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Government confirms uninsured car crackdown

16/09/2009

Motorists without car insurance will be committing an offence whether they drive their cars or not, under a strict new law expected to come into force next year.

And failure to comply with the new rules - introduced in the Road Safety Act 2006 - will be punishable with fines, and by the cars of persistent offenders being clamped or even crushed.

Earlier this year, then Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick launched a consultation on the proposed law which closed in April. Publishing its response today, the Department for Transport (DfT) explained that the new measures would make it an offence to keep an uninsured vehicle unless it is subject to a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN).

Under the rules, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will write to the registered keeper of any vehicle which appears on its vehicles register, but not on the motor insurance industry database (MID), and which thus appears uninsured. If the owner fails to take action, the DVLA will issue a £100 fixed-penalty notice, the non-payment of which could lead to a court-imposed fine of £1,000.

After the fixed-penalty notice has been issued, the vehicle becomes liable to be wheel-clamped, impounded or disposed of.

"Increased police powers mean more than 400 uninsured vehicles are seized every day," said Mr Fitzpatrick's successor, Paul Clark.

"But these tough new measures will catch anyone who is keeping an uninsured vehicle, leaving them with nowhere to hide."

However, while the scheme has broad support among law-enforcement agencies and the insurance industry, others have raised concerns that SORN requires cars to be kept off the public highway. The DfT estimates that 43% of UK households have no driveway or garage, and must park on the street.

Quoted in The Telegraph, Privacy International policy director Gus Hosein said that the law would affect innocent people.

"It doesn't make sense. If a car is not being driven, why does it have to be insured?"

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