The Authorities are getting tough on people who don’t pay car insurance.

Back in 2005, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) issued a call to change insurance laws. They posited that owning an uninsured vehicle should become a criminal offence and said that the new law could cut uninsured driving costs by £100 million. Currently, a large amount of the costs incurred by uninsured drivers are paid for by people who do pay their car insurance. The estimated cost of accidents by uninsured drivers is £500 million a year which means about £30 a year is added to policy holder’s premiums.

An ABI spokesman elaborated on the proposed laws in a BBC article, he said "The reality is that the chances of being caught driving without insurance are very slim - police rarely make stops to check if drivers are insured," He added. "By making it illegal to own an uninsured vehicle, detection rates could shoot up because we have the information to check instantly if a vehicle is insured."

The same year the Transport Secretary Alistair Darling unveiled plans to take and destroy cars which were driven without insurance. The new plans were to mean that uninsured drivers could have their cars seized and destroyed before they were even taken on the road.

Earlier this year, despite new laws, Sky News reported soaring numbers of uninsured cars.  Infact, statistics show that almost double the numbers of uninsured cars are now on the road compared with how many there were in 2006. Sky News reported various reasons for motorists dodging insurance. One such reason was drivers simply ‘trying to avoid insurance, tax, parking tickets or congestion charges.’ Another rationale the report noted regarded wealthier drivers who ‘buy or acquire more expensive cars but cannot afford, or do not want to insure them.’

One of the many new laws which has come into play this year means that drivers who fail to renew their car insurance can be fined £100 regardless of whether their car is or isn’t in road use. Even drivers who keep their car in a garage are liable to pay the fines if they have not insured their vehicle. If drivers refuse to pay the new fine, they will have their car clamped or taken away. Offenders then have to pay the fine, a release fee and their insurance before their car will be returned to them. The rules are part of the Governments Road Safety plan.

The BBC’s respected, investigative Inside Out team explored the police clamp down last year. “Four thousand vehicles have been crushed, pulverised, squashed, pressed and cubed by police on Merseyside... and more are to follow.” The BBC feature revealed.

The police are now using the same tactics on drivers who don’t pay their car insurance as they use to combat terrorists and organised crime. Drivers who can’t prove they have insurance in spot checks are being told they will have to leave their car in police charge. They then have just two weeks to sort out the documentation needed in order to get their cars back.

Since the police initiative was launched approximately 20,000 Merseyside drivers took out car insurance. More expensive cars such as BMWs which belonged to drivers who now face prosecution for not having car insurance, may be auctioned off. Many less impressive cars are simply being crushed.