Askmid restrictions on checking insurance.
Discussion
I note that when you go to the "Check your vehicle" URL on the MIB site, you're presented with several warnings:
the vehicle is registered, owned or insured by you or your employer;
you're allowed to drive it;
or, you're an Insurance Broker or Agent acting on behalf of your client.
you are then informed that it's an offence to check a vehicle that does not meet the criteria stated.
What is the difference between checking if a vehicle you don't own is insured, vs. checking a vehicle you don't own for a valid MOT and tax?
As the DVLA has no such criteria. But if the MIB want to cite GDPR as the reason, then surely the same criteria applies to checking for MOT / tax?
I do note that you can check a third party vehicle on the MIB, however I also note that there is a charge involved.
Or are the MIB just looking to monetise as much as possible?
the vehicle is registered, owned or insured by you or your employer;
you're allowed to drive it;
or, you're an Insurance Broker or Agent acting on behalf of your client.
you are then informed that it's an offence to check a vehicle that does not meet the criteria stated.
What is the difference between checking if a vehicle you don't own is insured, vs. checking a vehicle you don't own for a valid MOT and tax?
As the DVLA has no such criteria. But if the MIB want to cite GDPR as the reason, then surely the same criteria applies to checking for MOT / tax?
I do note that you can check a third party vehicle on the MIB, however I also note that there is a charge involved.
Or are the MIB just looking to monetise as much as possible?
TonyRPH said:
I do note that you can check a third party vehicle on the MIB, however I also note that there is a charge involved.
Or are the MIB just looking to monetise as much as possible?
It’s strange that paying takes away any problems.Or are the MIB just looking to monetise as much as possible?
Equally it’s so open to abuse it makes no sense.
I used ask mid the other day to check my cars were insured.
Mine - fine
Wife - mistyped the number (ncidentually, making me a criminal)
Put the correct reg in - sorry, you've had your two free goes, try again later.
Very odd. I use it infrequently but the mid people have obviously decided to monetarise it more, and stop whatever perceived loss of revenue they were facing.
Maybe it will keep car insurance premiums down ever so slightly? As it is not publicly funded AFAIK.
Mine - fine
Wife - mistyped the number (ncidentually, making me a criminal)
Put the correct reg in - sorry, you've had your two free goes, try again later.
Very odd. I use it infrequently but the mid people have obviously decided to monetarise it more, and stop whatever perceived loss of revenue they were facing.
Maybe it will keep car insurance premiums down ever so slightly? As it is not publicly funded AFAIK.
Ian Geary said:
Very odd. I use it infrequently but the mid people have obviously decided to monetarise it more, and stop whatever perceived loss of revenue they were facing.
Website development, maintenance, support, hosting etc etc costs money. I bet any payments received don't cover the costs.TonyRPH said:
I do note that you can check a third party vehicle on the MIB, however I also note that there is a charge involved.
Or are the MIB just looking to monetise as much as possible?
The paid for service is completely different to the own vehicle check - it's designed so that you can get the insurance details of a car that you were involved in an accident with. Hence it gives you the details of who was insuring a car on a specific date (not "today") and returns full details of who that insurer is, not just the simple yes/no answer that the own vehicle check gives.Or are the MIB just looking to monetise as much as possible?
Plus you are not allowed to use the paid for service on random cars out of nosiness/curiosity/public spiritedness either. You have to tick a box to say that you have been involved in an accident with that car and believe that you are entitled to recompense (and making a false declaration there is also an offence).
No idea why tax/MOT data is (somewhat) available to the public and MID data less but there are some obvious differences: for example the MID is a record of your relationship with a private company, the DVLA is an arm of the government.
Aretnap said:
The paid for service is completely different to the own vehicle check - it's designed so that you can get the insurance details of a car that you were involved in an accident with. Hence it gives you the details of who was insuring a car on a specific date (not "today") and returns full details of who that insurer is, not just the simple yes/no answer that the own vehicle check gives.
Plus you are not allowed to use the paid for service on random cars out of nosiness/curiosity/public spiritedness either. You have to tick a box to say that you have been involved in an accident with that car and believe that you are entitled to recompense (and making a false declaration there is also an offence).
No idea why tax/MOT data is (somewhat) available to the public and MID data less but there are some obvious differences: for example the MID is a record of your relationship with a private company, the DVLA is an arm of the government.
(my bold)Plus you are not allowed to use the paid for service on random cars out of nosiness/curiosity/public spiritedness either. You have to tick a box to say that you have been involved in an accident with that car and believe that you are entitled to recompense (and making a false declaration there is also an offence).
No idea why tax/MOT data is (somewhat) available to the public and MID data less but there are some obvious differences: for example the MID is a record of your relationship with a private company, the DVLA is an arm of the government.
If you do the free enquiry, you don't get to find out who the insurance is with.
So although you do find out if the vehicle is insured or not, there is no other disclosure, and hence no laws broken.
It all just seems a bit scammy to me.
TonyRPH said:
It all just seems a bit scammy to me.
What on earth is the scam? The fact that they provide a service for free? Or the fact that they have a small charge for a completely different service that you might have need to use a couple of times in your life? Or the fact that they didn't let you search for random vehicles whose insurance status you're nosy about? Aretnap said:
What on earth is the scam? The fact that they provide a service for free? Or the fact that they have a small charge for a completely different service that you might have need to use a couple of times in your life? Or the fact that they didn't let you search for random vehicles whose insurance status you're nosy about?
