Many drivers in the UK will have to compare car insurance a lot more carefully as new laws governing the use of mobile phones put as many as 10,000 drivers into the non-standard insurance bracket.

The police can now issue an immediate £60 fine and add three points to a driving licence of anyone found using their handheld mobile while they are driving.

According to the DVLA, since the New Drivers Act 1995 came into force in January 1998, 119,412 drivers have had their licences revoked for accumulating six or more points on their licence, with only half (59,972) returned to the holders.

Paul O’Gorman of insurance broker Quoteline Direct said: “Insurers will be using the new laws regarding mobile phone use to push people who have been caught into the non-standard insurance bracket.

“Three points on a licence for speeding or jumping a red light has always bumped up premiums slightly but I expect many insurers to take a harsher view of people convicted of using their mobile phone while driving.”

He continued: “The widespread publicity that this has achieved and the increasingly taboo action of using a phone while driving will mean that as many as 10,000 drivers a year will be stung by their insurance company.”