How Do Uninsured Drivers Get Away With It?

[Tom9348]

Last year my dad was at the junction of a roundabout and was hit from behind by a Land Rover and it turned out in the end that the driver was uninsured. My dad got £8000 in compensation but the other driver pretty much got away with it as the police didn’t seem like they could be bothered following it up. The other driver said he’d owned the car 5 years before this accident. How do drivers like him get away with driving an uninsured car for so many years?

[barry1010]

Sometimes the driver isn't insured to drive that vehicle but it doesn't flag up unless there in accident / incident because the vehicle registers as insured for someone else to drive

[bobbinwales]

presume you got the £8000 compo from MIB Motors Insurance Bureau.... they should of tried to recover from him but maybe they dont bother. Do you know for sure the police didnt prosecute?

[barry1010]

Police are usually keen to prosecute uninsured drivers.

[bobbinwales]

There are lots of cases where the police prosecute .... but the fines are usually a joke (and not a funny one)

[Hymie]

Apparently around 4% of vehicles on UK roads are uninsured.

With the use of vehicle fitted ANPR systems linked to the insurance database, mobile police could easily catch uninsured drivers.

But imagine stopping every 1 in 20 cars and having to process the whole situation, including arranging having vehicle towed etc – much better for the police to sit in their patrol cars eating donuts.

[bobbinwales]

or Haribos.
Fair enough for random checks but if they were told an accident had an uninsured driver they know they have a sitting target

[barry1010]

Hymie, ANPR won't pick up cars insured for A to drive but B is driving.
Or cars with cloned plates

[New Judge]

Or driving on business with only SDP insurance (e.g. delivery drivers who are only "helping out").

[Tom9348]

So basically someone can buy a car and drive round in it uninsured and chances are they’ll go undetected unless they’re in an accident that causes enough damage to warrant going through insurance, or if the police decide to do a random check on the car because they think the driver looks suspect, ie, a chav?

[bhg481]

I get the impression that a lot of police cars are fitted with ANPR sensors that read registration plates and flag uninsured vehicles. If you happen to be unlucky enough to be stopped you will end up walking home because they will take your vehicle from you there and then.

[campbellking]

My friend only learnt her number plate had been cloned when she was sent a parking fine with a picture of a car leaving a service area. The plate was actually registered to her motorcycle

[William51]

Cars that are not insured are on a database and police car ANPR cameras pick them up, but the cars have to be caught. About three years ago i was stopped because i was late renewing my insurance and had to show my new renewed licence at a police station.

[Tom9348]

So how did this guy get away with driving uninsured for all them years? My dad said he was a very smart dressed well spoken guy and was surprised when he found out he wasn’t insured. The guy was driving a Land Rover

[barry1010]

Tom, you'd quickly get caught if you did that. You wouldn't be able to tax the vehicle for a start, that is always a red flag. The car would show up as uninsured on every ANPR camera it passed.

There is approximately 1 million uninsured drivers in the UK - about 4% which is half of what it was 20 years ago. That doesn't mean there are 1 million uninsured cars on the road.
As I explained earlier, my car is insured - it won't raise any flags to either cameras or passing police so long as it is driven sensibly. Even if my next door neighbour is driving it and isn't insured to do so, or I am delivering take away food for the local chippy (I'm not insured for that).

That 4% figure doesn't really tell us much. Are those 4% driving uninsured every day for months or years, or just once? Are they counting the car thieves and joyriders? The parents who front the insurance for their 17 year who has just passed her test?

I'd like to know the stats behind the numbers

[barry1010]

Tom, maybe it was his wife's car and he thought he could drive on her comprehensive insurance policy. It used to be very common to insure a car for 'any driver/any car' which meant anyone with a relevant licence could drive the car and the insured could drive any car belonging to somebody else.

Maybe it was leased and he believed that insurance was included. Or it could be a company car that had clauses that he didn't adhere to.

[New Judge]

//Cars that are not insured are on a database and police car ANPR cameras pick them up, but the cars have to be caught.//

No they don't. All vehicles must be insured, whether they are driven or not. The DVLA regularly run checks of all vehicles registered but not declared off-road against those insured and they take action against those uninsured. This offence ("keeping" an uninsured vehicle) however, is non-endorseable and is dealt with by way of a fine or (more usually) a fixed penalty.

[barry1010]

SORN cars don't need to be insured, as long as the owner abides by the rules.

[Hopkirk]

SORN cars would quickly ping a camera if driven on the roads.

[Peter Pedant]

someone else was insured to drive it?

Mr X will of course have difficulty in getting insurance now