There is risk to those that do not renew their car insurance that their car may be clamped on at their house and seized or destroyed. In the governments fight to get all drivers insured the clamp and scrap powers have been given to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
This new system goes live in June and is known as the continuous insurance enforcement. It calls for all cars to be insured all the time and the car does not have to be on the road to be clamped and taken away. The only excuse to not be insured is if the owner makes a declaration that the car is permanently not being driven or is off road.
The new rule has cause motoring groups much alarm, saying that innocent people can have their car taken or fined if they were away on holiday or in the hospital and could not renew their insurance. Mike Penning, Road Safety minister is adamant that a letter will be first sent out before any car is seized from any driveway.
The new Department of Transport policy makes it illegal to have an uninsured care when before it was only illegal to drive that car that was uninsured. Even if the fine is paid but the care remains uninsured, the car can be clamped on and taken away.
There are an estimated 23,000 people that are injured by uninsured motorists every year and make responsible motorist’s premiums increase by £30 annually. This will free up police to deal with other hard core offenders and allow us to take a targeted action approach to this escalating problem. Paul Watters of AA disagrees and says that many innocent motorists will be unduly clamped or fined for being nothing more than distracted by the course of a normal day or by being forgetful.