I said is seems a bit scammy - I didn't say it was a scam.But the conditions they stipulate, and the warning: "It's an offence to check a vehicle if the reasons above do not apply to you."
What offence would one be committing by checking a vehicle that one doesn't own?
That's the part that seems a bit 'scammy'. How about providing more detailed information like, "under section 4 of such and such an act you will be committing an offence...." would give it more credence.
BertBert said:
why do they need more credence? Just to satisfy people's curiosity?
As I wrote in my post above:They state: "It's an offence to check a vehicle if the reasons above do not apply to you." (highlighted in red).
As no personal information is disclosed (apart from the make & model of the car*) where is the offence?
It's a simple question isn't it?
- more detailed information is available from the DVLA database, so it can't be that the make & model are disclosed.
MID is trash now, typical they want money to make sure your own car is insured, why can I not use this so called free service, I have tried for the past year and get the same message, I use an ad blocker, could this be the problem?
"Sorry, you've reached your limit of searches. Please try again later".
Nothing seems to work when related to any .gov these days.......fecking incompetent!
Bought the insurance and I need to check they are insured as I don't trust Insurance, police or any idiot to do with local authority, I know I have had to work with these morons for 20 years!!!
Any help with this thanks.
"Sorry, you've reached your limit of searches. Please try again later".
Nothing seems to work when related to any .gov these days.......fecking incompetent!
Bought the insurance and I need to check they are insured as I don't trust Insurance, police or any idiot to do with local authority, I know I have had to work with these morons for 20 years!!!
Any help with this thanks.
boggsy said:
MID is trash now, typical they want money to make sure your own car is insured, why can I not use this so called free service, I have tried for the past year and get the same message, I use an ad blocker, could this be the problem?
"Sorry, you've reached your limit of searches. Please try again later".
Nothing seems to work when related to any .gov these days.......fecking incompetent!
Bought the insurance and I need to check they are insured as I don't trust Insurance, police or any idiot to do with local authority, I know I have had to work with these morons for 20 years!!!
Any help with this thanks.
To check your own vehicle is free, try using another computer"Sorry, you've reached your limit of searches. Please try again later".
Nothing seems to work when related to any .gov these days.......fecking incompetent!
Bought the insurance and I need to check they are insured as I don't trust Insurance, police or any idiot to do with local authority, I know I have had to work with these morons for 20 years!!!
Any help with this thanks.
In the real world has anyone ever been prosecuted.....? How on earth would they ever know......?
Well I just checked my car on the website, it worked fine. They've upped the warnings but I don't see how you could be found out, you may have just bought it, Registered keeper is not owner as they keep saying.
https://www.askmid.com/
I'm using Windows 11 Home if that's of any relevance, and it works on my Android phone too.
https://www.askmid.com/
I'm using Windows 11 Home if that's of any relevance, and it works on my Android phone too.
boggsy said:
MID is trash now, typical they want money to make sure your own car is insured, why can I not use this so called free service, I have tried for the past year and get the same message, I use an ad blocker, could this be the problem?
"Sorry, you've reached your limit of searches. Please try again later".
Nothing seems to work when related to any .gov these days.......fecking incompetent!
Bought the insurance and I need to check they are insured as I don't trust Insurance, police or any idiot to do with local authority, I know I have had to work with these morons for 20 years!!!
Any help with this thanks.
If you are using a shared IP address (such as using a VPN or a work internet connection), this can happen. As suggested either try another computer or a network connection that isn't shared."Sorry, you've reached your limit of searches. Please try again later".
Nothing seems to work when related to any .gov these days.......fecking incompetent!
Bought the insurance and I need to check they are insured as I don't trust Insurance, police or any idiot to do with local authority, I know I have had to work with these morons for 20 years!!!
Any help with this thanks.
boggsy said:
Bought the insurance and I need to check they are insured as I don't trust Insurance, police or any idiot to do with local authority
This is why I always ask for the paperwork and file it safely in case I ever need to prove I'm insured.Much more reliable than some third-party website.
TonyRPH said:
BertBert said:
why do they need more credence? Just to satisfy people's curiosity?
As I wrote in my post above:They state: "It's an offence to check a vehicle if the reasons above do not apply to you." (highlighted in red).
As no personal information is disclosed (apart from the make & model of the car*) where is the offence?
It's a simple question isn't it?
- more detailed information is available from the DVLA database, so it can't be that the make & model are disclosed.
BertBert said:
TonyRPH said:
BertBert said:
why do they need more credence? Just to satisfy people's curiosity?
As I wrote in my post above:They state: "It's an offence to check a vehicle if the reasons above do not apply to you." (highlighted in red).
As no personal information is disclosed (apart from the make & model of the car*) where is the offence?
It's a simple question isn't it?
- more detailed information is available from the DVLA database, so it can't be that the make & model are disclosed.
When I checked here www.whatismyproxy.com, it says in in Belgium lol no I'm not, does say at the bottom
"Do Not Track" Setting:
Do not track is not enabled in your browser.
I'm not using a VPN, it must be something on my computer as my son says it worked fine on his upstairs.
I always keep the certificate of insurance PDF on my phone.
"Do Not Track" Setting:
Do not track is not enabled in your browser.
I'm not using a VPN, it must be something on my computer as my son says it worked fine on his upstairs.
I always keep the certificate of insurance PDF on my phone.
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