Tweet
Keeping a car without insurance is to become a criminal offence under changes to the law proposed by the government today.
Around 6.5% of motorists are thought to be uninsured, and an estimated 160 people are killed and 23,000 injured each year by drivers without cover.
It is already an offence to drive without insurance, but under the changes proposed today it will also become an offence to keep an uninsured car. Those convicted will face a fine of up to £1,000 and the possibility of court action to seize the vehicle.
The road safety minister, Jim Fitzpatrick, said new processes would allow the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and the Motor Insurance Bureau in Milton Keynes to work together to cross reference records and identify those vehicle owners without valid insurance.
The DVLA will write to drivers telling them to either pay for insurance or explain why they have not got cover.
If they do not take out insurance or fail to provide a reason why they have not, they will face a fixed fine of £100. If they still do not get cover they could be fined £1,000 and have their vehicle seized. Car enthusiasts and amateur mechanics who will not be driving their vehicles and have a statutory off-road notice (Sorn) in place will be excused.
Fitzpatrick said: "The selfish minority of drivers who refuse to insure their cars push up premiums for other motorists and kill or injure thousands of people each year.
"Increased police powers already mean more than 400 uninsured vehicles are seized every day, but these tough new measures will leave uninsured drivers with nowhere to hide."
Drivers without insurance are believed to cost law-abiding motorists around £30 a year in extra insurance premiums. The AA said last week that the cost of motor insurance premiums had increased considerably over the past year as a result of rising personal injury claims and incidents of insurance fraud.
The average cost of comprehensive cover has increased by 8.7% on this time last year to £741.66 a year.
Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, said the insurance industry was under "considerable financial pressure" and that further price hikes were likely.
"We expect this upward trend to accelerate," he said. "Although the bank base rate has fallen and there is widespread price-cutting across credit-crunch Britain, the costs insurers face are rising fast."
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
More...
