Introduction

Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to be with you today.

Last year, with support from our insurer members, we made a further £1.7 million investment in the Operation Tutelage programme, extending funding until 2027. This provided our police colleagues the financial certainty they needed to make longer-term plans and take the success of the programme to the next level. To complement that, we also announced an additional £5 million investment in new and existing initiatives designed to accelerate our work to tackle uninsured driving.

I’ve given my remarks today the title of “Uninsured Driving: The Good, the Bad and the Future” as I want to:

• highlight some of what we have achieved together so far and what those investments have delivered;   
• set out some of the challenges we’ve faced along the way; and
• share some of the opportunities we’ve yet to fully explore.­­

As you know, Police and Crime Commissioners up and down the country are always under pressure to show they are reducing violent crime and addressing antisocial behaviour. Consequently, the honest reality is road safety is never at the top of the priority list. That makes it even more important for us to demonstrate the clear link between uninsured driving and wider criminality. Catch the uninsured driver and you catch the criminal carrying weapons and drugs, who is wanted in connection with burglaries in your local community, and whose unroadworthy vehicle is one avoidable malfunction away from killing or injuring an innocent member of the public.

So, if you only take one message from today, make it this. Every uninsured driver you remove from the roads makes our communities safer; and we thank you for that. 

The Good: What we have achieved so far

So, what have we achieved so far?

Over many years, we have continually invested in methods we know are effective in reducing uninsured driving.

One way we’ve been doing that is through the gradual expansion of Operation Tutelage. From a small pilot to a national policing programme encompassing multiple phases of enforcement action, Tutelage has proven highly effective. Data and ANPR cameras are used to identify vehicles that appear to be uninsured. We give registered keepers an opportunity to put it right – and if they don’t, we work together to quickly remove them and their vehicle from the roads. Following all phases of Tutelage, around 75% of the vehicles identified as uninsured will later become compliant.

So, as successful as they are, initiatives such as Operation Tutelage are not enough on their own. ANPR only identifies vehicles without insurance. It doesn’t identify those with incorrect insurance, such as someone driving a taxi with a normal rather than a hire and reward insurance policy in place.  And, as many of you know only too well, there is a section of society who will never respond to the supportive approach we offer under Tutelage, no matter how many times we contact them.

The MIB Enforcement Programme

That’s why, as part of the £5 million of additional investment the insurance industry, through the MIB, has made in tackling uninsured driving, we’ve set up the MIB Enforcement Programme, through which we’re investing in a range of new ideas to help close some of those gaps.

Dedicated resource for the police

As part of Operation Scalis, we support the deployment of dedicated police resources focused on tackling uninsured driving in known hotspots. During the initial pilot in the West Midlands, between February and June, 19 days of operations resulted in over 175 vehicle seizures. We are now working to replicate that across more forces. West Yorkshire, Thames Valley, Essex and Northumbria are up and running with the Met, Northamptonshire and Greater Manchester to follow. We are ready to support more of these operations. What’s stopping them happening in your area?

Please pass on my thanks to your colleagues for the great work they are doing. Those extra hours of focused effort, against a backdrop of challenging summer demand, are making a real difference in taking the fight to people none of us want on our roads. So, thank you from me, our enforcement team, and everyone at MIB for all you are doing.

Unlocking new opportunities through data

As part of our work on Tutelage, we’ve been working to develop advanced software that uses analytics to accurately predict the location of uninsured vehicles within a 15-minute window. That allows the police to proactively target the most dangerous drivers and quickly remove them from the roads. The next evolution of that is Predictive Movements, advanced software that will automate the process. We’re working towards making that available to forces through the Tutelage Programme in January.

As we look to the future, the wealth of data available to MIB and the police also provides opportunities to become even more efficient in removing uninsured drivers from the roads.

Many of you will know that drivers suspected of being uninsured who are stopped by the police often protest - sometimes with a degree of passion - that they are, in fact, insured. That is the case even at the point when the MIB Police Helpline speaks to the insurer they claim to have a policy with and confirms that no cover is in place. With that said, many of the vehicles you call us about are insured.

