"We come across cases every day where people have withheld an appalling driving history and we find out about it when we access shared databases with other insurers, or when a customer fills in a licence history mandate."

The penalties for non-disclosure of claims and convictions can range from having to pay additional premium to complete cancellation of the policy in more serious cases.

This means a proportion of motorists who deliberately fail to disclose their past could be driving without insurance despite believing they are covered.

Another common scam is for younger motorists to insure the vehicle in a parent's name and put themselves on the policy as a named driver although they

"This is a classic example of someone who is driving around Britain's roads without proper insurance."

Andrew said finally: "Drivers who purposely lie to gain a cheaper quote push up the price for everyone in the end. At elephant.co.uk we will do everything we can to make sure our honest motorists don't end up paying for the dishonesty of others."