Drivers who don't renew their insurance in time...

[gmb45]

...face having their car clamped on their drive

Motorists whose insurance runs out and isn?t renewed on time face having their car clamped in their driveway, seized and destroyed under tough new rules laid before Parliament today.

The new clamp-and-scrap powers are being given to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) by ministers and are a new weapon in the Government?s armoury against uninsured drivers.

The new system, called continuous insurance enforcement, goes fully live in June and means cars must be insured at all times - and no long have to be spotted on the road to be clamped and seized.

New measures mean that drivers who forget to renew their insurance could face having their cars clamped on their driveway or even seized and destroyed.

The only exception is if the registered keeper makes an official declaration that the car is permanently off road and not being driven.

Motoring groups fear that innocent motorists who genuinely forget to insure their vehicle on time because they are on holiday or have an extended stay in hospital, will fall foul of the new rules which can also see drivers landed with a ?100 fine.

But road safety minister Mike Penning insists drivers will be given a warning letter and a ?100 fixed penalty notice before any car is clamped and seized from the driveway.

The Department for Transport said: ?Under Continuous Insurance Enforcement it will be an offence to keep an uninsured vehicle, rather than just to drive when uninsured. The regulations laid today will allow the DVLA to take action against those who ignore warnings to get their vehicle insured.?

?If the vehicle remains uninsured - regardless of whether the fine is paid - it could then be clamped, seized and destroyed. The regulations laid in Parliament today would give the DVLA the powers to take this action.?

Road Safety Minister Mr Penning said: ?Uninsured drivers injure 23,000 people each year and add ?30 to every responsible motorist?s premium so we need to do everything we can to keep them off the roads.

These new powers will help us to take targeted action while freeing up police time to deal with the hard core of offenders.'

But AA head of public affairs Paul Watters said: ?Many otherwise innocent motorists face being unwittingly fined or clamped for doing little more than being forgetful or distracted by the normal business of life.
Transport Minister Mike Penning said all drivers would be given a warning notice and fixed penalty fee before any car is clamped or seized from a drive.

?There must be some flexibility or leniency, otherwise this will become just another scam, like some cowboy parking ticket or clamping operations. It must not become a money spinner.?

He added: ?Safeguards must be in place to ensure that where offences are committed inadvertently, for example through illness delaying renewal of insurance or where a simple registration number mistake has been made on an insurance certificate, drivers are dealt with sympathetically. ?

The Transport Department said that under the new system the DVLA will work in partnership with the Motor Insurers? Bureau to identify from their database vehicles which are uninsured.

The Department said: ?Motorists will receive a letter telling them that their vehicle appears to be uninsured and warning them that they will be fined unless they take action.

If the keeper fails to insure the vehicle they will be given a ?100 fine.

If the vehicle remains uninsured - regardless of whether the fine is paid - it could then be clamped, seized and destroyed.

The regulations laid in Parliament today would give the DVLA the powers to take this action.?

?Vehicles with a valid Statutory Off Road Notice (SORN) will not be required to be insured.?

The first insurance ?advisory letters? warning individuals that they ?appear to be uninsured? will be sent at the end of June following a publicity campaign to raise awareness of the Continuous Insurance Enforcement scheme.

The Motor Insurance Database (MID) will be used to identify registered keepers of vehicles that appear to have no insurance.

Drivers are advised to check that their vehicle is recorded on the MID database - via askMID.

Latest official estimates suggest that 1 in 25 motorists (four per cent) drive uninsured - up to 14 million.

The penalty for driving without insurance is a maximum fine of ?5,000 and six to eight penalty points.

About 242,000 offenders are convicted for uninsured driving every year.

Measures already introduced in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 gave police improved access to the Motor Insurers? Bureau database and powers to seize vehicles.

In 2009 around 180,000 vehicles were seized.

AA Insurance said their own survey had shown that 6 out of 10 motorists were completely unaware of the changes that could see their car clamped and impounded from their driveway.

An AA/Populus study of nearly 13,000 AA members, an ?extraordinary? 59 per cent had not heard about the new law and of the balance who were aware of it, with four out of ten (38 per cent) saying they ?don?t know what it means?.

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, said: 'This tough action is to be welcomed but it is vital that the Government undertakes a campaign to increase awareness.?
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Drivers who don't renew their insurance in time face having their car clamped | Mail Online

[chroma]

~~~~~ that noise, someone winds up on my driveway with a clamp and they're leaving in a bodybag.

I dont need tax nor insurance to park on my private road, if the government thinks otherwise they're in for a shock!

[Grizz]

remember the movie minority report where you were prosecuted before you commited the crime. and your government dont even have telepathic mermaids to see that you did it beforehand................... craziest thing ive heard this year.

[super jumbe]

This what happens when the British people just take every Shiite from Govt and do not fight back, we are now in there hands, no smoking, no eating while driving, no wearing of vale, must inform DVLA car off the road, your personal information on database, clamping your car even when your engine piston broken when its not driveable, etc, I could go on and on, where are they going to draw the line?

[Canker_Canison]

Road Safety Minister Mr Penning said: Uninsured drivers injure 23,000 people each year and add ?30 to every responsible motorist's premium so we need to do everything we can to keep them off the roads.

If the uninsured drivers only add ?30 to my insurance, where does the rest of the ?150 increase come from? Given that we are lead to believe that these are the most dangerous drivers on the road.

As far as it goes I can see the logic in it. But there are going to be problems. You get no rebate if you return a tax disk with less than 2 months remaining on it. So why would you do it? Most people, if the car is coming off the road & the insurance is expired, will just wait for the tax reminder to land on their door step...then declare SORN. Nothing wrong with that, especially if, as Super Jumble has said, the engine don't work.

The other problem is that the 'career criminal' doesn't register a vehicle to themselves, or even their own address. So this will make no impact on these people, so it looks like the innocent mistakes made by ordinary folk will help generate more money for the government.

@Chroma, as long as your vehicles have a SORN logged you can drive anywhere you want on private land. No tax, no test, no insurance, no license..... You can't be touched.

[patkins]

This is a step to far.OK if the car is parked on a public road with no insurance but to invade on peoples private property is chancing their arm.
You should start a campaign through your MP's to probe the true legality of this new ruling.

[chroma]

Im aware of that Canker but the issue is I pay my road tax in February for a year, then in September I pay my insurance for a year. saves me getting bum rode with both at the same time.
So if my insurance runs out and I cant afford to pay then I'd be happy leaving my motor in the drive till I had enough to fork over to the heartless robbing bastards. Knowing that its only going to be a month or two at most before I finally get round to selling all that heroin to school kids just to make ends meet I doubt I'd SORN the thing.

Now I'm being told if I fail to issue a SORN then I'm shafted without even getting into the drivers seat?
~~~~ that.
I can understand If I was cutting about in an uninsured motor, but that's just not my style, I like to feel safe that when some stupid kid runs out from behind an icecream van and winds up horrifically wrapped around my back axle that at least the parents will get the burial money from my insurance company.

Just seems absurd to me, like issuing driving bans on people who drove without a license...
So yeah, like I said, I find some fly bastard clamping my wheel whilst parked on my property because ive had a bad month and cant afford to renew that month, he's going to be pissing into a bag and eating from a tube for the rest of his pain filled days.

[Canker_Canison]

We'll just have to hope they either ban the change to the law or give a 2 month cool off period before sending out letters & fines.

As far as kids running out from behind icecream vans & getting wrapped around the back axle... Surely it's their own fault. Wouldn't get anything out of insurance if it's proved to be the kids fault.