Petition: Review and Simplify the UK Insurance System, Including Vehicle Insurance

We ask the Government to undertake a comprehensive review of the UK insurance system and consider reforms to make insurance simpler, fairer, more transparent and more affordable for the public.

Insurance is an essential part of everyday life in the United Kingdom. People are required or strongly encouraged to hold insurance for vehicles, homes, businesses, travel and other risks. However, the current insurance system can be complicated, expensive and difficult for ordinary people to understand.

We believe the Government should review whether the current system remains appropriate for modern Britain and consider ways of simplifying it while maintaining strong protection for victims and consumers.

In particular, we ask the Government to examine the possibility of changing the way motor insurance operates.

Under the current system, a vehicle may have insurance in place but an individual can still be treated as uninsured if they are not correctly insured to drive that particular vehicle. This can create confusion, particularly where family members, friends, employees or other authorised drivers use the same vehicle.

We believe Parliament should consider whether a greater proportion of motor insurance should be attached primarily to the vehicle rather than the individual driver, with appropriate conditions relating to who may drive it.

For example, a vehicle could have a compulsory insurance policy associated with its registration number, providing a defined level of third-party cover whenever the vehicle is driven by an authorised or legally permitted driver.

Additional driver-based insurance could still be available where required to reflect factors such as age, driving experience, convictions or other legitimate risk factors.

We therefore call on the Government to:

1. Conduct a comprehensive review of UK insurance legislation and regulation to identify unnecessary complexity, duplication and excessive administrative costs.

2. Review the current motor insurance model and assess whether compulsory third-party insurance could be principally linked to the vehicle and its registration number rather than requiring separate policies for individual drivers in circumstances where this would provide equivalent or better protection.

3. Examine whether vehicle-based insurance could reduce the cost of insurance, particularly for households where several authorised people use the same vehicle.

4. Consider a simplified national insurance framework in which the public can more easily understand exactly what is insured, who is covered, what exclusions apply and what level of protection is provided.

5. Review the impact of current insurance arrangements on young drivers, families, low-income households, carers, employees and people who occasionally need to drive another person's vehicle.

6. Require insurers to provide clearer and more standardised information so that consumers can easily compare policies on a like-for-like basis.

7. Examine whether insurance pricing and administration can be made more transparent, while continuing to allow insurers to appropriately assess genuine risk.

8. Ensure that any reforms maintain strong protection for victims of road traffic accidents, including appropriate third-party compensation.

9. Consult widely with motorists, consumers, insurance companies, road-safety organisations, businesses and other stakeholders before introducing any legislative changes.

10. Report the findings of the review to Parliament, together with proposals for legislative and regulatory reform where appropriate.

Why this matters

The purpose of this petition is not to remove the requirement for insurance or to reduce protection for the public.

Instead, we want Parliament to ask a fundamental question:

Can the UK have an insurance system that provides the same or better protection while being substantially simpler, fairer, more transparent and more affordable?

Modern technology makes it increasingly possible to link insurance policies directly to vehicles, registration numbers and verified driving records. Parliament should therefore examine whether the current system, developed through decades of legislation and regulation, remains the best model for today's society.

We believe insurance should protect people and property without creating unnecessary complexity or financial barriers.

We therefore call upon the Government to review and simplify the UK's insurance system, beginning with motor insurance, and bring forward proposals to Parliament for a fairer, clearer and more consumer-friendly system.