New vehicle insurance rules are set to be introduced in the UK. The rules make it an offence to fail to insure a vehicle which is off the road. The rules will be introduced following a joint collaboration between the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) and the UKs vehicle licensing authority (DVLA).

The purpose of the new approach in the UK is to crack down on uninsured drivers who are reportedly costing drivers an estimated £500 million in additional premiums per annum.

In a blog we published in August 2010 we noted that the UK had coupled the existing SORN system with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR)  to pin point vehicles which are unlawfully on the road. The introduction of the new insurance rules – which will apply to vehicles both on the road and off the road – means that the net is further tightened on those who are unlawfully using their vehicles – without road tax and insurance.

The situation in Ireland is already broadly similar to the new regime. In Ireland motor tax is backdated meaning that where tax has not been paid for a period it will still fall due unless the vehicle owner signs a declaration at a Garda Station swearing the vehicle is off-the-road. It is already a criminal offence to drive an uninsured vehicle in Ireland.

The new UK regime makes it an offence to fail to insure a vehicle which is off-the-road and which has not been declared as such.