Driving without insurance is number one cause for new drivers losing their licence

More than 40,000 new drivers have been banned within their first two years of driving, it has been revealed.

According to statistics obtained under a Freedom of Information request by Auto Express, driving without insurance is the most common reason for drivers getting banned in their first 24 months as licence holders.

Driving without insurance lands new drivers with six penalty points, which is enough to automatically revoke their licence in their first two years on the road.

Thousands of newly qualified drivers banned every year

Around 10,000 newly qualified drivers are banned each year, but 21,148 of the 40,481 total since June 2010 had licences revoked due to driving uninsured, said data from the DVLA.

AA President, Edmund King, told Auto Express that some may have been caught 'fronting', a practice where high-risk motorists avoid expensive premiums by appearing as a named driver on someone else's policy, when they are actually the main driver.

"There is still a hardcore of drivers who are uninsured - usually young men who often have a string of offences to their names and may not even have a licence," he said.

But the Department for Transport argued that fronting is only carried out by an "irresponsible minority", and says the current legislation is keeping the issue in check.

Uninsured driver numbers have fallen

Continuous Insurance Enforcement means drivers now have to officially declare cars off-road (via SORN) to avoid paying for cover, and cameras check vehicles to see if they are registered on the insurance database.

And the Motor Insurers' Bureau told Auto Express that the number of uninsured young drivers has dropped significantly since 2005; one in five drivers aged 17 to 20 was uninsured then, compared to one in 17 now.

Top 10 reasons for new driver bans

• No insurance - between June 2010 and May 2014, a total of 21,148 newly qualified drivers were caught using a vehicle uninsured against third-party risks
• Speeding - breaking the speed limit on a public road got 7,220 new drivers banned
• Driver's identity - failing to provide information on a driver's identity accounted for 2,220 bans
• Vehicle control - some 1,766 bans related to breach of requirements as to control of a car - using a mobile etc
• Care and attention - driving without due care and attention brought 1,675 bans
• Motorway speeding - another 1,249 bans were down to exceeding motorway speed limits
• Jumping lights - failure to comply with traffic light signals brought about 1,020 bans
• Defective tyres - some 854 drivers were banned for using a vehicle with defective tyres
• Insurance offence - different insurance offences accounted for 699 bans
• Failing to stop - some 665 drivers were banned for not stopping after an accident