Helpline will allow police to check on insurance

7:17am Wednesday 29th August 2007

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NORTH Yorkshire Police have signed up to a helpline to help them identify vehicles which can be seized.

More than 78,000 vehicles were seized by police across the UK in 2006 for having no insurance, of which 40 per cent were subsequently crushed or sold.

The Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) has launched a helpline to assist the police with difficult roadside situations where there may be doubt over the insurance cover for a suspect vehicle.

Ashton West, chief executive of the MIB, said: "When traffic police pull over a vehicle that does not appear on the Motor Insurance Database (MID), there can be occasions where the driver claims to be insured.

"In these circumstances the police helpline can provide the officer with a definitive answer in the majority of cases by undertaking additional investigations beyond making a MID enquiry.

"Those who drive without insurance are reckless and selfish in the extreme. MIB works closely with the Police at reducing uninsured driving."

Uninsured driving costs every motorist an additional £30 per year on their premiums and uninsured drivers are 10 times more likely to have a drink driving conviction, six times more likely to be driving an unsafe vehicle and four times more likely to have a driving without due care and attention conviction. About 160 deaths on our roads each year involve an uninsured driver.

North Yorkshire Police is one of 29 forces in England and Wales which have now signed up to the helpline, with the other 14 set to join by the end of the year.