Car owners who renew their insurance at the last minute are more likely to be stopped by police, as efforts have intensified to stop uninsured motorists.

Renewals take several days to process, and if the old policy expires during that time, a driver will show up in the police system as uninsured.

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, said: “Police are very likely to stop the motorist and if they can’t provide satisfactory evidence that the car is insured, it can be confiscated.”

The number of uninsured vehicles stopped by police has risen to more than 170,000 in 2008, up from 78,000 in 2006, according to statistics published by Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) last month.

The introduction of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) systems on police cars has caused the increase. The systems continuously check registration numbers that come into its field of detection against data provided by the national Motor Insurers’ Database (MID).

If there isn’t a match, the officer is alerted and the car can be stopped - bad news for anyone who is late renewing their car insurance.

Mr Douglas explained: “The moment a policy expires it is deleted from the MID. If you’re late renewing, or take out a new policy after your existing one has lapsed or if you buy a new car, it can take three or four days before details of the new policy are updated.”

But this system is good news for all insured drivers, as it should eventually lower insurance costs.

Ashton West, chief executive from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, said: "All law abiding motorists who are insured are paying nearly £30 each towards a total sum in excess of £500 million; this is how much it costs to compensate people injured by uninsured drivers.

“Our work with the police has been very successful and must continue alongside additional measures to make it harder for the uninsured driver to hide from prosecution.”

Avoid extra bother by making sure to renew on time, keeping my mind it could take several days to process your request and have it show up in the police system, and be sure to tell you insurer if you buy a new car.

If you are late, make sure to keep your policy, the date you renewed and your insurer’s telephone number with you so you can quickly verify your coverage with police.