Survey Reveals 9% Of Motorists Unaware Car Insurance Is Compulsory

Kwik Fit has hundred’s of tyre and brake fitting centres around the UK and also carry out many MOTs each year. They have recently had a survey conducted of just over 2,000 adults in this country some of which makes very interesting reading.

Kwik-Fit has hundreds of tyre and brake replacement centres -Image credit: stephen jones.

Apparently, 9% of those surveyed did not appreciate that it is a legal requirement to insure your car. This is a staggeringly high percentage of people and, we must say, gives some cause for concern. Another interesting statistic was that the same percentage of people did not realise that if a car was in excess of 3 years of age then, by law, it is necessary to have an MOT certificate. In fact, a huge 7% of people admitted to driving a vehicle where there was no current MOT pass certificate in situ.

In view of the high percentage of people unaware of their legal obligations as far as insuring their cars is concerned we feel it is worthwhile just reinforcing what the legal requirement is in this respect. As a minimum, you must insure your car for at least third party cover unless it is declared SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) and it is kept off the public road system. So, you could not leave it on the public road outside your house without at least having third party cover in place even if you had no intention of driving it.

The penalty for not insuring your car when it should be is severe. Therefore, it would not be a good idea to make such a mistake as it could cost you dearly in the long run, for instance, both by way of points on your license and a hefty increase in future car insurance premiums. So, what you may think you could save by not bothering to insure your vehicle when you should have arranged cover on it could backfire and end up costing you an awful lot more.