Don’t risk penalties - renew your insurance in good time

With postal strikes looming, specialist insurance broker Footman James is reminding customers how important it is to renew their vehicle insurance in good time to avoid penalty points, fines or having their vehicle impounded and crushed.

Paul Matthews, Footman James’ managing director, said: “Our records show that 16 per cent of motorists leave renewing their insurance until the actual day it is due for renewal.

“In fact, 60 per cent renew within only four days of their renewal date and nearly three per cent actually renew after their renewal date. There are no days of grace – you’re either insured or you’re not.

“Occurrences such as this week’s potential postal strike action mean that people who prefer to renew by post could have their paperwork delayed, and therefore not processed in time.

“With this in mind, there are other, more immediate ways to renew your insurance – for example paying online with a debit card is instantaneous, and could avoid this risk.”

As a large insurance broker, Footman James has the daily duty of updating details on the Motor Insurance Database (MID).

The MID was launched to help combat uninsured driving, and contains the details of all insured vehicles on the UK’s roads.

Any motorist whose details are not on the MID could face having their car impounded – since 2006, the police have used the MID to seize more than 400,000 cars – 40 per cent of which have been crushed.

Mr Matthews added: “The police are rightly actively using the MID every day to crack down on uninsured drivers, and simply by leaving it too late to renew, you could face consequences including the inconvenience of having no car, a £200 fine, six penalty points, £150 collection charge and £20 per day storage fees, so it really is not worth leaving it until the last minute.”

Facts about uninsured driving:

The Motor Insurance Bureau – which manages the MID, deals with more than 30,000 claims each year from victims involved in accidents with uninsured and hit and run drivers

Uninsured driving costs more than £500m every year and adds £30 to every honest motorist’s annual premium

The number of claims involving uninsured vehicles has fallen by almost 13 per cent in the last two years