Figures released from automotive data experts cap hpi as part of its crush watch initiative have revealed that West Yorkshire Police reunited finance companies with over £768k worth of uninsured vehicles in February alone.

Outside of London Metropolitan Police the amount is the highest of any regional Police Force in the UK. Metropolitan Police saved over £2.7m worth of vehicles in February.   

cap hpi’s crush watch scheme has helped finance and leasing companies recover over £10m worth of uninsured vehicles across the UK in February.

Amongst the vehicles, West Yorkshire Police reunited with finance companies included a Bentley Bentayga worth over £95,000.  

West Yorkshire’s figures are higher than other regional forces including Greater Manchester Police (£562k), Police Scotland (£512k) and Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Constabulary (£462k).

Nearly £122M of vehicles were confiscated from uninsured drivers and saved from potentially being crushed or sold at auction in 2018 including supercars such as Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bentleys and Aston Martins.

High-value vehicles were among more than 109,000 cars that were seized by police across the UK after their drivers were found not to have valid insurance, of which over 13,000 belonged to finance and leasing companies. Without crush watch the cars would either be sold on, often via auction or scrapped, without the finance company ever being aware.

It’s not just supercars recovered by crush watch with mainstream models making up the bulk of the most commonly recovered vehicles, with the Volkswagen Golf, Vauxhall Astra, Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta and BMW 1 Series making up the top five. They were closely followed by the Vauxhall Corsa, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes Benz C Class and A-Class and Audi’s A3.

Barry Shorto, Head of Industry Relations at cap hpi, said: “crush watch is proving what a valuable role it plays in the process of clamping down on uninsured drivers. In just one month, the total value of the cars recovered locally by West Yorkshire police was over three-quarters of a million pounds and by police forces nationally it was over £10 million. This indicates that the problem is becoming more widespread and increasing year on year.

“Through ongoing collaboration with police forces throughout the UK, we can continue to minimise losses and increasingly get to grips with the problem and also clamp down on the problem of drivers thinking it’s okay to drive without the necessary insurance.”

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