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The MIB was established in 1946 in an agreement between all motor insurers and the government to create a central fund to provide a means of compensating the victims of road accidents by negligent uninsured and untraced drivers. The MIB comprises of UK motor insurers who are only allowed to operate if they belong to the Bureau and contribute to its funding. The MIB's obligations are linked to the compulsory insurance requirement of the Road Traffic Act, so the protection provided is limited to where there is a legal requirement to insure.
Two other main functions the MIB have are: -

• to operate the green card system in the UK; and
• to maintain a register of all policies issued in the UK (the Motor Insurance Database MID)

For further information please see http://www.mib.org.uk/Home/en/default.htm

The MID is a centralised database of motor insurance policy information of all insured UK vehicles. It is intended to be a tool in the reduction of uninsured driving in the UK. The MID also helps the UK comply with the EU Motor Insurance Directive 2009/103/EC, which requires all motor vehicles in the EU to be covered by compulsory third party insurance. It also removes the need for border checks on insurance so that vehicles can be driven as easily between Member States.

The MID is an important component in fulfilling the Government’s aims to reduce uninsured driving, which benefits the insurance industry by cutting the cost of compensating victims of accidents involving uninsured motorists. The cost of uninsured motoring is currently estimated to be £500 million, which costs the honest motorist an average of £30 per year. The MID is actively used by the police and is essential for roadside checks.

Under MID1 (private vehicles insured by individuals) the current requirement is for 95% of motor risks to be sent to the MID within 7 days of the transactions effective date and to submit the data in an accurate manner. Although insurers are ultimately responsible for the submission of files to the MID, it is important for policies to be sent to us in a timely fashion to ensure there is no customer detriment.

The new CIE legislation creates an additional obligation for insurers to submit 99.9% of motor vehicle policies within 40 days (an error rate of 1 in 1,000).

Any driver may check that their vehicle is registered on the MID by using www.askmid.com. By entering the Registration Number of the vehicle, the presence of a policy will be confirmed by displaying "YES" and in some cases by confirming the make/model of the vehicle
If www.askmid.com does not have your clients vehicle details noted please ensure the details you hold are correct before contacting us via your usual channel, so that we can investigate and resolve.

The Electronic Vehicle Licensing (EVL), sends a message to the MID, and if a record is found for the vehicle for the relevant date, a positive response is received. No information about the policy is sent to the DVLA, but the transaction is authorised to go ahead.

Subject to certain conditions, the UK Information Centre at MIB can search the MID on behalf of a victim of an accident or under provision of the Data Protection Act.

Insurers can carry out checks via MIDcheck which enables authorised users to access the database. Insurers can view their own policies and see full details but are only able to view third party data to help fulfil their obligation to help handle a claim which provides the name of Insurer and policy number. This is run by Experian on behalf of the MIB.

Solicitors, and other organisations, working on behalf of clients who are victims can use the online enquiry system - Entering the Registration Number of the vehicle and the accident date it will let you know if the other vehicle has details on the MID, and if so, will provide the name of Insurer and policy number.

The Data Protection Act 1998 has been amended to allow records held by the DVLA to be compared with those on the MID. If it appears from the database comparison a vehicle has no insurance and is not declared Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN), or a change of keeper is in the process of being completed by the DVLA, a letter will be sent to the registered keeper.

The Electronic Vehicle Licensing (EVL) was introduced by the DVLA to allow vehicle re-licensing via the phone or Internet. EVL uses the Motor Insurance Database (MID) to make a check on whether there is valid insurance on the date on which the licence must be renewed. (or the date of the transaction, if this is later) Motorists may not be able to use EVL if they have recently changed their name and or address, changed their insurance company or any details of their vehicle. There may also be problems verifying insurance cover if the tax and insurance are both due at the same time.

Updates are made to the database round the clock, every day of the year. Insurance companies and those acting on their behalf endeavour to get data about new policies and revisions to existing policies to the database as soon as they can. However, policy information cannot alway be updated to the database immediately. At Allianz policies are submitted daily.

In a bid to tackle the 2 million uninsured drivers on Britain's roads, The Road Safety Act 2006 introduced a new offence of being the registered keeper of a vehicle which does not have insurance. This is aimed at overcoming the problem of vehicles not specifically covered by any insurance policy being used by drivers who claim cover under their “driving other vehicles” extension. The two specific exceptions are:

1. If the vehicle has been SORNed.
2. If a change of keeper is in the process of being completed by the DVLA.

CIE can be enforced “from the record”, and vehicles need not be seen on the roads before action can be taken.
For information about the new penalties for vehicles without motor insurance, please visit http://www.direct.gov.uk/stayinsured

1. DVLA’s vehicle keeper database and the MID will be compared to identify vehicles that are not recorded on the MID
2. An Insurance Advisory Letter (IAL) will be sent to the registered keeper informing them that their vehicle does not appear to be insured.  
3. The registered keeper may:
   1. Inform DVLA that they are no longer the registered keeper or the vehicle is sold, SORN etc
   2. Inform DVLA that the vehicle is stolen and provide a crime reference number
   3. Confirm with their insurer that the vehicle is insured and present on the MID
4. A second check will be conducted and if the vehicle is still showing as uninsured a £100 fixed penalty notice will be issued
5. If the penalty notice is not made the vehicle will be immobilised, clamped, and ultimately disposed of. The registered keeper will also be liable to court prosecution for the new criminal offence.

To try and ensure that letters are sent appropriately as possible the MIB will be running 3 separate cross-checks between the MID and DVLA databases at forty day intervals. Only if a vehicle fails to appear on the MID on all three occasions will a letter be sent (i.e. the vehicle will have had to be missing from MID for 120 days). As a further measure, one last check will take place on MID the day before any letter is scheduled to go out.

For more information on the continuous insurance enforcement leaflet, please visit http://www.biba.org.uk/

Ask your client to ensure that the details on their V5C and insurance documentation match For example address, postcode, Vehicle Registration Mark and make and model.
A common issue is that some registered keepers transfer their cherished (private) registration number on to their new vehicles, but don't complete all the appropriate paperwork, including notifying their insurance provider. This results in vehicles having registration marks that have not been assigned to the vehicle.