Are you registered on the MID?

The Motor Insurance Database (MID) is the centralised information system for all insured vehicles in the UK and is designed to allow the DVLA, Police and insurers to monitor and enforce motor insurance laws. The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) are responsible for developing and operating this database.

The current UK Regulations of 2003 state that it is your legal obligation as a policyholder to supply all the vehicles information to your insurer, although some insurers may ask you to provide the information to the MID directly so it is important that you understand the terms of your policy and check with your insurer if unsure.

By making sure your fleet vehicles are correctly added to the MID when they come on cover and are then removed when they go off cover, you are helping the police to concentrate on those vehicles that are actually uninsured. You may also save your drivers the inconvenience and potential embarrassment of being stopped by the police, as well as the costs associated with recovering vehicles that have been seized.

Information on potentially uninsured vehicles, which includes fleet vehicles that have not been added to the MID but should have been, is provided regularly to the police to feed into their Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) network. According to the police, there are currently around 7,750 ANPR cameras nationally, submitting between 25 to 30 million records each day to the National ANPR Data Centre.

If a vehicle is found to not be registered on the MID, the registered keeper could face:

• Fixed penalty notice of £100
• Vehicle being clamped, seized and disposed of
• Court prosecution with a maximum fine of £1,000

What information do I need to provide to the MID?

Whether you need to provide your vehicle information to your insurer or direct to the MID the information that you are legally obliged to provide for each vehicle is the following:

• Policy number
• Vehicle Registration Mark (Please ensure the VRM is accurate as this is used by the police and the DVLA for Continuous Insurance Enforcement)
• The date on which the vehicle was first insured on the policy (probably either the start date of the policy or the date the vehicle was acquired, if later)
• The date on which the vehicle ceased to be covered on the policy (which might be the day on which the vehicle was sold, or the date declared under a SORN to the DVLA)

This information ideally needs to be provided on the same day the insurance policy is taken out, otherwise, you run the risk of being stopped by the police.

How do to supply the MID with my vehicle information? 

If your insurer has agreed to register your vehicles on the MID then you simply need to provide the above information to your insurer. However, if you are asked to register your vehicles yourself then you will need to contact your insurer which will advise you on how best to access MIDUpdate, from here you will be able to manually enter the details of your vehicle.

All vehicles insured on your fleet policy should be added to the MID, this includes:

• All permanent vehicles registered to, owned by or leased to you, including long-term hire vehicles
• Temporary vehicles such as courtesy or short term hire vehicles
• Other vehicles, irrespective of the duration, regularly covered under your fleet policy

Correcting vehicle information 

If you realised that some of your vehicles’ details are incorrect then you need to inform the MID or your insurer as soon as possible. Information will need to be updated when you sell, off-hire any vehicles or return temporary vehicles. Failure to do so may result in you receiving insurance claims which no longer have anything to do with your company.

When it comes to renewal time it is important that you check with your insurer whether you have to update your vehicle information yourself to make them appear on the MID for the new policy period or if this is simply done automatically. If you move insurance companies you will have to provide the details of all your vehicles again.

Where can I get help?

If you are ever unsure about the MID then please don’t hesitate to contact one of our advisors on 01159 466 466 and we will be happy to help. Other points of contact should be your insurance provider and the MIB website.

You can check that your vehicle is registered on the MID any time by simply entering the registration plate at askMID.com