Press releases

It’s the end of the road for uninsured drivers

Honest motorists in the UK are paying up to £30 each on top of their annual premiums to help compensate victims of insurance cheats.

And the problem is still growing, says UK breakdown service Autonational Rescue.

But high-tech help has arrived in the form of a new database which helps the police identify offenders more easily.

The cost of motor claims has risen by 193% since 1988 according to Association of British Insurers (ABI) figures, and it’s believed a million British motorists are still breaking the law by driving WITHOUT insurance.

A spokesman for Autonational Rescue said: “It’s not a victimless crime either. Other motorists have to pick up the bill through their own motor insurance premiums when uninsured drivers have an accident.

“It’s the largest class of general insurance business in Britain, with nearly 30 million motor policies in force and, of course, UK law says everyone must be insured against causing injuries to others and damaging property following a road accident.”

As so many people are dodging this legal commitment, just to save money, then it costs insured motorists up to £30 a year to make sure funds are in place to cover the results of uninsured accidents.

The cost of compensating victims of accidents caused by the uninsured is now approaching £500 million a year, says the ABI.

Most motorists overwhelmingly support new measures to tackle uninsured driving, including confiscation of those uninsured drivers’ vehicles - so they can either be resold or crushed - and bigger fines.

What’s more, uninsured drivers are many times more likely to be guilty of driving an unsafe vehicle or even drink driving.

Added Autonational’s spokesman: “Last year the average fine for driving without insurance was just £150 for the motorists who got physically caught by traffic police, while the average cost of motor insurance itself is around £300 per annum.

“But now better use of technology is being made to catch the cheats.”

The national computer system used by the police is being integrated with the Motor Insurance Database which was set up by the insurance industry to specifically combat this crime.

It means that police on duty can identify potentially uninsured motorists more easily and, with an enquiry being made of the new database every few seconds, more cheats are being caught!

The database has already become a key tool in the crusade against the crime of uninsured driving, with details of every individually insured UK vehicle now held on it.

For more information visit the at Motor Insurers’ Information Centre at www.miic.org.uk and the Motor Insurers’ Bureau at www.mib.org.uk.

For more information about Autonational Rescue, the car breakdown service with the no claims bonus, call 07000 999 911

Issued by CPR Works
Tel: 01902 680068
Contact: Jenny Carr/Roger Eversley
E-mail:jenny@cpr.co.uk
Web: www.cpr.co.uk

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