Car Insurance. Uninsured Cars To Be Crushed
Are you one of the one in twenty motorists who regularly drive without insurance? You’d better watch out – your car could be heading for the crusher and shipped off to the world’s biggest scrap smelter in China!
New powers now allow the police to seize, impound and crush any car found on the road without insurance. A pilot scheme was introduced in Durham last spring. Since then, police have impounded more than 1,200 cars. Of those around half have been crushed into cubes and packed off for smelting.
Operation Takeaway as the pilot scheme was known, has been such a big success, that police forces throughout the UK are enthusiastically polishing up their tow trucks. The scheme is now supported by a new national police database that’s supported by the insurance industry. It enables the police to check the insurance status of every car in the UK whilst they’re sitting in their patrol car.
Now if you’re caught red handed without car insurance you’re forced to hand your keys to the police at the roadside. There are no exceptions – this applies to everyone; it doesn’t matter if it’s just a forgetful mistake or conscious driving without insurance.
Then you’ll have to get your skates on! You’ve just 14 days to produce a valid insurance policy to the police and collect your car. And other costs mount up. Before you can collect your car, you have to pay the cost of kerbside recovery (around 105) and the cost of secure storage – and that could easily amount to 15 a day. So, if you leave collecting your car to the 14th day, you could be in for a bill for 315.
And if you don’t reclaim your car, off to the crusher it goes!
During the pilot scheme, the cost of crushing the cars was partly funded by Direct Line. They have estimated that Operation Takeaway prevented up to 2,000 accidents. And many of the cars impounded by the police were found to be un-roadworthy.
A police spokesman said, Uninsured drivers are often guilty of many other offences. Such as having neither driving licence nor MOT certificate. We are doing everything in our power to get these dangerous and illegal drivers off our roads.
Indeed, uninsured drivers are much greater problem than many of us would expect. The Department of Transport recently reported that 1 in 20 motorists regularly drive without insurance. Furthermore, research from the Association of British Insurers discovered that uninsured drivers are amongst the most dangerous on the roads. On average they cause one accident every six months and are three times more likely to be convicted of driving without due care and attention.
And who pays for those uninsured accidents? We do! The average car insurance premium is loaded by 30 to cover the cost of damage caused by uninsured motorists. Across the UK that adds up to an extra 500 million paid out each year by the law-abiding motorists!
But that’s not the end of our financial pain. If an uninsured vehicle collides into your car, it’s still recorded as a fault claim on your policy. This means you’ll have to pay the excess when your car is repaired and unless you’ve got Claims Protection on your policy, your no-claims bonus will take a knocking. Over a two-year period, the reduction in your no claims bonus could easily cost 275 in higher premiums.
The move to take cars off the road and crush them has been warmly welcomed by the Association of British Insurers. The ABI has long criticised the leniency of punishment handed out by the courts to uninsured motorists but they still want tougher penalties. Offenders are typically fined just 150 to 200 – with time to pay – and this is much less than the average car insurance premium. Surely this cannot be true justice!
Tags: Car Crusher, Car Insurance, Driving Without Insurance, Insurance Industry, Insurance Policy, Insurance Status, Last Spring, Motorists, National Police, Patrol Car, Pilot Scheme, Police Database, Police Forces, Police Spokesman, Secure Storage, Skates, Smelter, Takeaway, Tow Trucks, Uninsured Drivers
Car Insurance. Involved In An Accident With An Uninsured Driver?
Car Insurance. Involved In An Accident With An Uninsured Driver?
Uninsured drivers are ten times more likely to drink and drive and three times more likely to be convicted of driving without due care and attention. They also cause one accident every six months. In fact one in twenty motorists regularly drive without insurance. It’s therefore not perhaps surprising that, one in ten of all motorists have been involved in accidents with uninsured drivers. The question is what to do if you’re involved in an accident with one?
At the time of the accident you’re unlikely to realise that the other driver is uninsured so you’ll have to react in the normal way. Take a note of the other car’s make, model and registration number. Also note the other driver’s name and address but whether he’ll give you his correct details is perhaps unlikely! Nevertheless, always record what the other driver says. Unless you have this information you’ll have no leg to stand on when it comes to getting some of your money back.
Also take notes about the damage to the other car and the accident scene. Remember to note road markings, road signs, light and weather conditions and whether the other car had its lights on in fact as much detail as possible. Then if you’re lucky enough to have an independent witness get their full contact details. And if you happen to have a camera in the car, take lots of pictures – and try and get one with the other driver clearly in the picture. The police might like that one!
If your policy is comprehensive, your insurer pay for your car to be repaired but you could lose your no claims discount unless you’ve paid to protect it. But then there’s the issue of your excess payment that’s the first part of the repair cost you have to pay for. You’ll have to pay that unless you’re lucky enough to have a policy that waives the excess payment if you’re hit by an uninsured driver.
For those of you with third party car insurance, you’re in for a hard time. Your insurer won’t pay for your repairs and, as the other driver is uninsured, you’re not going to get any money off him unless you can trace him and succeed in a court action. Even then there’s no guarantee that he’ll pay up! Your only guaranteed solution is to make a compensation claim to the Motor Insurers’ Bureau – but you’ll still have to pay the first 300 of the claim.
The Motor Insurers’ Bureau insists that have the other drivers’ car registration number and you must first report the accident to the police. Always ask the police for a copy of their accident report as the Bureau’s likely to ask to see it. The Bureau’s telephone number is 01908 671681 or you can e-mail them on enquiries@mib.org.uk.
At the moment The UK’ Law is being amended to crackdown on uninsured drivers. Not before time. Anyone keeping, not just driving, an uninsured vehicle now faces a fixed 100 fine and can also have their car seized and crushed. Currently the average fine for driving without insurance is just 170 and that’s hardly a punishment when car insurance costs many times more. Losing the car plus a fine of 100 is much more realistic. Let’s hope that the courts fully implement the crushing sanction!
A police spokesman said recently, Uninsured drivers are often guilty of many other driving related offences, such as having no driving licence or MOT certificate. We’re doing everything in our power to get these dangerous and illegal drivers off our roads.
We say, go to it blues and two’s!
Tags: Accident Scene, Accidents, Contact Details, Correct Details, Driving Without Due Care And Attention, Full Contact, Independent Witness, Insurer, Motorists, Name And Address, Party Car, Registration Number, Road Markings, Road Signs, Six Months, Third Party Car Insurance, Three Times, Uninsured Driver, Uninsured Drivers, Weather Conditions
