Government strides on continuous enforcement legislation is good sign for insurers
Without pressure from the insurance industry, a plan that could save motorists up to £100m in levies to cover costs of uninsured driving, may have been quietly swept under the carpet or at least severely delayed.
The continuous enforcement insurance initiative was first introduced as part of the Road Safety Act 2006 and would see stiff fines doled out to the drivers of uninsured vehicles even when they are not in use.
The legislation, that was scheduled for April 2009, would cost the government several million pounds but promised to produce extra insurance revenue of £100m, about 20% of the estimated £500m for uninsured driving.
Concerns began to arise within the industry when it became clear that not much headway had been made by the Ministry for Transport in laying out plans and enforcement details and it seemed unlikely the legislation would be ready for implementation by the 2009 deadline.
“The only people that would benefit from this not coming through would be uninsured drivers,” said Neil Drane, head of MIB compliance and enforcement services.
Biba and the Motor Insurance Bureau also said there were fears the MfT was struggling to come up with the necessary funds.
But as has been the case with a number of other insurance initiatives that faced government idleness, the industry took matters into its own hands and pressured the MfT into action.
At this year’s Biba conference, chief executive Eric Galbraith took the opportunity to put out a call for action stating: “The government has been dragging its feet on drafting new regulations which are desperately needed to help tackle uninsured driving in the UK. I am calling on [transport minister] Ruth Kelly and her team to do their utmost to set these regulations in motion at the earliest opportunity.”
Letters were also sent to Kelly and meetings were scheduled between the MfT and heads of motor at various insurance companies.
Last week the efforts paid off when Biba and the MIB received copies of a government blueprint into continuous enforcement insurance and a plan on penalty enforcement.
Although unlikely at this point to meet the deadline, Biba and MIB say the draft shows a commitment on the part of the government to follow through with the crackdown on uninsured driving.
It’s difficult not to question whether that would have been the case, however, had it not been for the pressure exerted by the industry.
The victory will likely be an incentive for the insurance industry to continue tipping the government into action on ongoing issues such as personal injury reform and pleural plaques compensation.
