Stopped by police -Car not on MID
Discussion
A friend was stopped by the Police yesterday as his car as according to MID his car was uninsured. He’s a retired accountant and drives a late model Jaguar.
The officer told him that his car had a marker on as it had previously been pinged as uninsured.
Although he couldn’t unequivocally prove he was insured at the roadside, after some discussion the officer told him to go straight home and not to drive the car until he’d sorted it out with his insurers.
He rang his insurers today and they admitted their mistake. They hadn’t updated MID after his insurance was renewed in September. They’ve said that it could take up to 5 working days for the database to be updated!
He needs to use his car on a daily basis and is now worried that if he’s stopped again, his car will be seized by the police.
What can he do to prevent this happening?
The officer told him that his car had a marker on as it had previously been pinged as uninsured.
Although he couldn’t unequivocally prove he was insured at the roadside, after some discussion the officer told him to go straight home and not to drive the car until he’d sorted it out with his insurers.
He rang his insurers today and they admitted their mistake. They hadn’t updated MID after his insurance was renewed in September. They’ve said that it could take up to 5 working days for the database to be updated!
He needs to use his car on a daily basis and is now worried that if he’s stopped again, his car will be seized by the police.
What can he do to prevent this happening?
Would it be enough to print out his insurance certificate and keep it with him to show if he's stopped again, or keep a PDF of the certificate on his phone if he doesn't have a printer?
Also, keep checking the MID himself so he knows then the issue is fixed.
I recently saw one of those cop shows on TV where a guy was stopped for no insurance. He was adamant that he was insured but when the officer phoned the insurance company they said they couldn't confirm because the underwriter had gone home early! Poor guy had to pay for temporary cover before the police would let him continue his journey!
Also, keep checking the MID himself so he knows then the issue is fixed.
I recently saw one of those cop shows on TV where a guy was stopped for no insurance. He was adamant that he was insured but when the officer phoned the insurance company they said they couldn't confirm because the underwriter had gone home early! Poor guy had to pay for temporary cover before the police would let him continue his journey!
sparkythecat said:
Apparently they won’t necessarily accept a written copy of an insurance certificate as proof of insurance, as it’s possible that the insurance has been cancelled since the date of issue
That's for them to establish. The MID isn't proof either. The opposite of the OP's case also applies, and policies are cancelled and the insurers fail to remove the vehicle from the MID. Or it takes a few days to update. If a driver produces a current certificate of insurance, that's proof of insurance unless the police can demonstrate otherwise. Also, re insurers going home early, I thought all insurers (not brokers or intermediaries) had a 24/7 staffed access line for the police.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Also, re insurers going home early, I thought all insurers (not brokers or intermediaries) had a 24/7 staffed access line for the police.
I saw it on Motorway Cops: Catching Britain's Speeders within the last few weeks. Might have been filmed a little while ago but a lot of the cops are driving G20 BMW 3 Series, so I would think the detail featured is current.Bigends said:
sparkythecat said:
Apparently they won’t necessarily accept a written copy of an insurance certificate as proof of insurance, as it’s possible that the insurance has been cancelled since the date of issue
I'm not quite sure what else you could produce in respect of Insurance cover..Get your friend to have a look at this :
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/secti...
If he can produce the insurance cert, either on paper or digitally, it puts the emphasis back on the police to believe he’s not insured.
The wording of believe above is important as the threshold for seizing fir no
Insurance is lower than a conviction at court. I haven’t checked but I thinks it’s reasonable grounds to believe the vehicle is uninsured.
Anyway to sum it up he should be fine if he carries the certificate and if he’s got an email conversation on his phone about it, he would be belt and braces.
Cheers.
Edited due to auto correct….bent and braces, lol.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/secti...
If he can produce the insurance cert, either on paper or digitally, it puts the emphasis back on the police to believe he’s not insured.
The wording of believe above is important as the threshold for seizing fir no
Insurance is lower than a conviction at court. I haven’t checked but I thinks it’s reasonable grounds to believe the vehicle is uninsured.
Anyway to sum it up he should be fine if he carries the certificate and if he’s got an email conversation on his phone about it, he would be belt and braces.
Cheers.
Edited due to auto correct….bent and braces, lol.
Edited by 916 on Monday 14th November 16:25
mattyprice4004 said:
Carrying a certificate would be more than enough to persuade the Police he's not a yob with no cover - I'm surprised they didn't just ring into the company to check though.
