Surge in number of uninsured drivers

A GROWING number of motorists are no longer renewing their car insurance policies because of worsening economic conditions, according to a senior insurance executive.

The Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) has revealed there was a 26% increase in the number of reported accidents involving uninsured drivers in the Republic last year.

The MIBI – which handles all insurance claims for traffic accidents involving cars driven by uninsured, foreign and hit-and-run drivers – was notified of 1,573 collisions involving uninsured drivers in 2008, an increase of 328 on the previous year.

MIBI chief executive, John Casey, said motor insurance was a legal obligation and anyone who caused a collision while driving without insurance would be vigorously pursued for the costs of the accident. The average compensation paid out by the MIBI is about €24,000 a case.

“There is no doubt that the recessionary effect of losing jobs means some people are taking a chance and not renewing their motor insurance on time. It is a serious situation and people should take a long hard look before thinking of driving while uninsured,” said Mr Casey.

He also pointed out that motor insurance costs, despite recent increases, were still about 50% below 2000 rates.

The MIBI estimates that 6% of all motorists on Irish roads are either uninsured or not properly insured such as provisional licence holders driving unaccompanied.

The MIBI paid out a total of €72.7m in compensation last year – a 30% increase on 2007 and the second highest total in the past 10 years. However, it recovered almost €10.3m from parties responsible for accidents.

On a more positive note, the number of accidents involving foreign-registered cars in Ireland fell from a record high of 1,102 in 2007 to 925 last year.

The 16% decrease in such accidents is believed to provide further evidence that many immigrants have started returning home to their native country as a result of the economic downturn.

Mr Casey said many owners of foreign-registered vehicles who were living in Ireland had also re-registered their cars as a result of a clampdown by both gardaí and Revenue officials.

However, he claimed 10% of foreign-registered vehicles involved in accidents last year were still not insured.

“It is an improvement as the figure was as high as 15% a few years ago,” said Mr Casey.

He expressed concern that the recession could lead to an increase in fraudulent claims for compensation. However, Mr Casey claimed a rule introduced in 2004 which required people involved in accidents with uninsured, foreign or hit-and-run drivers toreport the incident to gardaí within two days had helped to reduce the incidence of fraudulent cases.