Police seized cars across the country, with some postcodes seeing large numbers of drivers stopped
160,000 cars were taken off the roads last year in the biggest operation of its kind in 17 years. The cars were all uninsured, with drivers often stating they couldn’t afford cover – according to the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB).
There are an estimated 300,000 uninsured cars on the roads of the UK, and uninsured driving is estimated to cost £1bn a year in compensation for victims, emergency services, medical costs and loss of productivity.
According to the MIB, one person is hit by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver every 20 minutes, and one person a day suffers life-altering injuries. Postcodes topping the list for seized cars include Birmingham’s B25, B18, B66, B21 and B35, RM19 in Essex, PE1 in Peterborough, M18 in Manchester, RM1 in London and BT17 in Belfast.
In the past five years, the number of seized cars has risen by nearly 20% to 158,594 – and vehicles taken have included a Mercedes, a BMW and a Lamborghini. According to the MIB, drivers who do not have insurance are also more likely to drive while disqualified or be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Sgt Adrian Brown from West Midlands Police told the BBC : “A lot of people just own up to it and say ‘I couldn’t afford it’ or ‘I haven’t passed my driving test’. I think the other reason around this criminal aspect is they’re trying to hide the identity of the car.”
The cost of car insurance has also led to “fronting”, where older members of a family insure a young person’s car to reduce premiums, a type of fraud which means vehicles and their drivers are not properly covered.
As well as seeing cars seized, offenders can receive a fixed penalty of £300 and six penalty points.
