Are You Driving Legally? Are You Sure?

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO ENSURE YOU DON'T RECIEVE AN INSURANCE ADVISORY LETTER (IAL) 

As you may or may not be aware, the Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) regulations were put before Parliament in November 2010. Following this the regulations were approved and supported by Mike Penning, Road Safety Minister, on the 11th January 2011. This now means that it is an offence to be the registered keeper of a vehicle which may not be covered by insurance following a check against the MID, even if the vehicle is not driven on the road. Therefore unless the vehicle is declared as ‘off road’ (SORN) to the DVLA it is a legal requirement to have motor insurance. This includes motor caravans,
motorbikes and classic cars.

As the winter weather continues to affect us all, no matter what your mode of transport, it seems as though it is motorists that are being worst hit. Not only does the heavy snow and ice restrict road usage, travel and engines but it has also increased incidents and accidents and therefore motor insurance claims.

It is this increase in claims that has seen a proportionate increase in premiums across the board. Between the 24th November - 31st December 2010 the Association of British Insurers (ABI) reported a £1.4 Billion payout for insurance companies. There were 278,000 claims from insured motorists for vehicle damage costing £530 Million. Many of these claims were for low speed collisions, as motorists struggled on icy roads.

Unfortunately this means that to compensate for this premiums have been rising in the last few years for all motorists, regardless of claims experience. Therefore motorists that have a clean licence and history may have also seen an increase in their annual premium.

There have always been a number of motorists that choose not to take out car insurance, but following this increase in premiums, the number of motorists uninsured has also risen. In order to tackle this problem this is where the Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) regulations come in. All that needs to be done now is a simple scan of the Motor Insurance Database. If a vehicle is neither SORN nor registered as insured, the proprietor will receive an Insurance Advisory Letter (IAL) which must not be ignored.

If you ignore an IAL the next stage will be enforcement from the DVLA which may include:

1. Fixed Penalty Notice Fine
2. Details being added to the DVLA's wheel clamping partners list
3. Possible court prosecution that carries a maximum fine of £1000

That if you receive an Insurance Advisory Letter (IAL) in error you still need to take action and contact either the DVLA directly or your insurance provider to ensure you do not receive an incorrect Fixed Penalty Notice.

Prevention is better than cure. You can check that your vehicle details are correctly registered on the Motor Insurance Database now for free by visiting www.askmid.com and entering the registration number.

Remember the only exceptions are if you have made a SORN for the vehicle or if the vehicle has been kept off-road since before SORN came in to force on 31st January 1998.

To declare a vehicle SORN please visit www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk

If you check the database and find that your vehicle is either missing or its details are incorrect then you need to contact your insurance provider ASAP. They should then update the database for you. However if you are responsible for updating the MID yourself (for example is you have a vehicle fleet) you MUST ensure you keep on top of this and check the database regularly. Any changes to any vehicles, additions to the fleet or change of drivers must be updated, if you fail to do so you may receive a substantial fine i.e. £5,000 or court prosecution.

For more information either speak to your broker or visit
www.direct.gov.uk/Motoring