CIE will make it an offence to own an uninsured vehicle

The government has confirmed that it will press ahead with a new system for cracking down on uninsured drivers.

Biba has been told by senior civil servants at the Department for Transport (DfT) that they will continue with the implementation of continuous insurance enforcement (CIE).

CIE is a new system that includes a change in the law that will make it an offence to be the registered keeper of an uninsured vehicle. This will be in addition to the current offence of driving while uninsured.

Following the general election, Biba wrote to new transport secretary Philip Hammond to check whether the coalition remained committed to the project, which was started by Labour.

Biba technical and corporate affairs executive Graeme Trudgill welcomed the government’s commitment to support CIE.

However, he said it was important to secure funding for a publicity campaign to ensure widespread awareness of the change.

The new system will enable tax information on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s vehicles register to be checked against the Motor Insurance Database.