they will be fined unless they insure it within a set period. If the keeper fails to insure the vehicle they will be given a £100 fine.

If the vehicle remains uninsured - regardless of whether the fine is paid - it could then be seized and destroyed.

But insurer Direct Line said the proposed fines were not high enough and called for a policy rethink.

Whilst initially a fine of £100 will be issued, if paid promptly it reduces to £50 and is unlikely to deter the persistent uninsured driver, says the company. The new fine level is even less than the current average fine of £185 which has already fallen from £224 over the last decade

Direct Line said the proposed level of fines was in ‘stark contrast’ to the maximum penalties for a range of lesser misdemeanours such as: failure to pay your TV licence fee, £1,000; smoking in a smoke-free place, £200; conviction for graffiti, £5,000; fare evasion on London buses, £1,000; and overfilling your bin: £110.

Vehicles with a valid Statutory Off Road Notice (SORN) will not be required to be insured.

Regulations on how the scheme will operate will now be drafted, with the powers expected to come into force in 2010/11.

The penalty for driving without insurance is a maximum fine of £5,000 and six to eight penalty points. Around 300,000 offenders are convicted for uninsured driving every year.

(Department for Transport/Direct Line)