Why is driving uninsured such a big deal?

[Pints]

FlynnFlynn said:

If an American was stopped for no insurance in this country I bet he would give the plod a right old piece of his mind, Aussies and Kiwis would be too chilled out to care though.

Yes, I'm sure that would go terribly well for them.

[PoleDriver]

[SidewaysSi]

sidaorb said:

FlynnFlynn said:

But it has been brewing for awhile, ever since trying to get insured on my old man's car when I was 17 and seeing quotes of 3k for learning in a 2 litre non turbo diesel 1993 Toyota Corolla.

Now could that be because so many uninsured drivers on the road have pushed premiums up.

If you can't offered to insure it, you can't afford to drive it.

At 17 I was paying over £1,000 for my third party insurance and that was 30 years ago and no silver spoon or family wealth paid for that, just hard work and a desire to drive a nice car at 17.

This-the cost of motoring is more than just buying the car. If you can't afford the insurance, you can't afford to drive. And I had no silver spoon either but sacrificed a lot to get behind the wheel when I was 17.

[jamieduff1981]

Condi said:

MJK 24 said:

I've just spent a few months in NZ. You're correct in saying that there's no legal requirement for third party insurance cover. However, should you have an accident that is deemed to be your fault, and you don't have insurance, the third parties insurers will take you to court to recover their losses. This can lead to people being forced by the courts to sell assets - ie their home!

Thats not true. Your road licence contains a 3rd party insurance cost, which covers personal injury for anyone you hit. You need that by law. Any damage to other vehicles/property can be reclaimed from the at fault party - which, as you say, can lead to many thousand dollar claims.

Which is only good if the courts are extremely fast and the uninsured is actually worth anything. Poor little cherubs like OP would need to be disected and their organs sold off to make right the losses they caused other people.

I'll stick with the system we have where people who can't afford to insure against themselves are removed from the roads and punished severely. I don't care what happens to OP and his kind. I do care about my losses being remedied as close to immediately as humanly possible.

[R8VXF]

Where's that popcorn when you need it?

[Ari]

Ignore the imbecilic answers.

What you want to do is fold the rear seats flat.

This will lower and even out the centre of gravity, giving better handling and more traction.

[paintman]

jamieduff1981 said:

Which is only good if the courts are extremely fast and the uninsured is actually worth anything. Poor little cherubs like OP would need to be disected and their organs sold off to make right the losses they caused other people.

Can picture the ad now:
For sale: One brain, as new. Pristine unused condition.

[Sump]

This is precisely why road tax needs to be hiked up to something like £2500 P/A. Weed out the poor people onto public transport and leave the roads to people who can actually afford to be there.

[vikingaero]

You CAN drive around with no insurance and it doesn't involve being a Freeman of the Land.

Just deposit your spare £500,000-£1M as a bond with the High Court! Simple!

[TheHound]

Having read some of the chaps other posts, I don't think he is a troll in the traditional sense. I think he has some Serious mental health issues and just wants a sense of belonging.

OP you really need to go and see your doctor ASAP and chat through your problems. Starting controversial topics on here is not going to help you at all.

Get the help you need and then maybe you can get your life on track!

[Monkeylegend]

Ari said:

Ignore the imbecilic answers.

What you want to do is fold the rear seats flat.

This will lower and even out the centre of gravity, giving better handling and more traction.

That's twice tonight you have posted this

[crostonian]

Often wonder if it would make more sense for everyone to be provided with basic 3rd party cover as part of VED, it would save a lot of hassle. Sure it could be looked into and made workable with certain restrictions.

[98elise]

crostonian said:

Often wonder if it would make more sense for everyone to be provided with basic 3rd party cover as part of VED, it would save a lot of hassle. Sure it could be looked into and made workable with certain restrictions.

So who is going to pay for it? Either we all pay the same, and low risk drivers subsidise high risk drivers, or you pay for your risk profile.

Which every way you cut it crashing cars costs money, and it has to be paid for by somone. That someone is us.

[PoleDriver]

R8VXF said:

Where's that popcorn when you need it?

Here you go...

[stuart313]

I don't get why younger people have a problem with sky high insurance premiums, it seems anything over 7 or 8 hundred is having them over. Well I have a question for them, if an 18 year old lad came up to you with £1000 and said if I give you this, after 12 months its yours to do as you please but in the meantime you will be legally liable to pay for any damage that I cause with no limit on the payout. How many would take the money? I wouldn't do it for 50K.

[R8VXF]

PoleDriver said:

R8VXF said:

Where's that popcorn when you need it?

Here you go...

Why thank you my good man. I remember paying £2500 tpft on my Mk1 MR2 tbar as my first car. Was worth it till I wrapped it round a couple of trees....

[sebhaque]

I saw a hot air balloon today. It was flying pretty low, caught me off guard as you forget how big they actually are.

[TooMany2cvs]

stuart313 said:

I don't get why younger people have a problem with sky high insurance premiums, it seems anything over 7 or 8 hundred is having them over. Well I have a question for them, if an 18 year old lad came up to you with £1000 and said if I give you this, after 12 months its yours to do as you please but in the meantime you will be legally liable to pay for any damage that I cause with no limit on the payout. How many would take the money? I wouldn't do it for 50K.

Indeed. And remember that £700+ is only two quid a day...

[Mr Tidy]

Maybe part of the problem is thst cars are too cheap!

My first car in 1976 was a 9 year old Cortina that cost me £230 but my TPF & T insurance cost £130. You can still buy a running car for £230 but insurance is going to be rather more for a 17 year old.

But now even minimum wage is about £12,500 a year, whereas back then my salary was less than £2000 a year! Proportionally it hasn't really got significantly more expensive.

The insurance industry has to fund the Motor Insurers Bureau to settle claims made against uninsured/untraced motorists (so that the Government doesn't have to compensate blameless injured parties) but this organisation is funded by the insurers' policyholders (as in most of us) and it really p***es me off having to pay for the actions of Fs like the OP - if you can't afford the insurance you can't afford the fg car.

And that is why it matters, most of us don't want to subsidise those who don't care or can't be a***d.

[veevee]

Sump said:

This is precisely why road tax needs to be hiked up to something like £2500 P/A. Weed out the poor people onto public transport and leave the roads to people who can actually afford to be there.

I think a better idea would be to ban private drivers altogether, only those with private chauffeurs may use the roads - this would ensure that everybody made their important appointments on time as all those bloody plebs who can only afford German saloons would be out of the way.