About 6.8 million motorists in the UK won’t buy car insurance if it was not required by law, a new research from
Co-op Insurance has found.
The latest report discovered that 22% of drivers are unsure if they would buy car insurance while only 61% said otherwise, even if there was no legal obligation.
The research also revealed that motor insurance is a grudge purchase for more than 43% of drivers in Britain.
“If having motor insurance wasn’t a legal requirement, our research suggests that over 6 million motorists would be happily driving around without it which is a real cause for concern,” said James Hillon, products and pricing Director at Co-op Insurance.
According to the insurer’s data, 12.5% of drivers claim on their motor insurance every year, with the average claim costing around £3,000.
“With the average cost of a road accident coming in at around £3,000, it seems unrealistic to think that an uninsured driver would have this amount of money to hand to repair any damage and pay any legal costs should they have an accident and , even worse, injure somebody else,” Hillon said.
The Co-op research also found that many drivers do not understand insurance and common terminologies leave them confused, including the following:
| Term |
Percentage of drivers who don’t understand |
| Enhanced courtesy car |
66% |
| Modifications cover |
62% |
| Motor legal protection |
51% |
| Motor legal expenses |
45% |
| Key care cover |
41% |
| Medical expenses |
39% |
| Personal injury cover |
34% |
| Protected no claims discount |
29% |
| Voluntary excess |
26% |
| Compulsory excess |
24% |
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