BIBA: Uninsured drivers are ‘a massive problem’

With around two million people driving without insurance in the UK, the issue is a “massive problem”, the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has said.

The organisation said it is working with the government to reduce the number of uninsured drivers because they are costing other motorists over £400 million each year.

Graeme Trudgill, technical and corporate affairs executive of BIBA, says that next year there will be a new drive towards making sure motorists have car insurance.

“It will compare the Vehicle Registration Database with the Motor Insurance Database and anyone that’s got a car and hasn’t got car insurance will get a penalty notice and if they don’t get insurance then they will have their car seized,” Mr Trudgill said.

According to recent figures from moneysupermarket.com, 15 per cent of UK drivers admitted to driving without insurance, while 23 per cent of people in their twenties have driven without cover.

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Drivers swapping points to avoid ban

British motorists are prepared to go to extreme lengths in order to avoid the possibility of losing their licence and paying higher car insurance premiums.

With more and more speed cameras cropping up across the UK, drivers are willingly swapping penalty points with their loved ones to avoid having ‘too many’ on one licence.

Insurance firm Churchill has found that 495,000 people have swapped points in the past and a further 9.5 million (29 per cent) would be prepared to do so.

Aside from having to pay increased car insurance premiums, most drivers admitted that they simply could not bear for their loved one to lose his or her licence.

The reasons for this vary, with 21 per cent claiming it would prevent their partner from working, nine per cent saying it would make getting the children to school too difficult and ten per cent not wanting to be the only driver in the house.

Most of the drivers questioned said that they were aware that swapping points is illegal but nine per cent think that it is acceptable.

“This research shows the lengths that some drivers will go to in order to stay on the roads despite committing driving offences such as speeding,” said Frances Browning from Churchill.

“Trying to escape convictions by swapping points with another person is highly illegal and can lead to prosecution. The way to avoid a speeding ban in the first place is simple – drive responsibly.”

Churchill has given its support to government proposals which would see driving convictions graduated, meaning someone who drives only a little over the speed limit receives fewer points than someone who drives well over the limit.

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