The insurance industry and the motor industry are together trying to stop the uninsured drivers on the roads in the UK costing others millions in high car insurance premiums.

According to figures gathered by the Motor Insurance Bureau, the UK holds one of Europe’s worst records for uninsured drivers, with around one in twenty motorists are driving around in an uninsured car.

This is disturbing as uninsured drivers are ten times more likely to drink and drive and are three times more likely to be convicted of driving with out due care or attention. This is not a surprise as one in ten motorists finds themselves involved in a accident with uninsured drivers.

An accident with an uninsured driver can end up being very costly, even if your find that your insurance is willing to pay for the damage, you will find that you will lose your no claims bonus. But if you only have third party insurance it is highly unlikely that your insurer will pay for the repairs and you may have to make a claim to the Motor Insurer’s Bureau (MIB) instead.

Even if you are lucky enough to never have an accident you are still not spared from uninsured drivers. This is because all insurance companies in the UK must be a member of the Motor Insurer’s Bureau, which pays for the claims of the victims of hit and runs or damages made by uninsured drivers, and so they must all contribute for its funding. This then costs drivers who have insurance around £500 million a year or £30 on every motor insurance policy.

Although the figures amongst the general driving population of the UK, uninsured drivers make a fifth of drivers on the road, this rises as a third of them are young people. Young people especially young males under the age 25 are the main culprits because they find themselves in a situation where they can afford a car but not the insurance that comes with the car. According to the RAC they believe that:

“They don’t understand that it is not just there in case of damage to their car, it is there in case they hurt someone. “Many don’t think they are harming people by not taking out insurance and once they go out are not caught a few times, they think it is alright. “But if there were more traffic police, they could catch people the first time they tried it and could nip it in the bud”.

Although driving without insurance is a criminal offence, the fine is usually much less than the cost of insuring a car, so there are some drivers, especially the younger ones who find the cost of insurance is particularly high, who would rather take their chances in court.

Although it is difficult to get official figures because police are not obliged to keep numbers of uninsured drivers, the RAC would like to see this changed as they believe if this was put into practice there may be fewer motorists without insurance on the road because of the changes in the law.