You can get six points on your licence if you practise this reckless driving behaviour
Motorists have been warned not to take reckless action that is driving up car insurance costs. As the cost of insurance premiums has risen in recent years, many drivers are struggling to afford the costs. Experts at Auto Express warned some people are taking rash action to avoid this expensive bill – which is ultimately making things more expensive.
Steve Walker, head of digital content at Auto Express, said: “Car insurance costs in the UK are still too high. Even taking recent signs that premiums are coming down into account, insuring a car is prohibitively expensive for many young drivers in particular.
“With the average annual premium for 17 to 24-year-olds now standing at around £1,100 it’s perfectly possible that younger drivers will be paying more to insure their car over a typical ownership period than it cost them to buy it.” Mr Walker said some people are choosing to simply drive without insurance, which can land you a £300 fine and six points on your driving licence.
The expert said: “The high insurance costs we’ve seen in recent years prompted more motorists to take the completely irresponsible decision to risk driving without insurance – actions that increased risk for insurers and ultimately raised premiums for law-abiding motorists. Better policing with the use of ANPR camera technology has made it more likely that uninsured drivers will be caught and we need to strengthen this deterrent further.”
He said there is also positive signs with new technologies being developed. Mr Walker said: “The roll-out of telematics technology is also positive, allowing motorists to prove that they’re driving safely in exchange for lower premiums, and this should be encouraged.”
Looking at other factors driving up insurance costs, the Mr Walker said: “In the wider car market general inflation, issues in the parts supply chain and a lack of skilled labour have also been factors driving the increased cost of car repairs with a knock-on effect on insurance. As we switch to electric cars and cars with more complex technology generally, it’s important that the Government ensures easy, affordable access to parts for repairers and supports the training that will be needed to keep these vehicles on the road.”
Experts at insurance data provider CRIF have crunched the numbers to show just how widespread the issue of driving without insurance has become. Their research found some 1.4 million drivers in the UK are driving without insurance.
Sara Costantini, regional director for the UK & Ireland, said the trend is “deeply concerning”. She said: “To drive down costs, and ultimately improve safety, the Government, insurers, fintechs and the wider financial services sector must work together to harness the latest innovations in areas like data and analytics to improve risk assessment, pricing sophistication, and fraud detection.
“Tools that can better profile customers and account for factors such as traffic conditions and granular geographical information during the underwriting process can help insurers to accurately price for individual motorists and improve loss ratios.”
