Uninsured drivers costing motorists an extra £31 per year on average

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£500 million is being added to motorists insurance premium costs due to uninsured drivers - 23rd August 2008

UK drivers are paying an extra £31 a year in insurance premiums, or £500 million in total because of uninsured drivers according to comparethemarket.com. These figures do not include the additional costs associated with uninsured driver accident claims where they have been involved in road accidents.

YouGov research conducted between the 9th and 12th of May 2008 against 2,016 adults showed that 87% of motorists believe that the Government should do more to deter people driving without insurance, including introducing tougher penalties. The survey also showed that the average fine for drivers caught with no insurance was £250, which 79% of respondents felt was too low.

The survey also showed that 12% of respondents had been involved in a road accident with an uninsured driver, of those 68% had assumed liability with 19% paying for the incident out of their own pocket and 49% claiming from their own insurance policies potentially jeopardising their no claims discount.

Theresa Villiers, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport said of uninsured drivers: “They are adding money on to every law-abiding driver’s insurance premium at a time when the cost of living is increasing sharply. It is high time the Government took decisive action on this problem. The average penalty for an uninsured driving offence is a fraction of the cost of a year’s car insurance, incentivising law-breaking. That cannot be right, and I hope Ruth Kelly will pay attention to the 87% of motorists who have told this survey that she should do something about it. Motorists have had enough of footing the bill for uninsured drivers.”

Ashton West, Chief Executive for the Motor Insurers' Bureau said: “It’s clear that any deterrent to the problem of uninsured drivers in the UK would be welcome. It’s a major problem in this country and it’s an unfortunate consequence that legal drivers have to bear the cost of this type of crime. Awareness of the potential penalties needs to be increased so it makes drivers think twice before taking to the roads uninsured,”