The UK has introduced a new motor insurance law to tackle uninsured driving in response to the nation’s motor insurance crisis.

Continuous insurance enforcement (CIE) is a new initiative to assist in tracking down the registered owners of vehicles without insurance.

Records between the Motor Insurance Database and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will be compared from later this year to identify the 1.4 million registered UK car owners who do not have a valid insurance policy.

Warning letters will be issued to all those identified, followed by a series of escalating penalties starting at a £100 ($160.50) fixed penalty through to vehicle clamping, seizure and destruction of the vehicle, as well as prosecution and a fine of up to £1000 ($1605).

The change came about as a result of a recent report by the UK’s Transport Select Committee, The Cost of Motor Insurance, to examine the reasons behind the UK’s motor insurance crisis which has seen premiums skyrocket and a number of insurers exit the market in recent years.

Claim costs from uninsured driving are one of the causes of the crisis and it is estimated that such costs add around £30 ($48.15) to each motor insurance policy.

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association has been actively involved in the development of CIE.

Spokesman Graeme Trudgill says CIE “will help reduce the £500 million ($803 million) burden on innocent motorists caused by uninsured drivers”.