Police crackdown on uninsured drivers starts TODAY

British police forces are cracking down on uninsured motorists this week as part of a new operation to take cars off the road that are being driven without proper cover.

“On Drive Insured” is a week-long coordinated effort by the Bureau of Motor Insurers and the police department that kicks off today and will focus on vehicles identified as uninsured.

It says police have already removed more than 100,000 motorcycles from our roads without cover this year, crushing a third. However, more needs to be done to curb rising crime, which adds £500 million a year to insurance premiums.

Birmingham will be one of the main focuses of the operation, with data from insurance companies showing that seven of the 10 zip codes where claims involving uninsured motorists are made are in the city.

The operation was launched by the MIB and the National Roads Policing Operations, Intelligence and Investigations (NRPOII) unit of the National Police Chief Council (NPCC).

During the action week, the police will use the Car Insurance Database – a live registration of all car insurance policies – to see if cars are insured.

If disputed by the driver, MIB will contact the insurer in question in real time to confirm the insurance status of the vehicle.

If the provider says there is no coverage on that vehicle, it will be tracked down and seized by agents – and possibly crushed.

Offenders will also be fined a minimum of £300 and six points on their license.

In the most serious cases, they go to court and receive an unlimited fine and/or a driving ban.

The crackdown comes as figures show that every 20 minutes someone in the UK is hit by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver – and every day at least one person sustains an injury so serious they require lifelong care.

The promotion runs until November 27. The agency says it received more than 26,000 claims last year alone from victims involved in a collision with an uninsured driver.

And so far in 2022, more than 100,000 uninsured drivers have had their vehicles impounded, crushing a third of these engines.

Records show that more than half a million uninsured cars have been seized by police since 2018.

Of the 542,370 cars requisitioned by troops between 2018 and the middle of this year, most were seized in 2020, when Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions were in place, with some vehicle owners opting to cancel their insurance policies to save money when they weren’t. can drive.

Failure to declare their vehicles as SORN to the DVLA, take them off the road and keep them on private property led to an increase in violations, the AA said.

The increase in cases of uninsured drivers has a dramatic economic impact.

The growing scale of the problem is now costing innocent motorists nearly £500 million a year in higher premiums.

In addition, government figures also suggest that injuries caused by uninsured and volatile drivers could cost the economy nearly £2.2bn a year in emergency services, medical care, lost productivity and human costs.

A crackdown on uninsured hotspots like Birmingham

While Op Drive Insured takes place in all regions of the UK, there will be a special focus on uninsured hotspots in each local region.

Nationally, Birmingham has the highest levels of uninsured driving, representing the top five postcodes where most claims are made following incidents involving motorists not covered.

In fact, Birmingham makes up seven of the top 10 postcodes for the whole country, with Smethwick (four miles outside Birmingham) also ranked seventh.

On the other hand, Scotland seems to have the lowest number of uninsured drivers according to the data.

Paul Farley, law enforcement manager at MIB, said uninsured drivers are “simply dangerous,” “causing far more collisions” and “are often associated with wider traffic crimes, including collision-related accidents.”

He adds: ‘We are working day and night with our police partners to put an end to this.

‘We hope that Op Drive Verzekerd sends a clear signal that no one is above the law and those who choose to drive without insurance will not get away with it.’

Roads Minister Richard Holden also issued a statement on the operation, saying it will crack down on those who “piggyback on everyone else” and that it is part of the government’s “commitment to improving road safety “.