Call for higher penalties as police seize tens of thousands of uninsured vehicles

Forces in England and Wales have raised more than £1.6 million by selling or scrapping uninsured vehicles in the first six months of 2016 alone.

New research has shown that in excess of 22,594 vehicles were seized between January and June.

The cars generated more than £1.4 million at auction with a further £279,253 raised from the 6,583 vehicles scrapped.

In one instance, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) raised £22,100 from the sale of a single car – enough to buy a brand new Ford Focus.

Steve Barrett, head of car insurance at Churchill, called for drivers caught without insurance or valid licences to face tougher penalties.

Mr Barrett said: “Everyday, law-abiding motorists are paying out for their car insurance but the harsh truth is that they also have to pay for the million drivers on our roads who choose to drive without insurance.

“We need an urgent examination of the penalties for uninsured motoring, introducing sentences that are a real deterrent and that will keep these irresponsible motorists off the road.

“The penalties should be far higher and money generated from increased fines should be pumped back in to enabling the police to catch more drivers.”

The MPS topped the revenue table, earning £788,022 through sales and £108,779 from scrapping.

These figures should come as no surprise as Churchill estimates that 5.5 per cent of all drivers in London are uninsured and the MPS impounded 6,827 vehicles over the period.

Greater Manchester Police confiscated the second most vehicles with 3,488, and Devon and Cornwall Police seized just 277.

However, the latter force’s total still marks an increase on the 172 it impounded last year.

Other areas with proportionally high numbers of uninsured drivers include the North West (4.3 per cent) and the West Midlands (3.3 per cent).

In contrast, only 1.4 per cent of drivers in Scotland and the South West lack cover.

Consequently, the chance of any vehicle involved in an accident in these regions being uninsured is only one in 71 or 73 respectively, compared with one in 18 in London.

It is not only mainstream cars that are being impounded – 52 Porsches, 11 Ferraris, six Bentleys and Lamborghinis and two Rolls Royces were among the thousands of more exotic vehicles confiscated over the period.

Mr Barrett said: “To know that a contingent of these uninsured motorists are driving around in luxury cars worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, believing that their bank balance elevates them above the law, is maddeningly unjust and selfish beyond measure.”