According to Churchill Car Insurance, 22,594 vehicles were seized by police forces in the UK in the first half of the year, out of which 2,866 were auctioned off for £1.4 million.
A further 6,827 cars were taken to the scrap yard, which meant another £279,253 which went directly to the police forces in England and Wales.
Motorists without car insurance face a £300 fine to go with six penalty points, though if the case goes to court, the fine can increase to a much larger sum and the driver can face disqualification, as reported by AutoExpress.
The same research showed that the Metropolitan Police in London is the biggest earner, having raised £788,022 from selling confiscated vehicles, plus a further £108,779 from taking them to the scrap yards.
Churchill Car Insurance estimates that 5.5% of all cars driven in London are uninsured, which means that any local motorist has a one in 18 chances of being involved in an accident with an uninsured driver.
Second to London is the Greater Manchester area, where police have seized 3,488 vehicles from uninsured motorists. Once seized, owners have 14 days to reclaim their cars – for which they need to show proof of ownership, identity, insurance, and oftentimes will also pay a charge.
“Everyday, law-abiding motorists are paying out for their car insurance but the harsh truth is that they also have to pay for the million drivers on our roads who choose to drive without insurance”, said Steve Barret, head of car insurance at Churchill Insurance. “We need an urgent examination of the penalties for uninsured motoring, introducing sentences that are a real deterrent and that will keep these irresponsible motorists off the road.”
