1. Introduction

It is a pleasure to be with you today. I have had the privilege of leading the Motor Insurer’s Bureau since 1 July and I’d like to share some thoughts on MIB and the importance of working together as an industry.

Things have been moving at pace in the past three months, and not just when I have found myself travelling in the back of a police car at 130mph. More on that later.

2. New Government

Firstly, I’d like to say a few words about MIB’s crucial relationship with the Government which, like me, has been in office for around 100 days. We have a unique place in the insurance industry. Our core work on compensating the victims of uninsured and hit-and-run drivers is done under Agreements with the Department for Transport. We host or manage UK national databases. We are a trusted partner for Government, and I am keen to work with MIB’s partners on ways of using that position to leverage support for the whole industry and the valuable services that it delivers for its customers. 

The current Government came into office determined to make an impact and get things moving across the board. We have illustrated how MIB’s activities link to Government manifesto commitments, such as safer streets and fighting crime. We have sent that document to Ministers and we’re using it a starting point for discussions with them and their officials.

3. Enforcement

We are probably best known for providing more than £430m to compensate victims of uninsured driving and hit-and-runs every year. But MIB’s enforcement activity is also hugely important.

Every time we get an uninsured driver off our roads, it makes roads safer as well as helping to contain levy costs for our members and the cost of motor insurance for the law-abiding majority.

But the impact goes further. Evidence shows that uninsured drivers are more likely to be involved in wider criminality. So, when we help to catch an uninsured driver, society may be protected from other wrong-doing too. The criminal carrying weapons and drugs or who is wanted in connection with burglaries, or whose unroadworthy vehicle is one avoidable malfunction away from killing or injuring an innocent member of the public.

Since 2005, our work with Government, insurers and the police has resulted in more than 2.5 million uninsured vehicles being seized. That’s an impressive number, but we want to go further and are currently testing a range of interventions to reduce the number of uninsured drivers on our roads. Public policy has an important role to play. Our specific asks of Government include:

• Tougher legal penalties to increase the deterrence effect;
  
  
• Ensuring that all vehicles have a current registered keeper;
  
  
• New powers for local authorities so they can help the police remove uninsured vehicles from the road.

This brings me back to travelling at 130 mph in the back of a police car in September. Our excellent law enforcement liaison team had invited me to an operations day with the Essex Police. It was a memorable demonstration of the power of ANPR technology – but what really stood out was the passion that our police have for removing uninsured vehicles from our roads and protecting other road users. That made it clear to me that together – MIB, insurers, police and Government – we can go further still in tackling uninsured driving to make roads safer.

4. Other stakeholders

MIB can only be fully effective by working in collaboration with a range of stakeholders in the insurance industry and beyond. Senior level engagement is vital to ensuring that these relationships are close and productive. To this end, I have prioritised meeting my opposite numbers in key bodies.

Starting with our hosts today, in early August Hannah Gurga and I met to review the issues facing the motor insurance industry. Rising premiums have been the focus of much public concern and commentary – not all of it balanced. Various political figures made strong pronouncements in the run-up to the election. Having studied the ABI's 10-Point Roadmap to tackling insurance costs, I am certain that MIB can - and must - make a meaningful contribution across the board. On all issues, I am determined that we should speak with one voice as an industry.

DVLA, responsible for vehicle and driver registration, is another important stakeholder for MIB. We depend on each other for vital data services. I led an MIB team visit to Swansea in August. In a day-long workshop, we identified opportunities to replace outdated technology and update working practices. There is clear scope for closer collaboration in some areas – insurance fraud being one of them. Together with the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), we are on the case!

Although I have only mentioned two of MIB’s stakeholders here, there are of course many more. I will be sure to nurture those relationships too. And if you represent or know of an organisation that would like to have closer working ties with MIB, please do get in touch; my door is always open.

5. Cross-border

MIB’s stakeholders extend beyond the UK border. We are a founding member of COB, previously known as the Council of Bureaux, which administers the Green Card System. This provides safe and hassle-free driving across the borders of 47 countries in Europe and beyond, ensuring that third party accident victims have a route to compensation. Our work helps to protect the vital interests of UK insurers who become involved in claims arising from the use of UK registered vehicles abroad or foreign registered vehicles in the UK.

Under my leadership, MIB will continue to develop its active engagement across the COB system. It enables us to operate efficiently – important when we must recover MIB’s outlays from the settlement of green card claims amounting to many millions of pounds a year – and to influence COB’s administration and strategic thinking.

In August, I visited MIB Ireland and was pleased to see the practical benefits for both sides arising from of our collaboration with this key partner in Europe. In September, I met the COB Managing Directors at the Secretariat office in Brussels. Later this month, I will meet the COB President, who is also CEO of the German bureau; meetings with the two Vice-Presidents are planned for later this year.

MIB recently took the initiative to convene and chair a new COB working group to consider the cross-border implications of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) – and I will say more about CAVs in just a moment.

