E scooter use can add £1,000 to car insurance as crackdown commences
A total of 375 children aged between 13 and 16 were found using an uninsured vehicle last year, compared to just 17 in 2021.
The number of young drivers without insurance has also more than doubled to more than 7,000 in four years, with charity IAM RoadSmart putting this down to the high cost of car insurance for young drivers.
The road safety charity, which revealed the DVLA figures, is lobbying the Government to urgently legislate against e scooters.
Latest figures from the Department for Transport showed six people were killed and 416 seriously injured in crashes involving e scooters in 2023.
It is illegal to ride privately owned e scooters on public roads or pavements and as such, insurance is not available for them.
However, many are unaware because trials of rental e scooters have been ongoing in urban areas since July 2020. It's estimated more than 750,000 e scooters have been bought in the UK.
Research shows being handed an IN10 endorsement - the offence code for using an uninsured vehicle - can add £1,000 to car insurance premiums.
Looking at quotes for both 17-19-year-olds and 20-29-year-olds, the IN10 added £1,000 to quotes, MoneySuperMarket found.
The average annual premium was £1,766 for the younger drivers without any convictions. The same driver with an IN10 would be quoted £2,767.
Among 20-29-year-olds, the quote for a driver with no offences was £1,272. For those with an IN10 it rose to £2,272.
Nicholas Lyes, director of policy and standards at IAM RoadSmart said: "The number of children caught driving or riding without insurance is shocking and is likely to be down to the those riding e-scooters.
"Although it's illegal to ride a privately-owned e-scooter on public roads, they are widely available for sale.
"The Government needs to urgently bring forward legislation on private e-scooters, which must include minimum-type approval device standards, speed limiters and proposals for riders to have a minimum level of competency."
Young drivers insurance
Meanwhile 7,234 IN10 endorsements were handed to people aged 17-21 last year, compared to 3,340 in 2021.
Mr Lyes said: "For car drivers aged 17-24, uninsured driving is likely to be a result of cost pressure.
"Young people pay the largest insurance premiums of all and rely on vehicles for independence and work opportunities.
"While there may be some light at the end of the tunnel with premiums starting to fall, cost will remain a barrier and some may continue to break the law unless we see significant change.
"There are levers the Government can pull.
"Insurance premium tax breaks for those undertaking additional training would be a good start and can be an incentive for new drivers."
NimbleFins research found the average cost of car insurance for young drivers is £1,752 per year.
That's compared to the £612 for the average cost of car insurance in the UK across the board.
It's led to many parents breaking the law by 'fronting' for their child's car insurance - where an adult buys the car insurance in their name and puts their child on as a named driver to keep the premium low.
For those looking for the best car insurance for young drivers, we previously reported on the cheapest cars for young drivers to insure, which includes the Fiat 500, Peugeot 108 and Hyundai i20.
A DfT spokesperson said: "We are carefully considering next steps on e-scooters, but in the meantime private ones remain illegal for use on public roads.
"We are committed to tackling high car insurance costs as part of our Plan for Change to raise living standards across Britain and that's why we have set up a cross-Government taskforce to look at how we can help stabilise or reduce premiums."
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