Study suggests that 1.5 million are driving uninsured in the UK

Alarming new research from Sainsbury's Car Insurance reveals that 1.15 million people admit to having driven a car in the last 12 months without any insurance. Nearly two-fifths of these people were aged 17-24 and a further 22% were aged 25-34.

Self evidently, it is illegal to drive a car without insurance, and penalties for those caught doing so include fines, being banned from driving and even having their cars crushed! The number of court cases against uninsured drivers in 2005 - the latest figures available - was 392,763. Meanwhile, the cost of uninsured motorists adds an extra £25 to £30 to the average annual car insurance premium, according to the Association of British Insurers.

On a regional basis, 6% of people in London have admitted to driving in the past year without having car insurance - the highest for any part of Britain. Elsewhere, corresponding figures are: South West & Wales (5%, 310,700), Yorkshire & Humberside (4%, 150,142), Scotland (3%, 98,300), North (2%, 149,300), South East (1%, 46,900), East Midlands & Anglia (1%, 38,200) and West Midlands (1%, 33,800).

Of those people interviewed who admitted to driving without insurance over the past 12 months, 19% said it was because they couldn't afford it; the same percentage said they didn't think it was necessary to have it, 13% said they forgot to purchase it and 13% said they didn't have time to arrange it.