Motor Lawyers Blog – Motoring News

The Metropolitan Police Traffic Unit are to train borough police officers to detect and seize uninsured vehicles.  As with most experiments, other cities are due to follow shortly.

Owners of uninsured vehicles face having their vehicles impounded, a fine of up to £120 and 6 penalty points imposed on their driving licence.  If caught driving without insurance, a driver faces between 6–8 penalty points and a fine up to £5,000, although in certain circumstances an instant driving ban will be imposed.

Over the last few years, Motor Lawyers  have noticed a dramatic increase in motorists needing assistance for insurance offences.  Whereas previously the Police may even have been prepared to “overlook” an error, there is now a much tougher approach, bordering on zero tolerance.  Certainly, statistics show that uninsured motorists are likely to commit further offences, hence the clamp down, but there has also been a sharp rise in cases where drivers genuinely believed they were insured.

Detection rates have increased because all the insurers now supply information to a central database and this is much more up to date than in previous years.  Secondly, the Police now have immediate access to that information and superior equipment on Police vehicles will automatically identify an uninsured car, without the officer having to make an enquiry.

Motorists who have been stopped for any offence will now routinely have their insurance details checked at the roadside as opposed to being asked to produce documents within 7 days.  With facilities to remove vehicles immediately, there is no longer any need for the Police to show discretion.  This is particularly relevant for the motorist who has committed the offence in ignorance, normally because they assumed that their comprehensive policy extended to driving other cars, or they believed that their own policy was subject to automatic renewal, only to find out that it has been cancelled.

It is clear that in order to offer competitive premiums, insurers have been cutting back on the benefits previously regarded as automatic in a comprehensive policy, with the result that driving other cars extensions are now an “optional extra”, available for an additional premium, as opposed to part and parcel of a standard policy.  Likewise, automatic renewals are not as common as they once were, with the onus upon the driver to specifically request that cover be continued as opposed to assuming that it has been renewed annually, as it would have been the case in the past.  Even when cover has been obtained, drivers who miss one direct debit will have a rude awakening, as the policy may be cancelled immediately, whereas before, insurers were rather more tolerant, often sending several reminders.

There is a clear message to the motorist, which is the onus is firmly upon them to be 100% certain that the insurance policy is in place, is paid for, and covers the vehicle being used before the vehicle is even parked on the road, let alone driven!

Related Legal Link
Driving Uninsured

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