Police are clamping down on the 2 million uninsured drivers by crushing cars and handing out big fines, but that’s not much of a consolation if one crashes in to your car.
Not only can crashing with a driver without insurance make a mess of your vehicle, if you don’t have the right car insurance cover, it can make a dent in your wallet as well if the crash is your fault or the car is not traced.
Uninsured drivers cost law-abiding motorists about £380 million each year – the equivalent to adding £30 to the typical annual cost of each driver’s car insurance.
Third party and third party fire and theft cover won’t cover damage to your vehicle in a fault accident with another driver – comprehensive car insurance will, but you will have to pay the excess and may lose your no claims discount.
If the crash is not your fault – bearing in mind uninsured drivers are around 10 times more likely to have a drink-driving conviction and five times more likely to crash their car – your insurer will help.
Financial problems generally lead to driving without insurance, and most uninsured drivers have little or nothing to make a claim against if they have a crash.
To get around this, some insurers offer special protection for customers who have accidents with uninsured drivers that safeguard any no claims discount.
The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), which is funded by the car insurance industry will pay your insurer for your claim.
The MIB will also pay anyone injured by an uninsured driver, or who has property damaged in a crash, providing the uninsured vehicle is traced. If it is not, only personal injury claims will be settled.
Police seize around 1,500 uninsured vehicles a week – but at that rate crushing every uninsured car in the UK will still take around 25 years, and that’s if no more vehicles are added to the list.
No comments:
Post a Comment