The Weekend Police Seized 90 Cars Including a £3.7 Million Ferrari for Driving Without Insurance

More than £8 million worth of vehicles have been seized from central London in a single weekend, with officers from the Metropolitan Police removing 90 cars including a Ferrari Monza SP2 worth an estimated £3.7 million from a driver who had arrived in the United Kingdom less than 24 hours earlier.

The operation, which ran from Friday 7 August to Sunday 9 August across Hyde Park, Kensington and Chelsea, was the largest in the five-year history of the Met’s summer crackdown on anti-social and dangerous driving. It surpassed last year’s record of 72 vehicles seized, and deployed 120 officers from the Met’s Special Constabulary and Vehicle Enforcement Team alongside specialists from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau.

The results raise uncomfortable questions about how many uninsured and unlicensed vehicles are currently being driven on British roads, and about the new enforcement tools police can now use against drivers whose behaviour causes alarm, distress or annoyance to other road users and residents.

The Operation That Broke Records

Officers stopped vehicles across Hyde Park, Kensington and Chelsea throughout the weekend using the Motor Insurers’ Bureau’s Navigate database, which allows police to identify uninsured vehicles quickly and accurately at the roadside. The database cross-references registration plates against the national insurance database, giving officers near-instant confirmation of whether a policy exists and whether it covers the vehicle and driver in question.

The weekend produced results that surprised even experienced enforcement officers. Alongside the headline 90 seizures, officers uncovered a range of other criminal activity during the stops. One man was found carrying 19 bank cards bearing other people’s names and more than £2,500 in cash, and was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and money laundering. Another was stopped for driving without insurance and found to have £5,500 in cash, and was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A, B and C drugs. A third was arrested for using words and behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress to members of the public.

Special Chief Inspector Geoff Tatman, who led the operation, described the weekend as a clear statement of intent. “We regularly hear from local people who are fed up with people driving cars dangerously in the area, or with modifications which make them a nuisance to those who live nearby. Through operations like this we’re arresting these drivers and seizing their cars so we can keep our roads safe and send a clear message that we won’t put up with their reckless and dangerous behavior.”

New Powers to Seize Vehicles for Anti-Social Behaviour

One of the most significant aspects of this year’s operation was the use of recently extended police powers that allow officers to seize a vehicle directly for anti-social behaviour, rather than issuing a warning or requiring a court process first. A total of 15 vehicles were seized under this legislation during the weekend alone.

Under Section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002, officers can seize a vehicle where they believe it is being used in a manner that causes, or is likely to cause, alarm, distress or annoyance to members of the public. In 2026, the government extended the scope and speed with which forces can apply these powers, allowing vehicles to be removed from the scene more efficiently. Where previously a warning might have been the first step, officers can now act immediately where the behaviour is sufficiently serious.

The practical effect for drivers who engage in dangerous or anti-social driving in central London is significant. The vehicle goes to a pound, recovery and storage fees begin immediately, and the driver faces the prospect of losing the car entirely if the offence is serious enough to trigger forfeiture proceedings.

Cllr Caroline Sargent, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Enforcement at Westminster City Council, confirmed the council’s approach: “People who think it’s acceptable to drive illegally in Westminster are not welcome here. The disruption caused by these reckless drivers and boy racers is often worse during the summer months and, as well as putting people at risk, causes significant nuisance for residents and businesses.”

The Ferrari That Had Only Just Arrived in the UK

The most striking individual seizure of the weekend involved a Ferrari Monza SP2, one of only 499 examples ever produced by the Italian manufacturer. The car had been in the United Kingdom for less than a day when it was stopped because the driver was operating it without valid insurance and in contravention of his licence conditions. He held only a provisional driving licence.

