The Vnuk law requires a wider range of vehicles than
those such as cars and motorbikes to be insured,
including ones previously not requiring insurance, such
as golf buggies, mobility scooters and quad bikes.
The law also extends to vehicles on private land,
meaning people with a ride-on lawnmower at home would
require insurance where it would have previously not
been needed.
Had the EU law been
implemented in Great Britain, it would have meant the
insurance industry would have been liable for almost £2
billion in extra overall costs. These costs would
likely have been passed onto their customers – British
road-users.
Now we have left the EU, the measures no longer need
to be implemented, helping road-users across the
country steer clear of increased premiums – a clear win
for motorists in Britain.
Bypassing Vnuk will also protect the existence of the
UK’s world-leading
motorsports industry. The EU rules would have meant any
motorsports collision involving vehicles from
go-karting to F1 would have been treated as regular
road traffic incidents requiring insurance. This could
have decimated the industry due to the additional
insurance costs of roughly £458 million every single
year. Scrapping the rules will save the industry from
potential collapse and secure hundreds of thousands of
jobs in the sector in the process.
Transport Secretary said:
We have always disagreed with this over-the-top law
that would only do one thing – hit the pockets of
hard-working people up and down the country with an
unnecessary hike in their car insurance. I am
delighted to announce that we no longer need to
implement it.
Scrapping this rule would save the country billions
of pounds and is part of a new and prosperous future
for the UK
outside the EU –
a future in which we set our own rules and
regulations.
As well as the likely financial burden on British
road-users, the Vnuk rules are considered unnecessary
as there are already insurance packages available to
Brits that cover certain risks on private land.
The UK officially
left the EU on 31
January 2020, with the formal transition period coming
to an end on 31 December 2020, after the ratification
of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation
Agreement – allowing us to control our own rules and
regulations and recover our economic and political
independence.
