Your obligations
To comply with the Motor Vehicle Regulations (2003), brought in as part of the 4th EU Motor Directive (2000), it’s essential that all UK-registered vehicles, licensed and insured for use on the highway, are recorded on the Motor Insurance Database (MID).
This database is checked regularly by police up and down the country for uninsured and untraced drivers. In 2023 alone, 129,324 vehicles were seized for no valid insurance.* Failure to pass driver and vehicle details to us in a timely manner will mean that the MID is not updated.
This could result in your customer being stopped by the police, with their vehicle ultimately seized and impounded.
It is estimated that there could be as many as 1 million uninsured motorists on UK roads*, and evidence shows that many uninsured drivers are involved in criminal activity, and may be driving vehicles that aren’t roadworthy. With the obvious danger to society, uninsured and hit-and-run drivers cost the Motor Insurers' Bureau approximately £500 million annually* – a cost which is funded through a levy paid for by motor insurers and ultimately, their honest customers. Keeping the MID up to date with insured vehicle details provides the police with the means to identify uninsured vehicles and drivers, which in turn will help contain future motor premium increases.
Useful guidance
You’ll find full details of your MID obligations in your terms of business agreement. Here are the main points.
Personal lines
You must advise us immediately of any change to the policy. If a policy is lapsed, you must also instruct us immediately. If you don’t do this, we’ll presume that the policy has been renewed.
Specified Fleets and Minifleet
Only vehicles described in the policy schedule are covered. You must advise us on or before the day of any change to the policy, including vehicle addictions or deletions takes place. Changes you request must be agreed and accepted by us. You must also advise us directly if the renewal is taken up or if the policy is to be changed or lapsed – not through your monthly statement. We cannot assume that a policy is renewed so we rely on your explicit instructions.
Unspecified Fleets and Motor Trade
You must advise us on or before the day of any change to the policy (e.g. policyholder name, address change, changes to vehicles which are specified on the schedule or have specified certificates such as privately owned vehicles). Changes you request must be agreed and accepted by us. You must also advise us immediately if the renewal is taken up or if the policy is to be changed or lapsed – not through your monthly statement. We cannot assume a policy is renewed so we rely on your explicit instructions.
For our motor trade product and commercial policies that cover unspecified vehicle fleets, the legal obligation to keep MID up-to-date and accurate in a timely fashion is the responsibility of the policyholder (who may commission a third-party for this purpose). Please encourage all policyholders to update MID immediately following any vehicle change.
The MIB recommendation is that all insured vehicle records are sent to the MID regardless of the period of cover - to minimise the risk of being stopped by the police and a possible vehicle seizure. Should a policyholder elect not to send temporary vehicles held in their possession for less than 15 days, they nonetheless have a legal responsibility to retain records of such vehicles for a period of at least 7 years.
We offer a free vehicle input service for our motor trade policyholders, who have 30 or less vehicles. We also provide dedicated support to all our motor trade and fleet customers to help them meet their MID obligations. For more information, call our MID Helpdesk on 0345 30 15762** (Monday to Friday, 9.00am - 5.00pm) or out-of-hours, you can e-mail: midhelpdesk@aviva.com
* Statistics provided in March 2024 by the Motor Insurer's Bureau.
** The cost of calls to 03 prefixed numbers are charged at national call rates (charges may vary dependent on your network provider) and are usually included in inclusive minute plans from landlines and mobiles. For our joint protection telephone calls may be recorded and/or monitored.