Motor Insurance Database service

Lots of drivers have never checked whether their car is correctly listed as insured on the Motor Insurance Database.

Find out why this is important and how to check your vehicle's listing on the Motor Insurance Database.

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What is the Motor Insurance Database?

The MID, now known as the Motor Insurance Policy Database or Navigate, is used to compare insurance records with the DVLA.

The police use the MID for their automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology. The equipment alerts officers if it spots an uninsured car.

Why do I need to be on the MID?

Unless you've registered your vehicle as off the road (Statutory Off Road Notification or SORN), you must keep it insured at all times. This rule is called Continuous Insurance Enforcement.

But if you make a simple mistake or delay renewing your cover, your car could be wrongly listed or missing on the MID. If that happens, you could be stopped by police.

How do I check the MID?

It's quick and easy to check if your car is listed as insured.

Go to Navigate.
Enter your vehicle registration number in the box.
Hit the Check This Vehicle button to instantly find your vehicle's status.

How could my car be wrongly listed?

Simple errors on your insurance details can cause a mismatch, so its important to make sure the details are correct.

When you're taking out or renewing insurance, especially over the phone, check for common mistakes like:

Using the letter O instead of a zero
Putting 2 letters the wrong way round.

Or if you renew your cover at the last minute, your car's details could drop off the database for a short time.

It can take 2 or 3 days (or longer if there are issues to sort out) before your new insurance details are uploaded to the MID.

To avoid an unpleasant conversation or letter from the police, renew your insurance or take out a new policy well before your cover expires. And then double-check the details are correct.