The Motor Insurance Database is managed by Motor Insurers’ Bureau and is a central record of all insured vehicles in the UK, including commercial motor insurance.
The Motor Insurance Database (MID) is a way for the police and DVLA to monitor and take action against the amount of uninsured drivers on the road in the UK. This is because the UK has one of the worst records in Western Europe for uninsured driving. Around one in twenty cars on the road are being driven without sufficient insurance cover.
The main aim of the MID is to reduce the number of people who drive or hold useable vehicles without insurance, thus, reducing the cost to the industry that has to compensate the victims of accidents involving uninsured motorists and traders. Mark Bowman, senior associate and road traffic accident specialist at Field Fisher Waterhouse commented:
“The Motor Insurers’ Bureau pays out millions of pounds each year for claims against uninsured or untraced drivers. This money comes out of the pockets of honest, careful and competent drivers as they pay, on average, an extra £33 on their premium each year. This crackdown appears to have been a success, but more needs to be done to ensure that the number of uninsured and untraced drivers falls. Victims of untraced drivers in particular are left in an unsatisfactory position due to the terms of the MIB’s Untraced Drivers Agreement. The more that can be done to take claims outside of this process, the better.”
As a motor trader, you can take out commercial motor insurance cover that provides insurance while you are driving vehicles that do not belong to you. This is the Road Risks element of your policy. A motor trader that does not have insurance cover in place can be identified as driving an uninsured vehicle by police Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, resulting in the vehicle being stopped.
As the policyholder, it is your responsibility to add vehicles onto the MID. Most insurers will provide you with either a phone number or a web link so you can add the vehicles yourself. We recommend that you add your trade plates onto the MID as well as other registration plates. This can prevent unnecessary stops by the police.
If the vehicle you are driving is not found on the MID, the police can impound your vehicle without notice. This not only might leave you stranded, it can also hit you hard in the pocket with expensive impound and storage fees which mount up very quickly. It could also make it harder for you to get insurance in the future if you gain motoring convictions along the way.
If, as part of your motor trade business, you purchase vehicles from an auction house on a regular basis, we suggest that you carry a copy of your motor certificate with you or store a copy on your mobile phone. This can prove invaluable when proving that you are a legitimate motor trader. Some police authorities have been known to take differing views when they cannot reach insurers out of business hours, for example, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Depending on the work you undertake, you must choose a motor trade insurance package that covers you appropriately. You may have employees that drive customers’ vehicles and you will need to ensure cover is in place for this, because they cannot use their personal insurance when they are driving in connection with your motor trade business.
But don’t worry, it is very easy to find the right cover at the right price which will protect your business. Bollington Motortrade can help you find the most appropriate cover at competitive rates. For motor trade insurance, get in touch with our team at Bollington Motortrade now.
