Compulsory car insurance rules come into force

New laws to tackle uninsured drivers comes into force today. From now on, it will be an offence to keep an uninsured vehicle, rather than just drive uninsured. The new tougher regulations will help crackdown on the menaced caused by uninsured drivers, allowing a course of prosecution to be pursued even without prove that the vehicle has been driven with insurance. All register keepers of a cause must either have insurance or declare their vehicle as off the road.

From today registered keepers identified as having an uninsured vehicle will be sent a letter telling them that their vehicle appears to be uninsured, and warning them of the consequences if they fail to take action. Those who do not act on this warning – either by taking out insurance or declaring their vehicle off the road (SORN) – will receive a £100 fine and could have their vehicle clamped, seized and destroyed. They may also face a court prosecution.

The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), which last month launched a national advertising campaign to raise awareness of the new law, has seen a 20 per cent rise in the number of successful searches by motorists who have checked their insurance details are recorded on the Motor Insurance Database (MID).

All drivers can check their vehicle is recorded correctly for free at www.askMID.com.

Ashton West, Chief Executive at the MIB, said: “We know who the registered keepers are with vehicles that have no insurance and letters will be dropping onto their doormats from this week. It’s no longer a case of if you will get caught, but when you will get caught.”

“An estimated 1.4 million drivers are flouting the law by driving without insurance. This is a serious offence and results in accidents that cause about 160 deaths each year and more than 23,000 people are injured by uninsured drivers. It also adds around £30 per year to honest drivers’ motor insurance policies.”

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

The new law will run alongside the existing offence of using a vehicle with no insurance, which is enforced by the police. The police seize 180,000 vehicles each year for this offence, and offenders also face a £200 fixed penalty or a court fine of up to £5,000 and possible disqualification.

Author: Faye Sunderland, June 20th, 2011
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