Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB) - Insurers not updating your details

We all know the importance of having car insurance, so every year we are faced with the boring and time consuming task of finding the cheapest car insurance quote. If you drive without insurance for even a day, there is a chance that you will be found out by the police or cameras that have licence plate recognition. As all motorways have speed cameras, one of the checks carried out other than speed is making sure that all details are up to date such as insurance, MOT and tax disc. Police also do spot checks and have automated licence plate recognition cameras in their vehicles so all car registration plates are scanned automatically and flagged if found to have no insurance, MOT or valid tax disc.

There was recently an investigation as many motorists have been stopped by police and had their vehicles taken away from them because they say that it hasn’t been insured. Even after showing the insurance cover note, the police still refused to acknowledge this and took the car away. It turns out that the Motor Insurance Bureau has not had their system updated so when checks by the police are carried out, it shows a vehicle as uninsured.

Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB) Database
Insurers have to notify the Motor Insurance Bureau so they can update their database and police checks that are carried out on vehicles are as up to date as they can be. The loophole is that insurers do not have to pass on any new updated insurance policy details to the MIB straight away meaning the system can show you as ‘uninsured’ for up to 7 days. There have been some reported cases of insurance companies not passing on updated information for up to 14 days but this is a rare occurrence. Unfortunately there is little we can do, as even if you were to be pulled over by the police and you show your insurance documents, they are not always accepted as proof.

If you are anxious about whether or not the system has been updated, then you can do a search on the Motor Insurance Database for free to quickly check to see if you are listed as ‘insured’. For a more detailed check, you will need to pay a fee or contact them. As there are no laws in place to make insurers pass on policy renewals on a regular basis and in a timely manner, it may mean we as customers may be forced to do our own checks to make sure that the database has been updated accordingly.

If however you do get stopped by the police who say that you are an uninsured driver, keep calm and try a negotiate as some police officers will let you keep the car provided you bring your insurance documents to a police station within 24 hours for verification. If you cannot reason with a police officer, then let them take the car and contact your insurance company immediately and you should be compensated and all charges dropped.