More than half a million cars have been seized since 2018 owing to a lack of insurance, a new study has found. An AA Insurance Freedom of Information request to all 46 police forces across the UK found that 542,370 vehicles have been taken away from drivers for not having insurance since 2018.
A total of 64,682 vehicles have been seized so far this year. However, despite coronavirus-related lockdowns and a drastic fall in the number of drivers on the UK’s roads, 2020 saw the most uninsured vehicles seized with 129,652 vehicles removed from the roads during the year.
Gus Park, managing director for AA Insurance Services, said: “Every driver is worried about being involved in a collision, but worse still is the other party being uninsured. Sadly, we know that when times are hard some people try to cut their costs, and one area people are tempted to chance it, is cutting out their motor insurance. However, these figures show that forces across the country are on the lookout and will take uninsured cars away.”
The Metropolitan Police seized the most number of cars since 2018 with 62,900 vehicles taken away from owners due to no insurance coverage, while West Midlands and West Yorkshire came second and third with 44,056 and 33,829 vehicles seized respectively. More than 33,000 drivers in Scotland had their cars seized, alongside 22,700 Welsh drivers and 9,360 motorists in Northern Ireland.
Kent Police, however, did not respond to the request while Cheshire Police said that "that their systems could not easily determine how many cars had been seized for driving without insurance".
Park added: “Don’t take the risk. Not only is there the chance of having your car seized, but the criminal and financial hardship is not worth the gamble.”
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