Remember to keep your fleet insured

Issue: Spring 2010

Does the insurance status of your fleet get the attention it deserves so that your vehicles keep moving and unnecessary delays are avoided?

Without an accurate and up-to-date record of insurance on the Motor Insurance Database (MID) any vehicle, including one that is part of a fleet, can be stopped and seized by the Police. The MID was introduced in 2001 and is managed by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) to tackle the high levels of uninsured drivers in the UK, which costs the industry more than £500 million per year.

Neil Drane, Head of MID Services at MIB says: “The value of the freight industry to the UK economy is well documented as millions of tonnes of essential cargo and valuable goods are transported up and down the country every day. We understand the importance of productivity to the industry and with some simple steps and best practice every fleet operator can maintain good quality records of insurance on the MID either directly, or with their insurance provider.”

Information on potentially uninsured vehicles is regularly provided to the Police to use with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology. When a vehicle passes an ANPR camera and has no insurance, the roadside police officers are alerted and the vehicle is stopped. Since 2005 the Police have seized more than 500 uninsured vehicles a day.

You can check for free that your vehicles are recorded on the database at www.askMID.com and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online vehicle licensing service automatically checks the database more than 1.5 million times a month.

Future developments for the MID
The Department for Transport (DfT) is now introducing the Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) scheme from early 2011 to further reduce the level of uninsured driving. Right now it is an offence to use an uninsured vehicle on the road or public place. This new compliance and enforcement approach will operate alongside the existing enforcement activity undertaken by the Police and will require registered keepers to take responsibility for making sure the vehicle is insured.

The DVLA and MIB are working in partnership to introduce the scheme, which will identify uninsured vehicles by comparing the insurance and registered keeper records on their respective databases. If it appears that the vehicle has no insurance, the registered keeper will be contacted.

It is anticipated that CIE, in conjunction with continued police enforcement activity, will further reduce the level of uninsured driving on British roads by around 40%. This will help keep down the costs to responsible motorists who pay for the cost of uninsured driving through insurance premiums.

Neil Drane concludes: “MIB is working with the insurance industry to manage the operational changes needed to maintain and continually improve the integrity of data recorded on the MID. Driving without insurance is not only damaging to the UK economy but also socially unacceptable. The progress made so far in reducing the level of uninsured driving in the UK is significant.

“The freight industry has a part to play in maintaining accurate and up-to-date insurance records of its vehicles not only as a means to contributing to the productivity of the sector but also maintaining the confidence of its customers that goods are delivered on time.”

Make sure your vehicle fleet is on the Motor Insurance Database (MID):

• If you are responsible for updating the MID, make sure your staff are trained to understand the importance of the database to avoid any vehicles being stopped by the Police.
• If you have just renewed insurance, make sure your current list of vehicles are accurately recorded on the MID – check directly or talk to your insurance provider.
• Any changes to the vehicles covered by your insurance policy must be uploaded to the MID immediately, including removing any vehicle that has been returned or disposed of.

For more information, contact the Motor Insurers’ Bureau on Tel: 01908 830001, E-mail: enquiries@mib.org.uk or visit: www.mib.org.uk

Published: 07/05/2010