Millions Are Driving Uninsured, And Cheerfully Admit It

There is no definitive data on the levels of uninsured driving in the UK, but this new study makes for interesting reading;

A new study has estimated that approximately 2.9 million motorists have been fined for driving without insurance at least once in the past.

The data comes from the latest survey by Renewal, the new personal finance app powered by Go.Compare. Around half (49%) of all drivers in the research admitted that they have made a mistake that made their vehicle unroadworthy. Of these, 15% said they have been penalised for being uninsured – equal to 5% of all adults. The penalty for making this mistake is currently a fine of £300 and six penalty points on your licence – a very costly error for those who’ve made it.

The survey also suggests that this error could be down to losing insurance details and therefore not knowing when their insurance policy ends – just under one in 10 drivers (approximately 8%) surveyed said they’ve lost their insurance details before, equal to around one in 20 (6%) of all adults. This is equivalent to 3.2 million adults nationwide who have been left without key information like what they’re covered for, which drivers are included in their policy and the policy term.

Younger drivers are twice as likely to have lost their policy, according to the survey’s findings. Approximately 14% of drivers under-35 stated that they’ve lost their policy details before, compared to just 6% of drivers aged 35 or older.

Matt Sanders, spokesperson at Go.Compare (which powers the Renewal app), said: “Your car insurance policy documents aren’t something you’re likely to look at every day, so it can be all too easy for them to become lost in a stack of papers, stuffed in a drawer or mistakenly deleted from your inbox if you were sent a digital copy.

“While you likely won’t check them too often, it’s important to make sure your policy details are stored somewhere safe so that you can easily access them if and when you need them. It could make things difficult otherwise if you need to claim or find out what you’re covered for. In some circumstances, it could lead you mistakenly driving without cover, which could be very costly.

“Using an app like Renewal is a good way to keep track of your documents, as it allows you to store all the details of your insurance policies in one place, giving you easy access to the information you need whenever you need it. This saves you from scouring your inbox or papers at home to get what you need, as you’ll know you can just quickly pop into the app to find it.”

The Renewal app can be downloaded via: https://www.myrenewal.app/