The consequences of delays and mistakes in loading data to the MID

The rules in Article 76 of the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) Articles of Association set out the minimum requirement for Members to achieve in submitting data to the Motor Insurance Database (MID).

Failure to meet the standard required results in a Member having to pay an additional levy. This levy increases in line with the seriousness of the failure. Ultimately a persistently poor performing insurer may have their Membership withdrawn.

While the main purpose of the MID is enforcement and the primary reason for updating it promptly is to meet the requirements of legislation, the wider consequences of not doing so can be damaging for policyholders.

We live in an age of one click on-line purchases where consumers have control of so many aspects of their lives instantly and at their finger-tips. In light of this and the growing emphasis in the industry on nurturing customer relationships, it’s important to consider how they may view organisations that cannot upload data immediately.

There are very real consequences for the customer if their policy is not visible on the MID. They risk being stopped by the police and accused of driving uninsured. In many cases this can be cleared up by the MIB Police Helpline to avoid the car being seized; nevertheless, significant inconvenience has already been caused to the customer.

In the worst case scenario, when the matter can’t be resolved to the satisfaction of the roadside officer, the vehicle is seized and the driver is subject to the associated costs and penalty points attached to the seizure. The legitimate motorist may also be exposed to the inconvenience of dealing with a Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) advisory letter. Just one unnecessary seizure is too many and erroneous seizures do happen (approximately 1 in every 1,000).

When the police check the MID, the most common reasons for a policy not appearing are, either the insurer/broker didn’t upload it fast enough, or, data was loaded incorrectly and is therefore not visible e.g. ABC123 was entered as ABV123.

The current Department for Transport requirements on Members are for 95% of MID 1 policies (private car) to be on the MID within seven days of the effective date of the record and, for MID 2 policies (commercial, fleet and motor trade), 95% within 14 days.

Ultimately Article 76 is there to balance the need for timely and accurate data on the MID, so that the police, MIB and DVLA can effectively combat uninsured driving, with treating customers fairly and protecting innocent motorists from the consequences of not being on the database.

In a time when technology is making big strides and increasingly offering efficiencies to businesses, customers’ expectations are that data is loaded to the MID a lot quicker than it was in bygone days and this change in expectations is likely to continue.