Check Vehicle Insurance Status Online UK: Without valid insurance, it is illegal to drive on any public road in the United Kingdom. The penalties for such conduct can be severe.
In 2020, the maximum penalty for driving without insurance will be 6 to 8 license points and a fine. The fine is income-based, so it can range from £0 to £5,000 based on the offender’s income. In some instances, it is even possible to receive a driving ban.
If you are caught driving without insurance, the police have the authority to seize and destroy your vehicle. If the case is sufficiently severe and the police refer it to the courts, you may be subject to an unlimited fine. You can also lose your driving privileges. So, pretty severe stuff!
How do I check if my car is insured…?
The easiest way to determine whether your car is insured is to record the vehicle’s registration number. This can be compared to the national motor insurance database. This is a national register of all insured vehicles in the United Kingdom, accessible to all registered insurance companies as well as the police and DVLA.
Conducting a search of the motor insurance database is free. However, there is a small fee if you wish to obtain additional information, such as the name of the insurance provider and policy-specific information.
FreeCarCheck does not offer an “insurance check” because askMID does not resell its data. AskMID is managed by the insurance industry, which does not resell database access. In other words, the only way to determine whether a vehicle is insured is to visit the AskMID website!
Is there a car insurance reminder service?
Unlike the UK Government’s vehicle tax (VED) and MOT checkers, which provide a useful email reminder, askMID does not currently offer an insurance reminder service.
If you are concerned about forgetting to renew your auto insurance, your insurer may send you renewal reminders. If you’re like me, you probably don’t read all of your emails, so it’s easy to miss them.
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MoneySupermarket has thankfully devised its own solution; if you download its free app, you will receive a push notification the day prior. There have been no issues with their app, and you are not required to purchase insurance through them to use it. Simply enter the expiration date of your auto insurance, and you will be notified automatically.
Will AskMID provide information regarding insurance write-offs?
How to check if someone else’s vehicle is insured?
You can check the insurance status of someone else’s vehicle, in the same manner, you would check your own. In order to accomplish this, you must also access the motor insurance database. Here are the necessary actions:
- Obtain the vehicle’s registration number to be checked.
- Search the AskMID database for the required information.
- If the vehicle is located in the MID database, the insurance information of the other vehicle will be displayed on the screen.
Depending on the specificity of the information you require, a nominal fee may apply for this service. If all you need is the name of a vehicle’s insurance provider, this service is free.
The motor insurance database is a useful resource for determining whether your own vehicle and any other vehicle are insured. If you are concerned that you forgot to renew your car insurance and that it has expired, use this free service to determine whether or not your vehicle is insured. Nowadays, free, useful things are a rarity!
A vehicle that I know is insured, is saying it’s not! What should I do?
You would be surprised at how frequent this is.
The askMID service is updated every few hours, so it is unlikely that a delay in updating the information is the cause. The best course of action is to communicate with them directly. (In our experience, the most likely cause is incorrect data entry, such as adding the wrong VRM.) FreeCarCheck is unable to answer any questions regarding the AskMID service.
Can I legally buy an uninsured car?
There is no legal requirement to purchase an insured vehicle. In fact, the majority of cars sold through dealerships include a 7-day “drive-off” insurance policy, which begins the moment the vehicle is driven away.
However, if you are purchasing from a private seller, it is highly unlikely that 7-day insurance will be included.
Instead, you must immediately insure the vehicle after purchasing it; don’t be one of those individuals who forgets or believes they can drive it home safely before insuring it. It is not worth the risk. Immediately after purchasing a car, pull over to the side of the road and insure it over the phone. Yes, it is tedious to listen to your insurer repeat the same terms and conditions and questions over and over again. However, it may save your license, and you only have to do it once!
