As a car driver you really should know about a handy website called AskMID.
You’ll probably already know that there’s a central database the Police have access to that contains the insurance details of all the cars on the UK roads. The database is known simply as the Motor Insurance Database (MID), and now you can check to see if your car is recorded on there.
AskMID Gives You Peace Of Mind
By going to the AskMID website you can key in your registration number and get a simple answer. Yes, your car is on the database and you’re fine or No, it isn’t on the database. If the answer is No then you are either uninsured, your insurer hasn’t submitted your details to the MID or they’ve passed on incorrect details. If this is the case you’re at risk of having your car crushed if you can’t prove that you really are insured.
If you haven’t got any insurance then either buy some now or stop driving. Simple as that. If you can’t afford the insurance and decide to the proper thing by not driving anymore then you also need to declare your vehicle as SORN, or else you may find a fine arriving in the post from the DVLA.
If you are insured but your vehicle does not appear on AskMID then the first thing you should do is check your policy documents. Is the registration number correct? It’s possible that the person on the other end of the phone misheard your registration or simply typed it into the computer incorrectly. Get on the phone to your insurers straight away to correct any errors and ask them to update the MID. They should be able to sort that out for you.
There is one other possible result – your registration number is in the system but the vehicle description is incorrect. Again, this is a case where you should contact your insurance company and ask them to submit your car details back into the MID. If not, you could find yourself being pulled over and quizzed by the police as they will get different car details if they check your registration.
Askmid Helps If You’ve Had An Accident
Another service that AskMID offers is the ability to check the insurance details of someone else’s car. Why would you want to do this? If you were involved in an accident and didn’t think the other driver was insured you could double check the details they gave you. Just be aware that there is a fee and requests are processed manually, so make sure you genuinely need the information before you try it.
Go on, head on over to AskMID and check your car, it’s free and it only takes a minute.
Could not make head nor tail of this site. Hopeless!!!!!
Sorry William, I really don’t know. Why don’t you try keying your registration number into the AskMID website?
has my car got insurane qubodiesle fiat ma11lpp
Good to hear you got your MID problems resolved so quickly. It can be done, you just have to chase up your insurers and not let them forget.
i had a problem with my vehicle not showing on mid data base. i phoned data base and found the young lady at the other end of the phone very helpful. i then contacted my insurance told them the problem he!presto my vehicle appeard on data base within 5 days. cannot fault system. should work if right information is given both by yourself and insurance co.i went straight to my broker when it happend to me. i think it is a good system you can keep your self legal all the time if you work with the system.
It is rubish.It takes 7 days to update details when you take up a new cover, but if the insurance companny cancels the cover it updates strait away…
Yep, I think you’ve just about summed it up. It might even be longer than seven days, depends how efficient your insurer is.
so let me get this right! iv just paid near on £100 deposit for my van insurance but i could still b pulled by the old bill cus it wont show up on there system for 7 days?!?
I found the site pretty good with my cars but did wonder, will the police be aware of insurance before mid shows it ? I insured my wifes car but don’t want her getting pulled over with the kids in the car it just wouldn’t go down well!
I had a letter to say my car wasnt in the MID database so I got on to them and they said they would sort it. Today I have a fixed penalty notice and £100 fine because my insurance company has not updated the database!!!
They have said they will get my details updated but are refusing to compensate me anything for my fine. Grr…
Hi Ursula. If your number is not being recognised I’d get onto your insurer. They may not have passed on your details correctly. Is it a new car or a private reg?
Rubish does not accept my registration number
Still works fine for me. Perhaps it was a busy time for the site, or maybe they were doing maintenance. It’s not unknown for that to happen.
And no, the police don’t use this website. They use the same underlying database that this site uses, but they’ll connect using much more robust methods.
put in car reg comes up with web site not found, what a crap system obviously police dont use this site
Why, what’s up? Seems to be working for me.
Absolutely hopeless,cant do a thing with the site.
Hi Abid. It can take actually take longer – I believe the insurance companies are obliged to submit your new details to the MID database within seven days. Some will do it quickly, some not so quickly, and technical problems between the two systems can screw things up.
Just be aware that the Boys in Blue can pull you over if they query the MID database and your car isn’t on it, even while you’re waiting for your details to be refreshed.
Make sure you have your insurance documents with you and don’t go giving the police a load of attitude if you do get pulled. Explain the situation calmly, show your documents and give them as much detail as possible and they should hopefully be satisfied.
How long does it take to come up on the system (ASKMID)does it take 48hours or more or less?
I’ll bet they don’t! It’s not a perfect system, as you’re relying on the insurance companies to get it right. My Mondonkey was originally OK when I checked it, but out of curiousity I tried it a month before the insurance was due. According to Askmid the reg was now on a Peugeot 206, probably because some dozy call centre worker had mistyped the details. It’s OK now since I renewed the insurance, but what if the police had got the same result if they’d stopped me or the Mrs?
I did phone the insurance company to try and sort it out – absolutely no joy from the guy in the Indian call centre, who clearly didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.
It be nice and even useful it if worked.. i put my car reg in and nothing back. oh i got ‘webpage not found’, thats nice. So not only can the insurance companies get away with a sloppy requirement to get our details on this database within 7 days, (should be 7 minutes!) but we cant even accesss it to check they have done so. Bet the police don’t get ‘webpage not found’.
askmid is one of the best website uk offers ,it makes you aware if you are driving without a cover and in that way you have no reason to blame it to your bank or insurance company that they have made a mistake some way along the line ,a policy is important and they is no reason why you should drive without one though some times insurance companies do make mistakes and for that you end up getting your car crushed and you wont get it back.With askmid you can check anytime and update you in seconds,however it is a shame that from the end of june you shell be paying for that service £3.50 one off check or £100 for the while year,this is not good for the general people ,everyone use those services, now if we have to pay for them ,how many people will afford it? After all that site makes people aware on the status of their cars before they even got in their cars to drive them,it helps the people of the uk and as well as the the law ,on a personal note that service should be free to everyone we already pay too much on car tax, this should not be a service targeting our pockets but, help us be aware thank you.