The Motor Insurers Bureau, the organisation that pays out on personal injury compensation claims that originate from uninsured or untraceable motorists, recently said that nearly one out of every three drivers in some parts of the UK have no insurance.
The car accident claim specialists said that West Yorkshire and the West Midlands have seven times the amount of uninsured drivers than the national average. The MIB’s research findings found that in certain areas of Bradford and Birmingham, one third of motorists are currently driving without insurance cover.
Around 23,000 injuries and 160 fatalities occur every year in the UK that involve RTAs with either untraceable or uninsured drivers, said the MIB. Annual costs to the insurance industry are thought to be around £500 million, and insurers recover these costs by adding a minimum of £30 onto the average annual policy premium price.
Official figures estimate that 1.4 million cars are currently being driven about the UK with no insurance. However, this figure is an improvement from five years ago, where the number of motorists who were driving illegally was 1.9 million.
The uninsured motorist epidemic prompted the Government to pass the new Continuous Insurance Enforcement regulations this summer, which makes it compulsory to keep a car insured at all times unless it is officially declared as being taken off the road. Those car owners who neglect to do so can see fines of as much as £1,000, seizure of the vehicle, and even destruction for repeat offenders.
Law enforcement officials have also stepped up their enforcement of the new regulations through the use of state of the art mobile technology that provides them access to the DVLA in order to determine if a vehicle in question is insured.