West Yorkshire a Hotspot for Uninsured Drivers

A decade’s worth of data from the Ministry of Justice reveals that West Yorkshire has the second highest number of uninsured drivers across England and Wales with an average of 33 prosecutions per 1,000 people over the last decade. Temporary insurance provider Tempcover have now published a report on the findings, which also notes wins and losses for different regions.

● The average rate of prosecution for driving without insurance across the country is 11 per 1,000 people, however West Yorkshire’s rate is 62% higher.
● Lancashire is the only region more frequently committing this offence. In Lancashire, there have been 36 uninsured driving prosecutions per 1,000 people – 72% above the national average.
● West Yorkshire was also revealed to be the second highest offender when it came to overall motoring crime prosecutions. That includes driving without insurance, drink driving and speeding, among other things. Tying with Lancashire, West Yorkshire saw an average of 191 prosecutions per 1,00 people for these offences.

Other regions in the top five insurance offenders are Cheshire, Greater London and the West Midlands. Meanwhile, despite speeding proving to be the most prolific crime across England and Wales, Derbyshire, Northumbria, Durham, Cleveland and Northamptonshire are all highlighted for having more uninsured drivers on their roads than people breaking the speed limit.

Tempcover’s report notes that the number of people driving without insurance was on the decline between 2008 and 2015, but has gradually increased each year since, rising by more than 20% between 2015 and 2018 – when more than 95,000 people took to Britain’s roads without insurance.

West Yorkshire saw 76,118 prosecutions for driving without insurance between 2008 and 2018. That could have cost law-breakers a total of £122,835,400, and added up to 456,708 points to licences in the region. For any individual speeding offence, you can receive £300 and six points.

The scale of the issue

The problem of uninsured drivers across West Yorkshire has not been ignored by West Yorkshire police, who launched a month long crackdown in October 2019.

“While most of us would never dream of deliberately breaking the law while we’re driving, it seems there are still plenty of drivers travelling West Yorkshire’s roads uninsured.” Says Tempcover’s CEO, Alan Inskip.

“When you look at public forums online, it’s easy to find people who have considered driving without insurance because they’re bringing a new car home from the forecourt, or because they’re planning a one-off trip in a friend’s vehicle. Rather than driving illegally in these circumstances, the best thing to do is get affordable, temporary insurance cover.”