Uninsured drivers being caught out by DVLA-led scheme

Uninsured drivers have been costing law-abiding motorists for years, with the bill for accidents caused by them paid for by the insurance premiums of fully-insured drivers. Given the danger posed to the general public and other motorists by uninsured drivers, alongside the fact that the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) reported receiving over 11,000 claims last year against them, it’s clear that more stringent measures are required to catch out those driving their vehicle without appropriate cover.

However, it seems as if a scheme operated by MIB and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has already achieved success in keeping uninsured drivers off the road without the need to catch them in the act of driving.

Legislation introduced in 2011 allows action to be taken against the owners of uninsured vehicles which includes fixed penalty notices, £1,000 fines and the potential for their vehicle to be crushed. The scheme works by cross-referencing data from the Motor Insurance Database record of UK motor insurance policies with vehicle records held by the DLVA to identify vehicles that don’t appear to have any insurance.

On average, 3,000 letters are sent out to the drivers of uninsured vehicles that aren’t declared to be off the road every day, with the scheme’s 5 millionth letter sent out in October of this year marking a significant milestone in an initiative which has notably reduced the amount of uninsured drivers across the country. The letters insist that the driver either insure their vehicle or make a statutory off-road notification (or SORN) to the DVLA, with fines and court prosecution the punishment for failing to do so.

The dangers posed by uninsured drivers are stark, as detailed by Inspector Simon Hills from Thames Valley’s Police service: “In my experience, drivers who willingly use vehicles without insurance are often committing secondary offences. These range in seriousness from minor road traffic offences, to driving whilst disqualified and other crimes such as drug dealing and burglary. The effective enforcement of uninsured vehicles allows us to deny criminals the use of the road and prevent further offending.”

"There really is nowhere to hide. Data enables us to easily identify vehicles that appear without insurance,” offered the MIB’s head of enforcement, Neil Drane. “By using automation alongside ongoing police efforts, we've helped to halve the number of uninsured drivers on UK roads over the past 10 years."