The Monza SP2 is among the rarest road-legal Ferraris in existence. One example sold at auction for $4,995,000 (approximately £3.7 million) earlier this year. Under UK law, driving without insurance carries a fixed penalty of £300 and six penalty points for a first offence, rising to an unlimited fine, a driving ban, and in serious cases a custodial sentence. Provisional licence holders are prohibited from driving unaccompanied on public roads and are subject to conditions including a 70mph speed limit and a ban from motorways.

Angus Eaton, Chief Executive of the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, used the seizure to reinforce a broader message. “Operations like these show that the rules apply to all motorists, regardless of the value of the vehicle they chose to drive. We know that while many offenders knowingly violate the law, others that aim to be law-abiding motorists may be caught out by making a genuine insurance mistake.”

Uninsured Driving: The Scale of the Problem

Every week in the United Kingdom, at least one person is killed in a collision involving an uninsured driver. The daily toll of life-altering injuries attributed to uninsured drivers is considerably higher, with the Motor Insurers’ Bureau estimating there are approximately one million uninsured vehicles currently on British roads.

The financial consequences fall on every insured driver in the country. The MIB pays out compensation to victims of collisions caused by uninsured and untraced drivers, and that cost is recovered through a levy applied to all motor insurance policies. In practical terms, the levy adds approximately £40 per year to the average comprehensive motor insurance premium for every driver who does hold valid cover. Drivers who follow the law are, in effect, subsidising those who do not.

Stops for insurance offences frequently reveal other criminal activity, as this weekend’s results demonstrated. Drug offences, fraud, and public order offences were all uncovered during what began as insurance-focused checks. The Met said the pattern is consistent with what forces see across the country: non-compliance with insurance law often indicates wider disregard for legal obligations.

The Insurance Mistakes That Catch Drivers Out

Not every driver stopped during the weekend was deliberately operating without cover. Officers identified a number of uninsured drivers who had been caught out by genuine mistakes that invalidated their policy. These included drivers whose insurance documents listed the wrong vehicle registration, drivers whose policy covered a different car entirely, and visiting drivers from abroad whose insurance policy did not extend to driving in the United Kingdom.

Motor insurance is a contract that depends on the accuracy of the information you provide. If the details on your policy are wrong, an insurer may be entitled to treat the policy as void, leaving you uninsured even if you thought you had cover. The most common errors include failing to declare modifications such as alloy wheel upgrades, body kits or tinted windows; underestimating your annual mileage; using a vehicle for purposes not covered by the policy, such as using a social and domestic policy for food delivery work; and failing to add a named driver when a second person regularly drives the car.

Drivers can check whether any vehicle is currently covered by insurance using the Motor Insurers’ Bureau’s free online tool at www.checkyourvehicle.org.uk. The check returns a result within seconds by cross-referencing the registration against the national database. It is worth running the check on your own vehicle periodically, and certainly before any major journey, to confirm your cover remains active and correctly recorded.

What Happens When a Vehicle Is Seized

If police seize your vehicle, the immediate steps matter. At the time of seizure, officers are required to give you a receipt detailing the pound where the car has been taken and the grounds for seizure. If the vehicle was taken for no insurance, you will need to arrange valid cover before it can be released. If it was seized under anti-social behaviour legislation, the release process depends on the severity of the original offence.

Release fees and daily storage charges apply from the moment of seizure. As of August 2026, following the 16% increase in police vehicle recovery fees that came into effect earlier this year, the standard release fee for a vehicle seized by the Metropolitan Police is £200, with a daily storage charge added from the first full day in the pound onwards. In a high-cost city like London, the bill for recovering a seized car can escalate quickly. If you are the registered keeper and someone else was driving, you can still claim the vehicle back, but you may remain liable for fees.

Vehicles that are not claimed within a set period can be disposed of by police. If your car is seized and you believe the seizure was unlawful, you can apply to a magistrates’ court for its return within 12 months of the seizure date.

Sources:

• Metropolitan Police: Supercars worth millions seized in Met crackdown on antisocial driving (10 August 2026)
• Motor Insurers’ Bureau
• Motor Insurers’ Bureau: Check Your Vehicle