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Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Volume 463: debated on Monday 3 September 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been of uninsured drivers (a) in total and (b) in each police force area in each of the last 10 years; and what the average penalty was in each case. (152152)

[holding answer 24 July 2007]: The information requested is set out in the following tables.

Proceedings at magistrates courts for the offence of using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks1, and average fine imposed2 by police force area, England and Wales, 1997-2004

1997

1998

1999

2000

Proceedings

Average fine (£)

Proceedings

Average fine (£)

Proceedings

Average fine (£)

Proceedings

Average fine (£)

Avon and Somerset

15,354

259

16,892

204

15,098

165

14,609

182

Bedfordshire

4,724

314

4,449

293

3,479

274

3,594

226

Cambridgeshire

3,440

221

3,425

209

3,058

215

2,929

182

Cheshire

4,838

274

4,961

248

5,463

237

5,729

211

Cleveland

3,925

162

4,204

167

4,331

170

4,793

179

Cumbria

4,223

150

3,787

171

3,597

220

3,507

265

Derbyshire

5,565

270

5,137

279

5,120

283

5,318

296

Devon and Cornwall

8,422

184

7,232

185

7,493

178

9,234

179

Dorset

5,271

295

4,198

302

4,776

301

6,035

261

Durham

3,992

181

4,261

177

5,899

194

5,470

160

Essex

7,161

174

7,025

149

7,336

140

7,898

123

Gloucestershire

3,577

154

4,465

202

4,443

247

4,174

240

Greater Manchester

30,655

245

30,836

226

33,228

236

33,783

232

Hampshire

11,768

132

11,557

135

11,553

138

10,559

136

Hertfordshire

4,580

193

5,799

164

4,748

173

5,258

204

Humberside

4,408

159

4,279

148

4,894

143

5,024

137

Kent

6,935

246

6,958

241

6,151

227

9,033

271

Lancashire

20,334

332

18,794

296

18,111

237

18,354

219

Leicestershire

9,706

318

9,481

318

11,054

276

10,263

254

Lincolnshire

4,589

159

5,000

197

5,345

209

4,500

188

London, City of

2,671

332

3,127

314

2,521

346

1,738

375

Merseyside

10,896

200

9,747

203

8,932

200

10,054

207

Metropolitan Police

42,283

202

35,064

185

31,285

184

29,649

169

Norfolk

3,932

242

3,434

256

3,468

265

3,951

210

Northamptonshire

4,999

243

4,849

286

5,571

310

3,949

280

Northumbria

12,470

136

11,837

146

13,296

148

13,195

144

North Yorkshire

3,926

249

3,744

236

4,003

230

3,905

211

Nottinghamshire

8,078

164

8,726

165

7,957

153

7,748

150

South Yorkshire

11,228

194

11,553

206

11,763

191

12,690

170

Staffordshire

8,180

251

8,210

228

8,021

234

8,777

198

Suffolk

3,258

193

3,743

192

4,189

192

3,923

183

Surrey

4,942

243

3,908

242

4,436

215

4,941

218

Sussex

9,333

218

8,202

186

7,415

181

6,796

167

Thames Valley

11,887

292

11,948

257

13,543

268

12,816

250

Warwickshire

4,316

228

3,769

175

3,523

177

4,135

188

West Mercia

7,082

268

8,207

282

7,450

282

7,686

263

West Midlands

29,878

207

30,928

190

27,409

189

28,148

201

West Yorkshire

23,980

255

23,549

242

25,776

242

26,529

209

Wiltshire

3,463

152

4,820

182

4,708

186

4,901

204

Dyfed-Powys

3,079

183

2,852

182

3,017

175

3,072

169

Gwent

4,097

253

4,478

225

4,451

225

4,680

208

North Wales

4,859

210

4,452

226

4,102

272

3,697

230

South Wales

14,829

190

16,187

180

15,406

183

14,615

188

England and Wales

397,133

224

390,074

214

387,419

212

391,659

203

20012002200332004

Proceedings

Average fine (£)

