Operation Cubo, launched in 2011, is the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB) and the Metropolitan Police’s initiative to tackle uninsured drivers head-on.
Last year, Operation Cubo seized 308 vehicles on just one day in June. The massive attack on the uninsured involved 1,000 police officers working in conjunction with the MIB, who bear the brunt of the cost of claims made against the uninsured driver.
So far Operation Cubo has seized more than 14,000 vehicles. Now the Met has announced that the long arm of the law is likely to extend further by moving into other parts of the country.
This is clearly down to the huge success of the Met’s operation so far. Last year, including the vehicles seized by Operation Cubo, a staggering 35,000 vehicles were seized. It’s pretty clear how important this operation is with uninsured drivers costing the law-abiding honest motorist an average of £33 extra added onto their annual policies.
A survey carried out last year shortly after the announcement of the 308 vehicles being seized, revealed that 81 per cent of motorists support a tougher crackdown on such drivers. And as if to echo this, last year there was an increase in the maximum fine for drivers who get caught without insurance from £200 to £300.
Add to this the very real possibility that your car is likely to be crushed and you really have to wonder at the lack of common sense from the owners of these vehicles. The common argument of the illegally uninsured that the insurance costs are too high is a non-starter. Compare monthly insurance costs with effectively paying £300 for your pride and joy to be crushed and you start to see my point. And if the Met decide to sell your car at auction rather than crush it, you don’t get a percentage of the sale price.
The Met say that among some of the more distinctive high-end vehicles they have seized are Range Rovers and even some built by Rolls Royce. Clearly the cost of actual insurance is not the issue here. The Met even has a ‘top ten’ of seized cars, which it displays on its Facebook page.
The MIB says that about 1 in 500 drivers in Germany are uninsured, while the AA discovered that around 1 in 25 UK drivers are uninsured. Think about it, it probably means that on an average drive to and from work, you are very likely to drive past more than one such driver.
The knock on effect of having no insurance is that there is every chance that the vehicle in question will not have a valid MOT either as the two tend to go hand in hand. No MOT can mean a higher likelihood of an accident as the car might be poorly maintained – and an accident is the precise moment when you need insurance. It’s there for your protection in such circumstances.
The cost of uninsured drivers on the UK is around £380 million each and every year, but the Operation Cubo crackdown has generated revenue of £5.5 million to ease the burden.
The day when we get down to Swedish levels of around 1 uninsured driver in every 1,000 is still some way off, but Operation Cubo is on the right track with the backing of the majority of road users.
If you’re looking for a competitive quote for your car insurance, call Performance Direct on 0845 573 3505.
Images, dailymail.co.uk, autoexpress.co.uk
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