Car insurance news
Police clamp down on drivers with no car insurance
Police in North Wales have seized over 800 vehicles as part of a new crackdown on car crime. 64 people have also been arrested in the last ten days as police clamp down on untaxed vehicles, organised gangs and drivers who fail to get car insurance.
The initiative, codenamed Operation Debar, is the biggest of its kind in the United Kingdom and has been ordered by Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom, who believes that 27,000 vehicles are being used illegally in North Wales .
His assistant, Sergeant Alan Jones, released a statement warning of his intentions, “This operation will show that there will be no hiding place for drivers who drive their vehicles illegally on the road or refuse to tax and insure their vehicles.”
Many drivers don’t realise that when their tax runs out, their car insurance automatically becomes invalid too. As a result of the 2005 Serious and Organised Crime Act, police are now able to seize vehicles which are being used outside the conditions of the driving licence and also those that do not have valid car insurance.
Seized vehicles are being held in various compounds across North Wales and some have already been destroyed by crushers, and police have warned motorists not to expect any mercy if they are caught. Arrests so far have included offences such as disqualified drivers, drug dealers, people who have defrauded the DVLA, and those currently on warrants.
Rebecca Pearson, spokesperson for Duck2Water Car Insurance Services, said, “Nowadays there’s so many cheap car insurance deals available that it really isn’t worth risking being caught. And if you do drive without motor insurance, when you do get caught and are finally allowed to drive again, the chances of finding cheap car insurance are very slim indeed.
Police and the DVLA are appealing for members of the public who know of anybody who is driving without tax, car insurance or in another way illegally to contact them in confidence on 0845 607 1001.