Of course, our long-term goal is for the data to be good enough that there is no doubt about who is and who isn’t insured. We still have some way to go to make that a reality – but we are already driving an evolution in how we use and analyse data. For example, following a recent Scalis operation, we analysed why some vehicles were stopped but not seized. This gave us an insight into what led to those vehicles being stopped in the first place. From there, we can now work with insurers to close any gaps in the intelligence we provide to the police.

Multi-force operations

MIB has also led the coordination of multi-force police operations. That began with Operation M4, where officers from South Wales, Gwent, Avon and Somerset, Wiltshire, and Thames Valley Police worked together along a 170-mile stretch of the M4. And in July, Operation M62 brought together officers from Greater Manchester, Merseyside, West Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Humberside.

The two operations saw almost 400 roadside stops, over 100 vehicle seizures and 14 arrests for a range of offences. It was great to see forces working together with MIB and each other to achieve our respective objectives – removing uninsured vehicles from the roads and tackling wider criminality.

I look forward to us continuing to build on that success and extending these operations further across the country. In fact, next month, we’ll be supporting Police Scotland on a new operation along the M8.

Influencing the behaviours that lead to uninsured driving

We’ve also increased our focus on public awareness, including targeted advertising along the M4 Corridor with billboards on the motorway, adverts in restrooms and on fuel pumps and informative content on digital media channels. This highlights the importance of driving insured while proactively correcting common myths that leave otherwise law-abiding motorists without cover.

When I spoke at this event last year, I encouraged all forces to get more active on digital media and the response has been really positive. As the saying goes, a picture tells a thousand words. Don’t underestimate how powerful a deterrent it is when the public see pictures of you seizing vehicles at the side of the road and using the hashtag Drive Insured. Those driving without insurance need to understand that the chances of them getting caught have never been greater.  We will continue to support your digital media posts through our own channels, and ask that you do the same.

The other thing we have been doing to influence behaviour is working with teachers and young people to inform the next generation of drivers on the importance of being insured. We’ve been working in partnership with The Safety Centre: Hazard Alley, a local charity in Milton Keynes, near the MIB’s Head Office and this work forms a key part of our community engagement.  

Evolving the way we communicate

Last year, we launched Enforce, our email newsletter for the police, which provides updates and resources on all things uninsured driving. If you haven't already, head to our microsite and sign up – mib.org.uk/police. We would appreciate it if you could also help spread the word. We want to get that content onto the screens of the police teams who need it. It’s a valuable resource so please take a look, and of course, let us know what you think.

Our enforcement team

We’ve doubled the size of our enforcement team to give all 45 UK forces the targeted support and assistance they need.

We now have four law enforcement liaison officers, all experienced former serving officers who understand the challenges you face, because they’ve been there themselves. They are all here today:

• Paul Farley, who oversees our enforcement work nationally and supports colleagues in the Midlands;
• Simon French, who is focused on the East and South East of England;
• Hayley Sutcliff, Wales and the South West; and
• Andy Trotter, who supports our police colleagues in the North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

They deliver the expanded training we provide to Police colleagues and are here to help. Please do go and speak with them and let them know what is working and how we can better support you.  

The Bad: The challenges we’ve faced

So, there has been plenty of good work and progress over the last year. But there have also been challenges. One of the benefits of the strong partnership between MIB and our police colleagues is that we can be honest with each other as critical friends.

I fully expect you to be able to tell me or my team when things are not working as well as they could from your perspective. Some of you did that after the challenges we experienced in launching Navigate earlier this year which resulted in some inaccuracies in the data we held on insurance coverage. If you or your teams were affected by this, please accept my apologies. Rest assured that the urgent fixes to the system are now in place and a full-scale lessons-learned exercise has been completed.

Of course, that honesty works both ways. In May 2025, I need to report back to the MIB Board on what return we have delivered for their £5 million investment and recommend whether to extend our Enforcement Programme. If that conversation were to happen today – I have to be honest with you – I have my doubts and I want to explain why I feel that way.

Firstly, I am surprised how difficult it is to spend money with the police. I know you’ll be familiar with the painful bureaucracy in navigating the internal lawyers, procurement teams, and sometimes even Police Commissioners who must sign off on MIB spending £50,000. But surely, things could move a bit more quickly?

