With a growing number of the UK population opting out of insurance as a bid to cut back on costs during the current financial crisis, uninsured motorists could be faced with hefty bills as a police crackdown takes place to catch out those driving without insurance.

According to AA insurance, authorities across the UK are cracking down on motorists driving without valid insurance.

An automatic number plate recognition scheme is being used to compare registration number plates with the national Motor Insurers’ Database, (MID).

The insurer warned that if the system fails to find a match, drivers can face their vehicle being seized.

Already, there has been an increase in the number of uninsured drivers being caught, according to statistics published by Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) last month.

Figures found that due to the introduction of the automatic number plate recognition, over 170,000 uninsured vehicles had been stopped by the authorities last year compared to 78,000 in 2006.

As a result, AA Insurance is urging motorists to ensure they renew and update their car insurance policies.

Update your policy

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance advised motorists to ensure they update their policy as soon as possible as an expired policy will be deleted from the MID.

He said: “If you’re late renewing, or take out a new policy after your existing one has lapsed or if you buy a new car, it can take three or four days before details of the new policy are updated. The automatic number plate recognition equipment will therefore register the car as being uninsured."

With insurance renewals taking several days to process, AA Insurance is not only advising motorists to ensure they renew their car insurance policies, but to also have proof to show that the vehicle is insured.

Douglas continued: “Police are very likely to stop the motorist and if they can’t provide satisfactory evidence that the car is insured, it can be confiscated.”

Furthermore, according to the Motor Insurer’s Bureau, motorists may find their car insurance premiums being set to reduce for insured motorists as the number of uninsured drivers falls.

Premiums to reduce

Ashton West, chief executive from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), stated that £500 million is spent each year to cover the cost of accidents caused by uninsured drivers.

He said: "All law abiding motorists who are insured are paying nearly £30 each towards a total sum in excess of £500 million; this is how much it costs to compensate people injured by uninsured drivers."

"Our work with the police has been very successful and must continue alongside additional measures to make it harder for the uninsured driver to hide from prosecution."

However, with the authorities cracking down on uninsured drivers, the amounts spent by the MIB to cover compensation costs for uninsured drivers could be set reduce.

As a result, motorists could find themselves paying less for their car insurance premiums.