Car insurance scams 'cost consumers £1.25bn annually'

New research has shown the cost of uninsured crashes and car insurance scams.

Honest car insurance customers are being forced to pay out £1.25 billion annually to foot the bill created by uninsured or dishonest drivers, new research has shown.

According to data released by The Co-operative, many road-users in the UK are having their annual insurance packages and rates adversely affected by others making fraudulent claims on their own policies, meaning that these people are collectively out of pocket by more than £1 billion every year.

The study states that the average driver - who may wish to compare savings on the best deals available to them following the publication of this data - has to pay an estimated £50 on every policy which goes towards subsidising accidents involving uninsured people and those making false claims.

Tim Franklin, chief operating officer at the financier, commented: "Millions of people are deliberately flouting the law by not insuring their cars at massive cost to honest road users."

Meanwhile, Sainsbury's stated recently that many Britons driving abroad this summer will endanger their car insurance policies by being unaware of foreign road laws.

By Kate Guthrie