DEPARTMENT FOR
TRANSPORT News Release (008) issued by COI News Distribution
Service. 20 January 2009
Tough new powers
to tackle the selfish minority of uninsured drivers who cost
law-abiding motorists £400m each year were set out by Road Safety
Minister Jim Fitzpatrick today.
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.
Jim 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."
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.
Uninsured driving adds around £30 a year to every motorist's
insurance premium - amounting to more than £400m a year in
additional premiums. It is also estimated that uninsured and
untraced drivers kill 160 people and injure 23,000 every year.
The Government has already given the police powers to seize and
destroy vehicles being driven uninsured, along with improved
access to the Motor Insurance Database to enhance their capability
to detect uninsured driving by using Automatic Number Plate
Recognition (ANPR) equipment. Police removed around 150,000
vehicles in 2007 - more than 400 a day.
Last year a new offence of causing death by driving while
unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured was introduced.
Notes to Editors
1. Latest estimates are that around 6.5% (around 2 million) of GB
motorists drive uninsured. The penalty for driving without
insurance is a maximum fine of £5,000 and 6-8 penalty points.
Around 300,000 offenders are convicted for uninsured driving every year.
2. Measures already introduced in the Serious Organised Crime and
Police Act 2005 gave police improved access to the Motor Insurers
Bureau database and powers to seize vehicles. In 2007 around
150,000 vehicles were seized.
3. The Road Safety Act 2006 provided the primary powers for a new
offence of being the keeper of a vehicle which does not meet
insurance requirements. Further secondary legislation is required
to bring these provisions into force.
4. The public consultation published today sets out details of
how we propose the offence would be enforced. The consultation
runs until 16 April 2009 and copies are available on the DfT website.
5. Under the new offence, vehicle keepers who do not take out
motor insurance in spite of warnings will be sent a fixed penalty
notice and fine. If they fail to take action they may also face
court prosecution, and/or their vehicle being clamped, impounded
and ultimately disposed of.
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 8300
Department for Transport
Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk
News Release