Millions of UK drivers caught uninsured due to basic mistakes
Thu, 21 May 2026
Almost 3 million motorists have driven while uninsured at least once, risking an immediate fixed penalty of £300 and 6 penalty points
That's according to a survey by GoCompare's personal finance app Renewal. It comes at a time when the UK is battling rising numbers of cars caught driving illegally without insurance.
The data comes from a survey of 1505 drivers. So while the headline-grabbing figures are only an estimate, the actual results of the survey do reveal a significant number of drivers have – either on purpose or not – hit the road when not insured.
A national of forgetful drivers
The survey revealed that 49% of the drivers who participated admitted that they have made a mistake that made their vehicle unroadworthy.
A significant 15% of respondents added that they have been penalised for being uninsured. That's despite the fact that the penalty for being caught without cover is currently a fine of £300 and six penalty points on your licence.
What's behind the uninsured trend?
A major factor in driving uninsured seems to be losing details and not knowing when an insurance policy has ended. Just under one in 10 surveyed said that they had lost their insurance details in the past.
It's not just the end date of a policy that has caused problems, with forgetting details like what they’re covered for and which drivers are included in their policy leading to run-ins with police.
The survey found that younger drivers are twice as likely to have lost their policy. Approximately 14% of respondents under the age of 35 had lost their policy details before, compared with 6% of drivers aged 35 or older.
"Your car insurance policy documents aren’t something you’re likely to look at every day, so it can be all too easy for them to become lost in a stack of papers, stuffed in a drawer or mistakenly deleted from your inbox if you were sent a digital copy," says Matt Sanders, spokesperson at Go.Compare.
"While you likely won’t check them too often, it’s important to make sure your policy details are stored somewhere safe so that you can easily access them if and when you need them.
"It could make things difficult otherwise if you need to claim or find out what you’re covered for. In some circumstances, it could lead you mistakenly driving without cover, which could be very costly."
