Car Premiums Getting Pricier Because Of Uninsured Car Owners

Honest drivers across the country are being penalised with higher insurance premiums, because more drivers are driving without insurance.

Such is the claim of Graeme Trudgill, the technical and corporate affairs executive at the British Insurance Brokers' Association. He recently stated, motorist are on average spending an extra 30 pounds a year on their premium as a result of uninsured drivers. As such, unlawful drivers of this type are costing the UK public around 500 million pounds a year. He claimed that the current situation has arisen largely because of two dominant factors: high insurance costs which consumers find difficult to manage and a perception among some members of the public that they will be able to get away with driving without cover.

As the number of uninsured drivers on the roads has increased over the past few years, the knock-on financial impact for insured motorists has also grown steadily, Mr Trudgill explained.

For those who are struggling with current motoring costs, taking out a car loan may prove an effective way they can keep their vehicle insured. On top of that, for people looking to buy a new car, by applying for a cheap car loan they could borrow enough to not only buy the car but cover insurance premiums as well.

Mr Trudgill told motorists thinking about driving without insurance that due to better cooperation between the insurance companies and the police has led to a greater number of convictions.

He explained: "The police now have the ability to check whether a car is insured or not at the roadside and have the power to seize any uninsured cars there and then. They have confiscated just short of 250,000 cars since their new powers came into force. So recently we have managed to make a dent in the problem."

Further legislation introduced recently has also made it a crime to be in the possession of an uninsured vehicle. As such, Mr Trudgill warned: "If you drive a vehicle without insurance, it is only a matter of time before you are caught."

However, despite invigorated efforts to stem the number of motorists driving without cover, the Biba spokesperson conceded that at present, it was still a "massive problem", with more than two million uninsured vehicles throughout Britain. Further research from Direct Line has shown that around one in twenty motorists currently lack cover, amounting to 1.5 million people.

Anybody wanting to ensure they are protected when buying a new car, applying for a car loan could offer them the finances they need to take out a fully comprehensive policy which will better protect them in the eventuality of an accident. Leftover funds from a car loan may also come in handy covering other expenses such as petrol, with recent figures from uSwitch showing that UK fuel prices are the highest in Europe.