Laws to
tackle uninsured driving and permitting the use of uninsured vehicles have, from Monday 20th June 2011, been given a far higher priority by the authorities.
Under the Continuous Insurance Enforcement law it's an offence to be the keeper of an
uninsured vehicle, rather than just to drive when uninsured.
Since June 2011,
registered keepers identified as having an uninsured vehicle will receive a
letter telling them that their vehicle appears to be uninsured, and warning
them of the consequences if they fail to take action. Those who don't act on
this warning - either by taking out insurance or declaring their vehicle off
the road (SORN) - will receive a £100 fine and could have their vehicle clamped,
seized and destroyed. They may also face a court prosecution.
Motor Insurance Bureau Chief Executive, Ashton West recently stated
"An estimated 1.4 million drivers are flouting the law by driving without insurance. This is a serious offence and results in accidents that cause about 160 deaths each year and more than 23,000 people are injured by uninsured drivers. It also adds around £30 per year to honest drivers' motor insurance policies."
All drivers
can check their vehicle is recorded correctly for free at askMID.com
Under the new
system:
-
DVLA
are working in partnership with the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) to identify
uninsured vehicles
-
motorists
will receive a letter telling them that their vehicle appears to be
uninsured and warning them that they will be fined unless they take action
-
if
the keeper fails to insure the vehicle they will be given a £100 fine
-
if
the vehicle remains uninsured - regardless of whether the fine is paid or not - further action will be taken. If the vehicle is on public land it could
then be clamped, seized and destroyed; alternatively court action could be
taken, with the offender facing a fine of up to £1,000
-
seized
vehicles will only be released when the keeper provides evidence that the
registered keeper is no longer committing the offence of having no
insurance and the person proposing to drive the vehicle away is insured to
do so
Vehicles with
a valid Statutory Off Road Notice (SORN) won't be required to be insured.
The new vehicle insurance law means that the registered keeper of a vehicle must keep it insured unless they've made a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN). So, if you're not insured and haven't made a SORN, you could face a penalty.
The change in the law means, you will only be able to take your vehicle off the road and cancel your insurance by returning your tax disc to DVLA.
It must be returned on a V14 (application form for a refund of a tax disc) and SORN declared at the same time.