Secondly, with 45 different Police forces, there are 45 different views on engaging with the MIB and taking our money. Some forces want procurement agreements, some want donation agreements and some say they can’t take private sector money at all. Some consistency of approach would be helpful from our perspective.

Thirdly, I want to remind you of what I said last year. The insurers that fund these initiatives operate in a commercial environment. That means we can’t agree to spend on ambiguous promises of increased resources dedicated to tackling uninsured driving. Our insurer members will expect a measurable return on their investment in the form of clear targets and tangible results.

The Future: Opportunities 

Lessons from Operation Tutelage 

One of the things we’ve learnt from Operation Tutelage is that sending registered keepers a letter from their local Police force has proven highly effective in encouraging many uninsured drivers to insure their vehicles.

Many of you will know that, alongside Operation Tutelage, MIB also works with the DVLA to deliver Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE). That’s where registered keepers of vehicles that are not listed as insured on Navigate are sent a letter from MIB asking them to either check they are covered or apply for a SORN through the DVLA.

There is one striking difference between these two initiatives. When registered keepers receive a Tutelage letter from their local police force, they take action to correct their insurance status. When they receive a CIE letter from the MIB, the conversion rate of those taking action to regularise their insurance status is much lower. 

So, why not apply the lessons learned from Tutelage to CIE? It seems to me that a Police force agreeing to put their logo on a CIE letter might be one of the quickest, simplest and cheapest things they could do to reduce the number of uninsured vehicles on the roads in their Constabulary. I think there’s a missed opportunity here, so is there something we can do to make that happen?

Working with the new government

We are actively working with the new government to move uninsured driving up the political agenda. That’s even more important than ever given that the costs of uninsured driving lead to higher premiums than might otherwise be the case - and the cost of car insurance is a key focus of all politicians, especially in the context of ongoing cost of living challenges. There are three key areas we want to work with the Government on:

• Tougher legal penalties: The fine for uninsured driving remains much lower than the average cost of a policy. That creates a perverse incentive for some people to take the risk of driving without insurance. We would like to see the fine updated to provide a more meaningful deterrent that better reflects the harm uninsured drivers cause to victims
  
  
• Making sure all vehicles are registered with DVLA: When an uninsured vehicle has no registered keeper, it becomes harder for the police to enforce the law and for MIB to contact drivers of interest. So, we are working with the DVLA to see what can be done to ensure that all vehicles have a registered keeper
  
  
• New powers for local authorities: With access to data on Navigate, organisations like local authorities and car park operators could play a role in helping the police remove uninsured vehicles from the roads. Currently, the law requires a vehicle to be “used” before it can be seized for not having insurance. That makes it more difficult for local authorities to have a role, so I am keen to work with our government partners to see if they would be open to reviewing whether the current law remains appropriate. 

MIB’s future role

Further into the future, could there potentially even be a place for the police to delegate some of the responsibility for seizing uninsured vehicles, supported by appropriate controls and legal powers, to trusted partners such as MIB? With the right protections, I think there might be an opportunity there for the police to free up resources and for us to take a more frontline role, with you, out on the roads. But that is one more for the longer-term.

The opportunities are bigger than ever

In conclusion, I want to create an environment where people take uninsured driving more seriously. That’s about educating motorists to make sure they don’t mistakenly drive uninsured, but also making sure that those who knowingly drive without insurance have nowhere to hide.

The foundations of Tutelage and CIE are strong. But what works well today may not succeed in the different world that will exist tomorrow. We need to innovate and adapt if we are to be ready to exploit the opportunities of the future. That’s what our enforcement programme is all about. We still have a long way to go. But with the focus, talent, and enhanced capabilities we have developed - combined with the strong partnerships we have with insurers, the police and the government - we’ve never been in a stronger position to one day realise our long-term goal of making uninsured driving a thing of the past. 

So, with that, I’ll hand it over to you for any questions. I also hope to get some feedback from you in the spirit of honesty that I spoke about earlier. Is there anything you think we’re missing? If anything were possible, from a policing perspective, what would be a true game-changer in the fight against uninsured driving?

How can I help you?

Thank you.