Uninsured driver clampdown
20 January 2009
- Owners of uninsured cars targetted
- Will get £100 fine initially
- Cars crushed if no insurance bought
Owners of uninsured vehicles will be fined regardless of whether they drive the car, under new regulations set out by the Government.
Previously, it had been an offence to drive an uninsured car on the public highway. However, it will now be an offence to own an uninsured car that is not declared as 'off the road' with a valid Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN).
Officials hope the new system will make it easier to catch drivers who don't have insurance.
The DVLA will work with the insurance industry to identify uninsured vehicles, with owners of the vehicles then sent a warning letter.
If they don't pay, they will get a £100 fine and failure to then get the car insured will result in the car being destroyed, regardless of whether the fine is paid.
There are around 400 uninsured cars are seized every day, but there are believed to still be around two million uninsured cars on the road.
The penalty for driving without insurance is a maximum fine of £5000 and between six and eight penalty points. Around 300,000 offenders are convicted for driving without insurance every year.
Every insured motorist is estimated to have £30 a year added to their premium to cover accidents caused by uninsured drivers.
The proposed law change will now go to public consultation before being ratified as law.
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