New powers lead to clampdown on uninsured vehicles

Tuesday, 24. May 2011

The net is closing in on those that don’t insure their cars. The new rules that have just come into force enables the DVLA to clamp your car and even scrap it if you have no insurance on it. The new rules, entitled Continuous Insurance Enforcement extends the powers of the DVLA beyond issuing driving licences and vehicle registration documents to checking to ensure that every car is insured. In the past the driver has been responsible for making sure that the car he is driving is insured but in future the onus will fall on the owner of the vehicle, even if the car is parked on private land including garages and driveways.

The only way for an owner to avoid having to insure a car when off the highway is to have a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN) which has to be obtained from the DVLA. From June owners will receive a notice from the DVLA if the car is uninsured and a warning that they will receive a £100 fine unless they comply with the regulations.

If the status remains the same, ie. uninsured without a SORN, the car can be confiscated and crushed, even if the fine is paid. Information regarding cars and their insurance will be passed between the Motor Insurance Bureau and the DVLA.

One of the aims of these new rules is to free up police time in checking on drivers with no insurance, the other is to help to keep insurance costs in check as there has been a growing number of payments made to cover losses, innocently suffered by motorists involved in accidents, where the culprit has been uninsured. Are you in favour of the new measures? By Graham Hill