Paying for your car insurance is not only important, common sense and moral but it's also the law - yet thousands of people each year let their payments slack and hit the roads without coverage. One third of all young drivers have driven without insurance and 13% think it is acceptable to drive without insurance because ‘it doesn’t harm anyone’, according to the RAC Foundation.

Furthermore, surveys have revealed that people who drive without insurance are up to six times more likely to drive a non road-worthy vehicle, nine times more likely to be in a car accident, more likely to commit a hit and run collision, three times more likely to have been convicted of driving without due care and attention and ten times more likely to have been convicted of drink driving.

"Uninsured drivers now account for five per cent of motorists. These drivers cause more accidents and are more likely to be involved in other serious crimes than insured drivers. A higher profile police presence on our roads might help to deter some of the opportunist uninsured who take a calculated risk that they are unlikely to be stopped," said Edmund King, Executive Director of the RAC Foundation.

"Sentences also need to act as a deterrent. Many drivers estimate that if they get stopped they might be fined £200, which is often a fraction of their insurance premium. If offenders cannot afford to pay fines, then other appropriate punishments such as community service should be demanded."
"There is also a worry that the problem may be exacerbated as many young drivers believe that they are being priced out of the insurance market. We would like to see more initiatives, such as Max Driver and Pass Plus, with more generous discounts offered to young drivers who participate in extra driver training. Pay as you drive schemes may also help some lower mileage drivers on low incomes," King added.

Calculations from the department of transport say that, based on information from a number of sources, around 5 per cent of vehicles are being driven without valid insurance. Increasingly, uninsured driving is being regarded as a major social problem throughout Europe and since as uninsured drivers impose the costs on honest motorists in the form of insurance providers charging a higher premium, the department for transport says, "their presence on our roads… represents a serious risk to other road users".

The Association of British Insurers has estimated that the total cost of uninsured motoring in the UK exceeds half a billion pounds each year. They also say that 15 per cent of uninsured drivers were aged 17 to 21 and 33 per cent were aged 21 to 29, 48 per cent of uninsured driving during was by drivers under the age of 30, 25 per cent of uninsured driving was in the age range 30 to 39 and 14 per cent was in the age range 40 to 49.

These shocking statistics tie in with those from other sources that point to younger drivers as being the most dangerous. One in three young male drivers will write off a car in their first year of driving with women half as likely to do so, a quarter of the convictions for causing death by dangerous driving are for drivers under 20 - despite the age group representing only 3 per cent of all drivers- and more than 130,000 under-25-year-olds were convicted of driving without insurance in 2001, more than half of total convictions

London represents the largest trouble spot for uninsured drivers in the UK, with more than 450,000 uninsured vehicles on the roads.  In April last year the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) launched the Police Helpline, which is a dedicated ‘hot line’ for the Police to call when they stop a vehicle on the suspicion of no insurance.
Ashton West, the Group CEO for the Motor Insurers’ Bureau says, “Time and time again we see the consequences of uninsured driving. Innocent lives are ruined by the selfishness of drivers who think they are above the law. All the indications are that the rate of uninsured driving is beginning to fall, which is encouraging. But more can and must be done in the fight against uninsured driving.

 “MIB is working closely with the Police to tackle uninsured driving. Insurance is there to ensure proper compensation is available to the innocent victims of accidents. Those who think they can get away with not getting insurance are in for a big shock. The Police can seize vehicles if they have reason to believe there is no insurance and with the support of the MIB Police Helpline and additional resources committed by the insurance industry the public can be reassured that checks are in place to avoid seizing vehicles which have valid insurance," West added.