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If You Think Avoiding Car Insurance Is Clever, Think Again 

Being uninsured can cost you dear says Hyperformance

15 May, 2004

Next time someone down the pub tells you they save hundreds every year by not getting their car insured, don't slap them on the back and say 'Good for you, mate' -- these people cost the rest of us around an extra £60 a year, says motoring insurance broker Hyperformance.

Being uninsured is not right, and it's not legal, yet there are still between 1 to 1.5 million uninsured drivers on British roads who think they have beaten the system and are saving hundreds of pounds.

This however is a short sighted view, according to Hyperformance, as the system always catches up with you in the end and it will cost you dear.

The likelihood of getting caught is vastly increased following the introduction of legislation effective from 2003 which has given police the option to issue a fixed penalty of £200 to any motorist found without suitable insurance for their vehicle. Furthermore they automatically face having six penalty points added to their licence. That's half way towards losing your licence altogether!

If you have to go to court, the average fine for being uninsured is £350 - a hefty price to pay when the average insurance premium is little more than £450 (check). And anyone with six points for a previous offence has to be dealt with by the courts, which can levy a maximum fine of £5000 and another six to eight points or a disqualification.

When you do finally decide to go straight insurance premiums will be higher which will reflect the serious previous crimes. A conviction for no insurance can increase the cost of insurance by around 25% and will also attract a higher excess.

Example: A 23 year old male roofer from Peterborough with a Vauxhall Corsa CDX. Without a conviction for 'no-insurance' his premium is £849 (with a £150 'excess') but with the conviction it goes up to £1045 (with a  £200 'excess').

If you take into account that if you had purchased insurance all along you would probably have built up some no claims bonus. This discounts premiums by 30% (for one year) to over 65% (for five or more years). So with two year's legitimate insurance under his belt, the roofer's premium would be down to £418.

And the pay back doesn't stop here! The insurance premium is going to be affected for up to 5 years after the event- although the penalty reduces with time providing you've been good.

So, if you do the sums, it just does not add up and being uninsured is not a clever way of saving money. The penalties are just too great.

*A pilot scheme for the new legislation was introduced in June 2003 was rolled out by the 23 police forces across England and Wales that currently use the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system.

Source: Hyperformance