Police seize more uninsured cars
A growing number of top-of-the range cars are being seized because owners could not afford to insure them or chose not to, according to a leading broker.
The AA said the number of uninsured vehicles seized by the police had almost doubled in a year, from 78,000 in 2006 to 150,000 last year.
Forty per cent of the cars seized have not been reclaimed. Some of the 45,000 unclaimed vehicles were crushed and others sold at auction.
The AA also said that claims for accidents with uninsured drivers were down from 36,340 in 2006 to 34,239 in 2007.
AA president Edmund King said: “The more widespread use of automatic number plate recognition cameras means that the net is closing in on uninsured motorists.
“Some motorists feel that driving a top-of-the-range car means they are less likely to be stopped. This may have been true a few years ago, but the camera does not discriminate.
“However, some villains are trying to stay one step ahead of the chase by using foreign number plates to try to avoid detection. We need to increase the checks on foreign registered vehicles.
“Plates from a left-hand drive eastern European country on a right-hand drive car are often a sign [of an uninsured vehicle].”
