More than half a million uninsured cars taken off Britain’s roads since 2018

Since 2018, nearly 550,000 uninsured cars have been seized by police as new figures shed light on the number of motorcycles used on our roads without cover.

This year, some 64,682 uninsured cars have been seized, according to research by AA Insurance.

Of the 542,370 cars seized by police between 2018 and 2022, most were seized in 2020 when Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions were in place, with some vehicle owners choosing to cancel their insurance policy to save money while they were unable to drive.

This is likely due to drivers choosing to cancel their insurance during the Covid-related national shutdowns that year, but not reporting them as SORN to the DVLA, removing them from the road and keeping them on private property, leading to to an increase in offenses .

The AA sent a freedom of information request to all 46 police forces in the UK regarding the number of uninsured motorcycles they had seized each year since 2018, 44 of which were figures.

The two that didn’t give numbers were the Cheshire Constabulary, which said its systems couldn’t easily determine how many cars had been seized for driving without insurance, and the Kent Police Department, who did not respond at all.

Despite lockdowns and limited travel in 2020, the most uninsured vehicles were seized with more than 129,652 cars taken off the road.

The Metropolitan Police has taken the most cars off the road – a total of 62,900 over the five-year period.

West Midlands has the second highest number of uninsured cars seized, with 44,056 seizures.

West Yorkshire completed the top three with 33,829 cars seized.

More than 33,000 drivers in Scotland had their cars impounded, compared to 22,700 Welsh drivers and 9,360 drivers in Northern Ireland.

AA Insurance warned that these numbers could be the tip of an iceberg, estimating that there could be about a million uninsured drivers on the road each year — and with the rising cost of living, more drivers could be tempted to turn to the roads without insurance.

Insurers have been the target of a crackdown by regulators to stop raising prices on renewal quotes, but many are still reporting that their policy costs are rising. Our ten tips for lowering car insurance costs explains how to save money and compare prices.

Gus Park, director of AA Insurance Services, said: “Every driver is concerned about being involved in a collision, but worse still, the other party is uninsured.

“Unfortunately, we know that in tough times some people are trying to cut costs, and one area where people are tempted to take the risk is getting their auto insurance.

“However, these numbers show that troops across the country are on the lookout and will take away uninsured cars.

‘Don’t take the risk. Not only is there the chance that your car will be impounded, but the criminal and financial hardship is not worth the gamble.”

On Monday, the Insurance Fraud Bureau launched a new campaign to raise awareness about ghost brokers who use social media platforms to sell fake insurance policies to younger drivers.

Victims who fall for the scam will think they are covered by basically driving without insurance, putting them at risk of prosecution.

It said it had seen more than 55,000 cases in the past year, up from about 21,000 in the previous 12 months.