Nearly 500 children have been treated for e-scooter injuries at three NHS trauma centres since 2019, according to new research - and for the insurance market, the numbers tell a story that goes well beyond road safety.
A review published in the Emergency Medicine Journal, cited by the BBC, found that Liverpool, Manchester, and Sheffield trauma centres treated 477 under-16s between 2019 and 2024. Cases rose from fewer than 10 a year in 2019 to nearly 150 in 2024. The average age of those injured was 12. The youngest was nine. Hardly any were wearing helmets.
The findings arrive at a moment when private e-scooters sit in one of the most legally and commercially awkward positions in the UK insurance market. They are classified as motor vehicles under the Road Traffic Act 1988, which means compulsory insurance rules apply to them in principle. In practice, no conventional motor insurance product exists for privately owned e-scooters used on public roads - because that use remains illegal. The result, as law firm Weightmans noted in a March 2026 analysis, is a structural gap in compulsory insurance that leaves many riders effectively uninsured while still capable of causing serious injury or property damage.
The scale of that gap is becoming harder to ignore. According to data published by the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) in July 2026, claims involving e-scooters and e-bikes totalled £108 million between 2015 and May 2026, with the number of claims rising 73% between 2023 and 2025 alone. The worst single payout involved a child who suffered catastrophic life-changing injuries and received £20 million in compensation.
When an uninsured private e-scooter rider injures a pedestrian or is involved in a collision with a car, the MIB - the body that compensates victims of uninsured and untraced drivers - can step in, provided the incident occurred on a public highway or in a public place. That backstop is funded through levies on motor insurers, which ultimately filters through to motor premiums across the market.
Angus Eaton, chief executive of the MIB, said the organisation was working closely with the government to support efforts to regulate micromobility as part of its Road Safety Strategy. "We're seeing a worrying gap between how commonly people use micromobility vehicles and how well they understand the law around them," he said. "Many people simply don't realise that riding a privately owned e-scooter on public roads is illegal, and that means they're riding uninsured."
The BBC reports that most of the incidents recorded in the new study involved private e-scooters ridden on public roads, pavements or footpaths - all of which is already illegal. Some of the devices involved had a turbo mode capable of reaching around 28mph. In one case cited by the BBC, a UK teenager using such a scooter crashed and killed his 14-year-old friend on a busy road in Wythenshawe, Manchester, one of 59 deaths involving e-scooters in the UK to date.
For brokers, the liability question is not confined to motor lines. Employers' and public liability insurers are also seeing spillover exposure, particularly where e-scooters are used for work-related journeys or cause injury in public spaces. Determining whether an incident should be treated as a road traffic accident or a premises liability claim adds complexity and litigation risk, increasing claims handling costs across both motor and casualty lines.
The Department for Transport told the BBC the government was bringing forward new laws to make private e-scooter use safe and legal, including consulting on requirements such as helmets. A Private Member's Bill introduced in Parliament in February 2026 - the E-scooters (Review and Awareness) Bill - requires the government to commission a formal review of existing e-scooter legislation and promote public awareness of the current rules.
Rental e-scooter trials, which require riders to be at least 16, hold a licence and use a scheme that provides appropriate insurance, have been extended until May 2028. A second national evaluation of those trials is due to conclude in 2026 and is expected to inform future legislation.
From an insurance perspective, the direction of travel matters as much as the timing. Clearer regulation, even if restrictive, would help improve risk pricing, reserving confidence and claims consistency across both motor and casualty lines - a point made explicitly by Weightmans in its analysis of the current framework. Until that happens, the absence of a clear regulatory framework transfers uncertainty to insurers rather than eliminating risk.
The Emergency Medicine Journal study's authors called on schools, local councils, youth groups and road safety campaigns to take an active role. They also placed an explicit obligation on retailers to advise customers of the law, and on policymakers to regulate private e-scooters through speed limiters or mandatory helmet requirements.
With nearly three children a week now being treated at just three trauma centres, the researchers' case that this is a public health issue rather than an enforcement footnote is increasingly difficult to dispute. For the insurance market, the structural liability gap at the heart of private e-scooter use in the UK is not a future problem. It is an active one, and it is getting bigger.