6. Data services

Managing vital data services has become an increasingly important part of our activities over the years; MIB now offers six data services and manages another four for other organisations. These services, which handle millions of enquiries every month, amongst other things, have been developed at the request of the insurance industry for the benefit of its customers and in doing so, they help to reduce the cost of insurance.

MIB worked with the Ministry of Justice to build and manage the Official Injury Claims (OIC) Portal, launched in 2021 under the then Government’s Whiplash Reform Programme. It provides a free and independent service for people with minor injuries sustained in a road traffic accident. They can choose to make claim directly with OIC or with legal representation. 900,000 claims have been made since launch.

Extending the whiplash reforms is point 7 of the ABI’s 10-point plan, and MIB is keen to be involved. We also want to encourage the Government to raise the small claims limit from its current level of £5,000, which has not been revised since the OIC Portal was launched.

We are updating our technology. Earlier this year, the Motor Insurance Database was upgraded onto MIB’s Navigate: a single MIB platform capable of handling input from several data sources and serving multiple customer groups. Scalability and expansion are designed in. It is a major investment for today and the future and aims to enhance outcomes for the industry and its customers, as well as other stakeholders who use the many different data services that we offer. 

In my experience, there are always areas for improvement in a significant IT change and Navigate was no exception. MID users have provided valuable feedback to our in-depth ‘lessons learnt’ exercise. The conclusions of that review are being factored into the planning and delivery of later phases of Navigate: the next one being the upgrade of MIAFTR (Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud & Theft Register). 

7. Fraud

Combatting fraud is a key focus of many of our data services.

Colleagues at the Insurance Fraud Bureau (the “IFB”) – an MIB managed company - have identified that opportunistic fraud is one of the biggest threats facing the industry. In response, they have been raising awareness of serious topics including moped driver scams and fronting through fluffy cats and birthday cakes! This seems a bit suspect, but I'm told it’s all about "utilising trends" in a comprehensive digital marketing strategy to targeted audience groups. The figures speak for themselves: so far this year, the activity has had 7.5 million video views providing a significant deterrent effect.

8. Future challenges

The Government has confirmed that it will push forward with plans to regulate autonomous vehicles (AVs) under the AV Act and wants to listen to the voices of industry. The motor insurance industry needs to be a facilitator for this new technology which can make our roads safer, but we must also work together to ensure that our priorities are addressed, including:

a) Resolving the omission in the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act of any reference to uninsured AVs. It means that MIB acting as guarantee fund would not enjoy the same statutory rights of recovery and exclusions as insurers have under the Act.

b) Ensuring that collision-critical vehicle data is adequate for claims investigation purposes and available to authorised bodies. The access criteria may be of particular importance to MIB if we are to act as guarantee fund: unlike insurers, we would not have a contract with the vehicle keeper that can require them to make data available in the event of a collision.

c) Addressing concerns around cybersecurity, particularly – but not exclusively – in the case of AVs being used to cause large-scale damage in acts of terrorism.  This is a wider concern with connected vehicles more generally.

MIB has taken a lead on cybersecurity. We are currently processing the findings of an expert report commissioned jointly with the DfT and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV). We have held two members briefing meetings so far. A further one is planned for November.

Future transport developments will bring further challenges for our industry. New transport technologies can overtake Government’s ability to respond.

Privately owned e-scooters provide a current example; they are widely used on roads and other public places despite such use being illegal. The use of these motor vehicles is effectively being subsidised by premium paying motorists, as MIB is responsible for compensating the third party victims of any collisions that they cause. We hope the current Government will now act, and we will support them in finding the best solution.

We can expect other, possibly unpredictable and disruptive, developments. The pace of technological change will continue to increase, bringing further challenges to our industry. The trio of CVs, AVs and EVs will continue to drive changes for the insurance industry as current connected vehicle enhancements continue. Machine learning, AI and quantum computing will change vehicle control systems in ways that have yet to be understood.

All of this means that as an industry we cannot rest on our laurels. We need to plan for the longer term and ensure that in the short term we are working to ensure our readiness to respond to future challenges.

9. MIB Strategic Review

For the more immediate future, I have initiated a strategic review of MIB to consider how we should adapt our services ready for 2030. It takes an ‘outside in’ approach to look at things from our customers’ perspective, and we will shortly be consulting stakeholders to help inform our future direction. I’m encouraging all concerned to take a bold and imaginative approach. But whatever else may change, MIB’s core purpose of protecting people from the devastation of uninsured and hit-and-run driving and making our roads safer will remain a central part of our work.

10. Conclusion

We live in interesting times. The motor insurance industry will surely need to respond deftly to some demanding challenges in the coming years to continue serving our customers’ changing needs. There will also be new opportunities to grasp. Consistency of messaging and speaking with one voice will be essential to success, and I will ensure that MIB plays our full part.