Bernard Hogan-Howe, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, visited the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) on 8 October 2012 to see first-hand how MIB supports his officers in the Capital, as well as all police officers in the UK, in taking uninsured cars off the road.
During the visit, Commissioner Hogan-Howe met with MIB Chief Executive, Ashton West and MIB Chairman Keith Morris. Commissioner Hogan-Howe then listened in to calls coming in to the dedicated Police Helpline from road-side officers with vehicles they suspected of being driven without insurance.
The Metropolitan Police are targeting uninsured drivers through Operation Cubo – a sustained programme across the network of roads around the capital. The monthly operation sees mobile checkpoints appearing on London’s roads with Roads Policing teams using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, which are connected to MIB’s Motor Insurance Database via the Police National Computer. It quickly indicates whether or not a vehicle is on the database. To date, around 37,000 vehicles have been seized by the Met since Operation Cubo began in October 2011.
Recently, a £227,000 Ferrari FF was seized for having no insurance in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and was put on display outside Scotland Yard alongside an £18,000 Mercedes – also seized for no insurance.
The UK’s level of insured driving has fallen by 30% in the last five years and is currently estimated to be 1.2m.
Visit the Drive Insured campaign on Facebook – www.facebook.com/driveinsured.
