By Chris Bradley
UK motorists are being warned in a series of advertisements that the government are tightening up on their car insurance rules. At the moment, you do not have to have insurance for a vehicle unless you actually drive it, but the new rules will mean that motorists could be fined if they do not have insurance on a vehicle, regardless of whether it is used.
It has been estimated that about 1.4 million drivers do not have insurance at the moment and they can only be prosecuted if they are caught driving without insurance. From next month there will a change where if anyone owns a vehicle which is not insured they will be in trouble. Drivers will be sent a letter to remind them. If they do not comply then they will be fined £100 and court action will follow.
Even if the fine is paid but the insurance is not purchased, then the vehicle may be clamped, seized or destroyed if it is parked on public land. If it is on private land court action could result in the owner getting a £1000 fine. There will be an exception made for owners who have declared their car as off the road. This should save the police time as they will not have to worry about checking insurance. This may even result in insurance policy costs coming down because there will be a higher demand as people take out policies for cars they do not currently have insured. It may also mean more cars being declared as off the road.