I can't think of an insurance company without a 24/7 line with someone available for this kind of thing.
I’ve now told him to carry his certificate and proof of ID and only travel when his insurers are available by telephone. I can't think of an insurance company without a 24/7 line with someone available for this kind of thing.
Axa are his insures and apparently they don’t answer on Sundays.
I got pinged once and pulled over at the side of the M62 - renewed my insurance very late in the day (10pm) on renewal date and wasn't showing as insured on MID the next morning on the way to work (I've been called out on this before but can assure you it's true)
Went on my phone and found the confirmation email from the night before showing the policy had been renewed, which he was happy to accept
He then decided he could smell something and proceeded to get the breathalyser out - I blew 0
Went on my phone and found the confirmation email from the night before showing the policy had been renewed, which he was happy to accept
He then decided he could smell something and proceeded to get the breathalyser out - I blew 0
sparkythecat said:
Apparently they won’t necessarily accept a written copy of an insurance certificate as proof of insurance, as it’s possible that the insurance has been cancelled since the date of issue
Thats rubbish. The vehicle will only be seized if,
(a)a constable in uniform requires, under section 165, a person to produce evidence that a motor vehicle is not or was not being driven in contravention of section 143,
(b)the person fails to produce such evidence, and
(c)the constable has reasonable grounds for believing that the vehicle is or was being so driven.
Section 143 is driving without insurance.
If your friend produces a certificate of insurance at the roadside, it wont be seized. Criteria B isn't met. I'd also argue that just because its not shown on MID doesn't give reasonable grounds for believing that it wasn't insured.
He can continue to drive. If he gets stopped again before its updated, produce the certificate (printed or screenshot is fine) and at worst he'll be given a seven day wonder (which is unlikely as he's produced it already).
Those talking about phoning etc. The MIB are only staffed office hours (and maybe Saturday I can't remember now). Although some insurance companies will be open, often the ones who decide if a policy is valid etc only work office hours as well.
OP your find can check https://ownvehicle.askmid.com/ to see if its on the database. A large company like AXA I'd suspect it will be updated the next working day.
sparkythecat said:
I’ve now told him to carry his certificate and proof of ID and only travel when his insurers are available by telephone.
Axa are his insures and apparently they don’t answer on Sundays.
They might not answer to you or I. But they will answer the 24/7 police enquiry line. Axa are his insures and apparently they don’t answer on Sundays.
ARHarh said:
When questioned why not just login to your account. Difficult for anyone to question that surely.
That's if you can actually do that personally Where I live mobile signal is patchy and it's not in the middle of nowhere in darkest deepest Wales
I struggle very often to get a mobile signal
As said previously paper copy is best
LosingGrip said:
sparkythecat said:
Apparently they won’t necessarily accept a written copy of an insurance certificate as proof of insurance, as it’s possible that the insurance has been cancelled since the date of issue
Thats rubbish. The vehicle will only be seized if,
(a)a constable in uniform requires, under section 165, a person to produce evidence that a motor vehicle is not or was not being driven in contravention of section 143,
(b)the person fails to produce such evidence, and
(c)the constable has reasonable grounds for believing that the vehicle is or was being so driven.
Section 143 is driving without insurance.
If your friend produces a certificate of insurance at the roadside, it wont be seized. Criteria B isn't met. I'd also argue that just because its not shown on MID doesn't give reasonable grounds for believing that it wasn't insured.
He can continue to drive. If he gets stopped again before its updated, produce the certificate (printed or screenshot is fine) and at worst he'll be given a seven day wonder (which is unlikely as he's produced it already).
Those talking about phoning etc. The MIB are only staffed office hours (and maybe Saturday I can't remember now). Although some insurance companies will be open, often the ones who decide if a policy is valid etc only work office hours as well.
OP your find can check https://ownvehicle.askmid.com/ to see if its on the database. A large company like AXA I'd suspect it will be updated the next working day.
But as above if the driver is adamant the vehicle IS insured and the officer can’t prove it isn’t then it shouldn’t be seized
The officer can always make subsequent enquiries and report for summons later if found to be uninsured
sixor8 said:
Pica-Pica said:
I keep our certificate of insurance in the glovebox.
I always carry one too, to produce if there's an accident. It'll have all the information required by a 3rd party. It's exactly the sort of thing the glovebox is good for. 
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