6 out of 10 Motorists could be driving without valid insurance policies
Data released from a uSearch research report reveals 60 % of drivers could unknowingly be driving on UK roads without valid insurance policy.
There are approximately 60% of motorists driving their vehicles without valid insurance policies. Most of their policies are invalidated as they have not informed their insurance company of job changes or change of occupations.
Police seize cars for invalidated insurance policies
If a driver has received a promotion at work or changed careers they have to inform their insurance provide right away. In the insurance company are not informed of their career change or job title change, their insurance policy may be invalidated. This means that if a claim is made against their policy, the claim could be rejected.
When a driver takes out an insurance policy, the insurance company calculates their premium using a variety of factors. Driver’s occupation has over the years been found to statistically affect the number of claims on their car insurance policy. Because of this it is important for drivers to inform their insurance providers when their jobs or occupations change.
When surveyed, over 60% of motorists that had changed occupations were found to have not informed their insurers of the change. Approximately 40% of people were unaware that this would invalidate their policies.
Driving without a valid insurance policy comes with some serious penalties. Usually a fixed fine and 6 points added to your licence, an IN10 endorsement will also be applied to your licence.
Police will also have the power to seize your car for not driving with a valid insurance policy. To have your seized car released from the compound you will have to pay high fees as well as a daily fee for each day your seized car is in the compound. On application to release your seized car you will need to provide a seized car insurance certificate to get your car back.
While the initial penalties and fines are high the long term effects of having an IN10 endorsement on your licence can be devastating. When applying for future car insurance you will need to inform your potential insurer that you have IN10 conviction, usually insurers will price this risk in and this will cause your premium to be higher. There are also some insurers that will refuse to insure you with an IN10 insurance policy.
The survey conducted by uSwitch also found that motorists were put off from informing their insurance company about their career change or job promotion because of the administration fees levied on them for making some changes. Average fees charged for updating details were found to be around £22 but there were some companies charging as much as £50.
Most drivers found it very unfair to be charged an administration fee by their insurer to change a minor detail on their policy. uSwitch are encouraging insurers to be more transparent about additional fees. They would also like to see fees for minor changes to be completely remopved.
If you have been caught for dirving with an invalidated policy because of a job change and had your car seized by the police, you will need to provide a seized car insurnace policy to the compound to get your car removed from the pouind call impoundedcarinsurance.com on 0800 009 6828 or 0161 726 5570 and one of our experienced seized car specialists will be happy to help.
