Revealed: UK’s uninsured driver hotspots

February 20, 2010 – 9:36 am

Listed below are the ten areas with the highest proportion of uninsured driver convictions.

With uninsured driver accidents becoming an increasingly big problem for both motorists and insurers, price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com analysed almost 3 million car insurance quotes over a year and identified the places with the highest convictions.

It said that the Scottish town, Sanquhar, in Dumfriesshire tops the list, with male motorists between the age 22-25 the main culprits. Amazingly, almost 30% of searches for insurance there showed up a conviction.

Hebden Bridge, in West Yorkshire, and Glasgow were placed second and third in the list. Once again males in their early twenties were the main offenders.

In fact, in all of the top ten areas men were the main offenders, except Bedfordshire – the only area with a female profile in the top ten.

A surprise addition was London’s posh W11 postcode, where offenders were also older than the norm.

Steve Sweeney, head of car insurance at moneysupermarket.com said: ‘It seems men under 25 are not only the country’s ‘boy racers’ but also ‘law breakers’. With half of the top ten profiles for uninsured drivers being males under 25, they are more likely to flout the law by driving without car insurance.

‘Unfortunately, the high cost of car insurance, especially for younger drivers could be the overriding reason for this.’

THE UNINSURED DRIVER HOTSPOTS
Postcode	Area	Age range	Sex	Offence code	% of convictions to searches
Source: Moneysupermarket
DG4	Sanquhar, Dumfriesshire	22 – 25	Male	IN10	28.42%
HX7	Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire	22 – 25	Male	IN10	24.88%
G14	Glasgow	22 – 25	Male	IN10	20.43%
M12	Manchester	31 – 40	Male	IN10	17.42%
KA4	Galston, Ayrshire	17 – 21	Male	IN10	15.79%
E9	Hackney, London	51 +	Male	IN10	14.39%
B7	Nechells, Birmingham	51 +	Male	IN10	14.29%
LU5	Dunstable, Bedfordshire	22 – 25	Female	IN10	12.84%
HR6	Leominster	22 – 25	Male	IN10	12.45%
W11	Notting Hill, London	31 – 40	Male	IN10	12.37%

The cost of uninsured drivers

Uninsured drivers are causing the cost of cover to rise by approximately £30 each year. To ease the worries of those concerned by escalating insurance costs, Motor Insurers’ Bureau have started the ‘Stay Insured’ campaign.

It says: ‘By being covered to drive a car, you are not only protecting yourself in the event of an accident, theft or damage, but you are safeguarded against others less cautious motorists as well.

‘The cost of running and insuring a car can be expensive-especially for younger drivers- however it is quicker and easier than ever to find a good deal for your car insurance by shopping around.’

The AA says that fortunately the advent of automatic number plate recognition equipments (ANPR) on police cars is meaning that numberplates are being constantly cross checked against data taken from the MID (Motor Insurance Database). Britain has one of the worst records of uninsured driving in Europe with an average of 1 in 20 motorists driving without cover.

Some, like Germany, have about 1 in 500. However, in the UK we are making inroads into the problem and at the forefront are the police who have power to stop and confiscate cars they suspect of being driven without cover.

The MIB exists to compensate the victims of uninsured drivers (or hit-and-run, foreign drivers etc where recovery of costs is not possible).

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So what should you do if you get hit by an uninsured driver?

The AA’s advice is that if you are hit by a driver you suspect of being uninsured (and the other driver may be perfectly plausible in providing details, address etc which may well all be false); call the police. Note the circumstances of the collision, the registration number of the vehicle etc.

You then make a claim through your insurer in the usual way. They will soon discover whether the other driver was uninsured.

What follows is a long and complex process which will see a number of options: The Police, if they catch the uninsured motorist, are likely to prosecute and seek your support for doing so

Your insurer will put in place a process of making a claim through the MIB. This is not a quick process and there is an additional excess but it does provide compensation. It is worth doing this if the costs are high for example personal injury, loss of car, loss of income etc.

Unfortunately, if you have no record of who hit you, the driver is untraceable etc, you own insurer will meet your costs, but you will lose your excess and no-claim bonus (sadly, it is just that, a no-claim bonus, not a no-blame bonus) You can take a civil action to recover your costs from the uninsured driver if they are caught, but most uninsured drivers have little or no income and the chances of success are slim

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Simple steps to help yourself

Here are insurance comparison site Confused s tips for immediate action

1. Collect details of the other driver and / or car owner including car registration number, make and model. 2. Call the police as soon as possible if you suspect that the other driver is uninsured. 3. Get your insurer to check the Motor Insurance Database which lists over 35 million insured vehicles throughout Britain. 4. Note down the names and contact details of any witnesses. 5. Take pictures of the accident scene, including those of the other car and driver if possible. Use your mobile phone if necessary. 6. Write down details of road signs at the site and weather conditions at the time of the accident. 7. Refrain from discussing the accident with the other driver or admitting liability.

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