Proceedings

Average fine (£)

Proceedings

Average fine (£)

Proceedings

Average fine (£)

Avon and Somerset

13,022

130

15,124

133

17,163

138

17,489

154

Bedfordshire

4,651

164

4,731

169

5,041

137

4,534

143

Cambridgeshire

2,508

119

2,875

118

3,301

131

3,120

152

Cheshire

4,975

149

5,765

153

6,385

167

6,515

179

Cleveland

4,789

167

5,994

173

5,575

171

6,597

189

Cumbria

3,595

152

3,540

151

3,488

159

3,446

169

Derbyshire

5,429

337

5,614

355

5,793

367

6,326

367

Devon and Cornwall

8,648

133

9,598

132

9,676

127

8,943

134

Dorset

5,262

121

6,176

114

7,034

125

6,075

158

Durham

5,394

118

5,840

122

5,802

121

5,300

116

Essex

7,708

101

7,811

104

7,489

112

7,132

164

Gloucestershire

4,683

91

4,417

86

4,412

133

3,695

147

Greater Manchester

37,088

152

36,337

151

38,208

157

34,942

167

Hampshire

10,349

119

10,912

122

10,619

124

9,750

131

Hertfordshire

5,816

155

6,612

166

7,216

181

7,463

198

Humberside

4,730

122

4,464

132

5,509

137

5,170

150

Kent

9,592

209

10,059

192

9,788

191

10,673

197

Lancashire

16,280

111

17,555

113

21,229

141

16,065

156

Leicestershire

10,475

134

10,699

135

11,304

138

10,833

150

Lincolnshire

4,083

133

4,242

134

5,883

148

6,621

179

London, City of

1,826

369

2,353

368

2,563

334

2,812

230

Merseyside

9,467

163

10,360

167

12,776

148

13,023

137

Metropolitan Police

32,032

139

36,485

140

43,100

143

47,806

147

Norfolk

4,744

99

5,563

107

6,322

139

5,084

152

Northamptonshire

2,028

280

1,211

339

4,157

245

5,804

183

Northumbria

12,504

130

12,309

135

12,951

135

11,685

137

North Yorkshire

3,545

130

3,340

136

3,774

141

4,065

166

Nottinghamshire

7,856

152

7,460

156

9,224

152

9,224

188

South Yorkshire

14,623

128

13,859

137

13,745

146

11,416

125

Staffordshire

6,027

152

7,056

163

7,214

166

7,439

186

Suffolk

4,123

128

4,759

138

5,808

133

5,718

136

Surrey

5,101

201

5,554

215

4,657

221

3,927

197

Sussex

6,814

118

6,413

117

5,808

138

4,371

162

Thames Valley

11,728

134

12,842

135

14,516

158

12,920

198

Warwickshire

4,204

156

3,711

168

3,756

164

4,160

210

West Mercia

7,787

176

7,849

180

7,735

165

7,249

193

West Midlands

27,010

169

32,339

192

36,409

200

39,696

206

West Yorkshire

27,618

120

24,873

123

26,966

134

32,404

144

Wiltshire

5,292

283

5,326

286

4,794

280

4,641

200

Dyfed-Powys

2,953

155

3,316

166

3,094

172

2,244

187

Gwent

4,758

148

4,508

154

4,083

171

3,474

157

North Wales

3,376

144

4,048

150

5,968

149

6,022

154

South Wales

13,805

159

16,499

173

16,932

158

15,946

154

England and Wales

388,298

150

410,398

155

447,267

160

441,819

169

1 An offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 section 143 (2). 2 Magistrates courts data only. Fines given at the Crown court total nationally (England and Wales) less than 10 each year. 3 As from 1 June 2003, ‘driving a motor vehicle while uninsured against third party risks’ became a fixed penalty offence. Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system currently being implemented by the Ministry of Justice reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their limitations are taken into account when those data are used.