So, we shall each be paying an additional couple of hundred quid on our insurance premiums next year to cover the cost of the 1 in 20 of our fellow citizens who don't insure their cars.

A true Catch-22 situation:

1. Youngsters cannot afford insurance because
a) they don't have a track record so are not qualified for no-claims discount or introductory discount
b) Their youth and inexperience means the premiums are loaded
c) If they have an accident the premiums shoot up
d) Other people's accidents mean that their insurance premiums will rise anyway

ergo, why insure?

2. If they are caught without insurance what happens? A

 

I'm not sure it's an answer, but it might prove to be a little more of a disincentive to avoid paying for tax/insurance/MOT if any vehicle found not to have them was impounded and either crushed or sold at auction, in the same way that HMC&E took to doing (albeit a touch over-enthusiastically, by all accounts) with suspected smugglers. On top of existing sanctions, of course.

I accept that this is probably little extra deterrent in the case of those who are driving bangers to start with though - I'm not really sure what you can do about them.

 

There IS an alternative......Don't Drive. If you can't afford to own and drive a car then walk/cycle/bus/train etc.

Yes, I know it's unfortunate that insurance is very high and possibly needs to be brought down (does mean more experienced people subsidising younger ones) but it's NOT a right to own and drive a car y'know.

 

Perhaps the gov needs to bite the bullet, and reduce the tax on insurance, and reduce the NHS's ability to reclaim costs of treatment that was a result of a motoring accident from insurers.

Subsidising motor insurance like that may not be right, but it may be the only way to get more drivers insured.

 

Due to the state of our public transport, if you can't drive, you often can't work either.

 

in the abscence of a dictatorial style government then there will always be those that 'get away with it' and flout the law.....

My answer to the young drivers is to get a car that is cheap to insure.......by definition a young driver should not be able to afford anything expensive anyway

I'm all for crushing cars that are not insured...good idea....sames goes for no tax

 

I agree with Mark.

As it stands currently there is no real disincentive not to pay insurance/road tax/MOT costs.

Just as people are happy to (ab)use illegally spaced/typeface numberplates, others will not pay insurance et al simply because the reward (lots of money saved) far outweighs the risk (chance of being pulled over on a given day, or even coming across a policecar). I'm not really comparing using dodgy numberplates to insurance fraud, but the same principals apply - people do it because they know the chances of being pulled over are remote.

Until the risks increase relative to the rewards more and more people are going to do it. I agree with the car crushing idea, but I believe there needs to be some sort of automated system for picking up uninsured drivers - if you leave it to traffic police to catch these people then people are still going to do it.

The new DVLA road tax system (automatically issuing fines) is a step in the right direction in my opinion, but its not nearly enough.

 

Well the way I see it is like this. If I pay the normal / economy fair on a plane I get certain things:

a meal, the flight itself, maybe a movie, no leg space and the uglier end of the air stewardesses

If I fly 1st class I can expect:

a nicer meal, drinks on tap, gorgeous trolly dollies, loads of comfort and maybe a handjob to wake me up in the morning

i.e. u gets what u pays for

so if I am paying for my insurance and more cos of little scheming b'stards not paying their way I should get some benefit.

They either

a) become my personal house slave or
b) I can put them in a pit to fend for themselves against wild animals from which I can sell tickets or
c) I and all my other insurance paying friends can make them suffer in whatever way we see fit at the time

They get the benefit of being allowed to drive

Seems fair to me. Nothing in this world is for free.

 

Kelk - WHO do you fly with? I need to know

 

It needs to be made as unsociable as drink / driving.

I certainly dont subscribe to the fact they cant aford it , they dont want to afford it.
My 18year old daughter pays