The Motor Insurer’s Bureau places the current number of uninsured drivers on UK roads at around 1.5 million.
Uninsured drivers are responsible for around 200 deaths every year and hundreds of other injuries.
Injured parties often receive a mere pittance in compensation whilst the offending drivers seem to be getting off light, often with fines which are less than the person would have paid in car insurance premiums.
Accidents involving uninsured drivers cost the insurance industry £500m annually and road safety campaigners and insurers have called for an urgent review of current rules.
On average, fines have fallen from £224 to just £185 which, even though the number of instances of accidents involving uninsured drivers has increased and courts do have the power to imprison offenders, offers no resemblance to fines that go directly into the governments coffers such as TV Licence evasion (£1000).
Even though the Motor Insurance Bureau is there to compensate the victims of negligent uninsured and untraced motorists and every insurance underwriting company is obliged, by virtue of the Road Traffic Act 1988, to be a member of MIB and to contribute to its funding, the compensation offered is subject to an excess.
Whilst the likes of Direct Line now reimburses this excess to it’s policyholders, insurers it seems have no form of recourse to recover their expenses other than increasing all the law abiding citizens insurance premiums to claw these monies back.
Is it right that offenders get off so lightly – the punishment for non compliance with the law should at the very least be consistent?
Why is failing to pay a TV Licence a more serious offence than causing injury to someone whilst driving without insurance?
If the average price of a car insurance policy is now in the region of £500+, so should the fines, at the very least.