How to check car insurance?

Checking for insurance is simple. The free Motor Insurance Database contains the insurance information for all cars in the UK. You can do a free check by clicking on https://www.ownvehicle.askmid.com. Simply enter your vehicle registration number and the service will return an instant online result, telling you whether or not your vehicle is showing as insured on the database.

Of course you also need to know which company you have car insurance with. Car insurance policies auto renew, so if you have relied on this to make sure you are insured it is easy to forget who you have insured with. The same can be true if you take advantage of the better deals which are often available to new customers and change your car insurer regularly.

The first step is to look through your bank account. If you can spot a payment, or regularly payments, to an insurance company, those payments could be for car insurance. You can also check your emails, perhaps by running a search on your inbox and spam for ‘car insurance’.

If neither of these steps give you the information you need then you can ask the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, or MIB, for details. This is done by making a ‘subject access request’. The service is usually free but you can be charged a fee for some of the MIB’s admin costs. Click here to download the form you will need to fill in:
https://www.mib.org.uk/media/422618/data-subject-access-request-mid_v30.pdf

You do not need to pay over the odds for your car insurance. Freepricecompare.com helps you compare prices from numerous insurers, making sure you can get the best deal for your needs. To keep the price down only insure your car for what you need it for. If you do not use your car for business your insurance is likely to be cheaper and giving an accurate annual mileage estimate can bring down costs too. If you are a young or inexperienced driver then it may help to have a black box fitted.

You need to have car insurance even if you are not using your car, unless you have made a ‘Statutory Off-Road Notification’, or SORN, with the DVLA. Without the SORN you could be fined even if your car is technically off the road.

Driving without insurance is an offence subject to a £300 fine and six points on your driving licence. You can also be taken to court for driving without insurance. The court can impose an unlimited fine and/or a ban on you driving.

If you are caught driving without insurance it will make it more difficult for you to get car insurance in the future and will increase your premiums. It is not a risk worth taking and you have a responsibility to other road users to make sure you have the appropriate insurance.