There are several reasons why it is a very bad idea to drive without proper motor insurance. First and foremost, it is illegal; if you drive without insurance you are liable to an IN10 'Driving with no insurance' penalty.

It may seem like a good idea at the time to save yourself a considerable about money by failing to take out insurance cover for your vehicle. You may of course drive around for a long period without being involved in any kind of accident or being stopped by the police. However, it is certain that in the end, one of these two things will definitely happen.

The idea of car insurance is that you take out a policy, and hopefully you will never need it. Therefore, it may seem like a waste of money, but car insurance is there to protect you and others, should you be involved in a minor or serious accident.

So you may be lucky and drive around for let's say two years without ever having even a near miss. But then, you get involved in a minor bump. Now you will become liable for those legal penalties.

The IN10 can result in 6 to 8 penalty points and/or a ban from driving, and in addition a fine of up to £5,000. If you already have points on your licence, you could receive an automatic ban.
Once you have been convicted of an IN10, it can then be extremely difficult to find any insurance cover. In addition, even if you do, it will certainly come with a very high premium.
This is because insurance companies regard driving without insurance on a similar level to drunk driving. As the results of both of these offences, tend to cause injuries to other people and property. As such, this is considered highly inappropriate action that is heavily penalised by insurance companies.

Moreover, of course, if you have damaged another vehicle property, it is likely that you will be facing a civil suit for damages. If you cause an injury to another person, while driving without insurance, you could face serious criminal charges. For which you will have no insurance cover to pay for your legal costs. Don't forget, that addition to all of the above, you have no insurance for your own vehicle. Therefore, there will be nobody to pay for the repairs, or if it's written off, to replace it with a new car.

In addition, even if you do get away with driving an extended period, without incident, the insurance company will want to know why there is a gap in your insurance record. You could of course lie and say that you have not been driving. Again, this is a huge risk as if you make any false statements on your application. Insurance company will not pay out if you have an accident. If you are driving without insurance, it is more likely that you will actually have an accident, as you are liable to be permanently looking in the mirror to see if there is a police car behind you. The police do not legally have to catch you driving to prove that you are committing an offence. They merely have to prove that the vehicle itself has been used on a public road without proper insurance cover.

The Crown Prosecution Service, does not have to prove in any way that you were driving the vehicle. Only that the vehicle is or has been ‘in use’. There is no legal defense that allows you to claim they you were unaware that you need insurance, or that you posted of your payment, but never received the documents. Or any other claim to indicate that not having insurance was somehow an oversight is not permissible in law.

In the end, driving without insurance will definitely cost you more than, if you had taken out even the cheapest, and most basic third party cover, in the first place.

Finance Products on our marketplace

Robert Thompson works for www.fancyacar.co.uk and regularly gives out tips on short term car insurance and provisional license holders car insurance for learner drivers.