Irish Motor Insurance Database implemented to help detect uninsured vehicles and drivers. Each year insurance claims for uninsured vehicles cost €60m to €70m.
A new database platform that has been rolled out will help Gardaí catch uninsured drivers.
The Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) in cooperation with Insurance Ireland, An Garda Síochána and the Department of Transport, has implemented a central insurance database.
The Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID) will help identify uninsured vehicles and drivers. This database is underpinned by Legislation under Section 78A of the Road Traffic and Roads Act (2023) which requires all insurers to provide motor policy information to the database.
Improving road safety
Irish tech services firm Tekenable, which employs 220 people, designed and developed IMID which will help to reduce uninsured driving which in turn will reduce premiums and help to improve road safety.
According to MIBI there are about 188,000 private uninsured vehicles on the road. This represents about 8.4% or 1 in 12 vehicles which is very high relative to other countries. The detection of vehicles without motor insurance is a very important task for the Gardaí and the Roads Policing unit, in particular.
“In Ireland, it’s compulsory for all vehicles to have motor insurance,” said Tom O’Brien, Technical Claims manager at MIBI. “If any person suffers physical injury and property damage that’s caused by an uninsured vehicle, MIBI will deal with the claim and pay compensation to the victim.
“MIBI, as a not for profit organisation, is financed by levies on the insurance industry. These levies are ultimately paid by law abiding insured motorists with €30 €35 included in the premium paid by drivers. This puts an extra burden on law abiding drivers and motor insurance companies while the person with an uninsured vehicle attempts to get away without paying anything.”
How IMID works
The IMID integrates with the underwriting platforms at approximately 40 insurers and collects data on a nightly basis from each insurer. This data is processed overnight and then shared with An Garda Síochána who make it available to front-line Gardai via their internal systems and mobility devices.
The MIBI also plans to share the data with the National Vehicle & Driver File (NVDF) at the Department of Transport.
The IMID is one of the largest financial services databases in Ireland today as it contains details on over 3m vehicles and more than 5m drivers that are insured to drive those vehicles.
The complex and sensitive data in the database will allow Gardai, the Department of Transport and the MIBI to see real-time insurance data pertaining to motor vehicle and their drivers.
“The new system delivers a secure database that connects insurers, MIBI, the Department of Transport and the Gardai, giving them highly secure access to motor insurance data at any time,” O’Brien said.
“The data in IMID facilitates live access to insurance data by Gardai at the road side through their mobile devices. This is a gamechanger as it allows the Gardai to check the insurance status of both vehicles and drivers that they have stopped. This will help reduce uninsured driving and improve road safety.”
Main image at top: Gardaí Paula Malcolmson and Mathew O’Connell; Peter Rose, Group CTO at Tekenable; Tom O’Brien, Technical Claims manager, MIBI Assistant; Commissioner Paula Hilman, Roads Policing and Community Engagement Bureau; and David Fitzgerald, CEO of MIBI
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