EU ruling to compensate uninsured drivers denounced
Motorists face further increases to their premiums to fund payouts for uninsured drivers, in an EU ruling described as ”crazy”.
As the latest Confused.com/Willis Towers Watson motor premiums survey highlights a 14% rise in premiums in the last 12 months, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the EU ruling meant that “hardworking drivers will foot the bill for the irresponsible actions” of criminals.
He pledged that the government would scrap the ruling once the UK leaves the EU.
Currently, the Motor Insurers Bureau pays out compensation to motorists whose car is damaged by uninsured drivers. But if the claimant driver is also uninsured, the MIB doesn’t pay out.
But under the EU rules, uninsured victims of uninsured drivers will also be eligible for MIB payouts.
The MIB is funded by insurance companies through a £10 levy on insurance premiums. It will now have to raise extra cash from law-abiding motorists to fund the new rules when they come into force on 1 March.
“It cannot be right that hardworking, law abiding drivers will foot the bill for the irresponsible actions of those who decide to break the law and drive without insurance,” Grayling said.
Paul Ryman-Tubb, chief technical officer at the MIB, told the Daily Mail: “The principle of using honest premium paying motorists’ money to pay for the damage to an uninsured driver’s car seems crazy.”
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