Uninsured drivers adding £600m to car insurance premiums

Honest motorists are paying £600 million more than they should to make up for the damage caused by uninsured drivers, Sainsbury's Bank has found.

There are around one million uninsured drivers operating in the UK, and this group has been found to be more likely to have accidents with other road users than people with car insurance.

Uninsured drivers are the most likely to fail to stop after an accident and are also ten times more likely to have been convicted of drink-driving.

This added cost increases individual premiums by as much as £30 a year, More Than has found, and this is set to rise.

A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said: "Competition between insurers can keep prices down but at the end of the day insurers have to make a profit. The cost of uninsured drivers is going to have to be met somehow."

Sainsbury's Car Insurance found that premiums could fall by around six per cent if it was made illegal for all registered owners and drivers alike to go without insurance.

The Association of British Insurers has said it wants the law changed to make it illegal to be the registered owner of an uninsured vehicle. Currently it is only illegal to drive an uninsured vehicle on the public roads, meaning that motorists can only be caught by roadside checks.

The changes would mean that people who have road tax certificates on their vehicles but not insurance cover could be caught automatically. Although the changes would not apply to vehicles registered for off-road use (such as being locked up in a garage) or for use on exclusively private land, the Association of British Insurers explained.