Sky-high car insurance driving millions of Brits to break the law, new research finds

Millions of drivers in the UK admit to getting behind the wheel without insurance due to the recent rise in premium costs, new research has found.

The findings from CRIF, Europe’s leading provider of insurance and credit information, show that 5% of UK motorists have previously driven without motor insurance due to rising costs, despite it being a legal requirement. This equates to around 2.5 million driving licence holders potentially breaking the law.*

As well as those who have driven without insurance, a further 4 million drivers (8%) say that they haven’t driven without insurance to date but would be prepared to do so if they needed to in future.*

While car insurance premiums have started to decline from an all-time high, they are still significantly above pre-pandemic levels and motorists continue to feel the impact. Findings from The Association of British Insurers (ABI) show that motor insurance premiums soared by 25% in 2023 alone.**

Across Europe more widely, CRIF’s research reveals that nearly half (45%) of European policyholders have noticed a sharp increase over the past five years. Overall, more than a quarter (28%) of European drivers believe their insurance is now the most expensive it’s ever been, with the UK above this average and British drivers among the most likely to be feeling this way (33%).

Potential motor fraud is also of major concern, with one in five (19%) UK drivers fearing the prospect of staged accidents, set up so others can make a claim. In an effort to mitigate such risks, 15% of Brits say they have set up a dashcam for insurance reasons and 8% of drivers say they now drive less because of fears about such an incident.

Sara Costantini, Regional Director for the UK & Ireland at CRIF said: “UK drivers are struggling with spiralling premiums and it’s deeply concerning to see millions of people take to the road uninsured as a result. They’re not only breaking the law but also putting them and others at increased risk. While premiums have started to drop, they remain well above pre-pandemic levels. It’s vital the industry works to harness the latest innovations in areas like data and analytics to improve assessments and fraud detection. This would help drive costs down further and increase affordability, so that drivers aren’t forced to choose between their finances and safety on the road.”

There is a range of solutions on the market that enable insurance providers to leverage data and analytics to improve risk assessments and fraud detection, without impacting loss ratios. For example, CRIF’s Traffic Exposure Score, launched in the UK last year, enables insurers to more accurately account for traffic flows and accident risks in the underwriting process. Having previously launched in other European countries, the service can improve loss ratios for insurers by between 1.5% and 2.5%.

The findings form part of CRIF’s latest Banking on Banks report, which identifies the biggest changes to the financial services sector across Europe over the last decade, drawing on the views of both consumers and senior financial services professionals working in the UK, and serving European markets.

CRIF’s second report, to be published later in 2025, will look at the trends and issues that are expected to shape European financial services in the decade ahead.