Honest drivers pay out for car insurance cheats
For one day, every week of the year law-abiding UK drivers are footing the bill to pay for the uninsured and fraudulent drivers on the road. This is costing drivers a massive £1.25billion every year according to figures by The Co-operative Insurance.
The average driver is estimated to pay around £50 on every policy which subsidises fraudulent claims as well as claims for accidents caused by uninsured drivers. This is equivalent to 52 days cover under an annual policy, or one day a week for every year. More than 23,000 people are injured and killed by uninsured rivers every year and as a result of the risk these drivers pose insurers have to calculate motor insurance policies to reflect this stark fact.
Furthermore, 1 in 4 (23 per cent) of young people have admitted to driving illegally without either insurance, MOT or even a licence over the past year. Through its partnership with National Road Safety Charity Brake The Co-operative Insurance is working to inspire young people to become responsible road users.
Driving without insurance is illegal and if caught a driver faces having their vehicle seized by the police, a £200 fixed penalty notice and six penalty points on their licence. If the vehicle is not collected with a valid motor insurance policy it is possible that it will be either sold or crushed.
Tim Franklin, Chief Operating Officer at The Co-operative Financial Services, said: "Millions of people are deliberately flouting the law by not insuring their cars at massive cost to honest road users and the wider insurance industry posing an unnecessary and unjustified risk.
"Whilst work is continuing to be done to highlight the dangers of uninsured drivers and keep them off the UK's public highways by the police, road safety groups and the insurance industry there is clearly more to be done.
"As a responsible insurer we strive to educate drivers about the importance of responsible driving and the effect of deliberately forgoing insurance. If a person is injured as a result of an accident with an uninsured driver it is extremely difficult to recoup losses from the guilty party.
"Personal responsibility is at the heart of this issue. If you are an uninsured driver you need to think about the consequences of your actions and purchase insurance, and if you know somebody who is driving around uninsured you should seriously consider reporting them to the authorities.
"The majority of people would report benefit cheats, so why not insurance cheats too? This may sound radical but to put it into context if a driver takes out an insurance policy today they would actually only begin to pay their own policy on October 19 due to the risk calculations that insurers have to make."
Katie Shephard, spokesperson for Brake, said: "It's shocking that so many young people are admitting driving illegally. Young people are involved in a huge proportion of deaths and serious injuries on our roads due to their inexperience and the tendency of many young drivers to take risks like speeding, overtaking dangerously and drink and drug driving. Brake urges all young people to take the responsibility of driving seriously, to make sure they're fully insured, have an up-to-date MOT and are driving within the law at all times. Following this commonsense approach to driving will help to prevent more young lives being needlessly cut short."