Nearly a quarter (23%) of motorists failed to inform their insurer the last time they received penalty points on their licence, according to research carried out by RAC Insurance.

As many as 2.8m UK drivers have points on their licences which means around 654,158 drivers* may be putting themselves at risk of their insurance policy being declared invalid should their insurer discover the information they have on record is not true.

However, the RAC says the problem could be far greater as 18% of those surveyed said they would not inform their insurer if they were to receive penalty points.

RAC Insurance director Mark Godfrey said: “It is the duty of every driver to inform their insurer of any circumstance that might affect the contract they have with them, both during the insurance term and at renewal. This includes making sure every piece of information they provide when completing an insurance application is correct.

“Not declaring penalty points is a serious matter as it puts drivers at risk of holding invalid insurance as well as potentially incurring substantial penalties from the police, or even a prosecution. The onus is always on the person taking out an insurance policy to make any incident known that could influence an underwriter in calculating a premium, even if they are not requested to provide such information. This could be a previous claim, a criminal or motoring conviction.

“If someone who had not told their insurer about receiving penalty points were to be involved in an accident they may be given additional penalty points, an unlimited fine and/or be disqualified from driving. The police could even seize and potentially destroy the uninsured vehicle.”

The RAC Insurance research also found that one in 10 (10%) of those surveyed claimed to know of someone who had incurred penalty points themselves and then got their partner to take them instead.

*As of March 2016 2,844,169 with points on their licences – https://data.gov.uk/dataset/driving-licence-data – 31 March 2016. 23% of motorists surveyed did not inform their insurer which equates to 654,158 of 2,844,169