15 January 2008
Fewer people are hitting the road without having taken out car insurance, the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) said yesterday.
An advance in detection techniques used by the authorities - such as automatic number plate recognition technology - can partially explain the 10% reduction in uninsured driver rates over the past two years.
Police gaining access to the motor insurance database - and therefore being able to pick out the car insurance cheats by cross-referencing - was also credited by BIBA for the success.
Technical Executive at BIBA Graeme Trudgill commented: "Things, since two years ago, have changed a lot and uninsured driving rates have actually gone down, we believe, in excess of 10% in the last two years.
"In 2007, approximately 150,000 were seized by the police and in 2006 this number was 78,000 - so it's practically doubled in the last year and we're expecting it to be much higher again this year."
Nevertheless, figures from the Motor Insurer's Bureau show that people driving without insurance remains a serious problem in the UK.
Around one-in-fifteen of the UK's 30 million drivers are thought to not have taken out insurance and it is estimated that car accidents involving the uninsured cost the economy £500 million each year.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
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