In the UK it is illegal for motorists to get behind the wheel of a vehicle without insurance, drivers who drive without insurance face a fixed penalty fee of £300 and 6 penalty points. It is therefore surprising that the county of Lancashire in the North West of England has been highlighted as having the highest number of uninsured driver prosecutions in the UK over the past 10 years. .
In a report by the Lancashire Telegraph, Lancashire has the highest number of prosecutions for uninsured drivers per 1,000 people in the UK, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Justice.
Between 2008 and 2018, the county of Lancashire in northwest England, which has a population of 1.21 million, saw 43,301 motorists prosecuted for driving without insurance. Tempcover, which carried out the study, estimates that the total penalty points awarded to uninsured motorists reached 259,806 points, which could have cost offending motorists almost £13 million in fines.
Having car insurance is essential for motorists because it covers expenses in the event of damage to the vehicle or injury to other drivers, passengers or pedestrians while driving. As set out in the Road Traffic Act 1988, motorists in the UK must be insured against liability to others when driving a vehicle.
At Get Licensed, we know the importance of having driving insurance – so much so that we’ve created our own Get Licensed driving school guide to driving instructor insurance. If you’re a motorist and don’t know what type of car insurance to get, or even where to start, don’t worry because Get Licensed has you covered… Literally.