Compulsory third party insurance was introduced as part of the Road Traffic Act in 1930, but there was still a number of accidents involving drivers who had no insurance.
Following talks with the Government, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) was formed in 1946 to make sure that motorists involved in accidents with uninsured drivers wouldn’t suffer financially.
Every insurer that sells van insurance must be a member of the MIB. Each insurer makes a contribution to the central MIB fund depending on how many vehicles they insure.
The MIB has two agreements with the Secretary of State for the environment:
What is the Uninsured Driver’s Agreement?
The Uninsured Driver’s Agreement applies to accidents on or after 1st August 2015. The agreement protects insured motorists against the following instances:
- No van insurance – the MIB will settle insurance claims for third party injury and damage to property
- No valid van insurance – if a driver causes third party injury and damage to property while for example, using their van for business on a private use only policy, the MIB will insist that the driver’s insurance company pays out to the third party. It will then be up to the insurer to recover its costs from their own customer.
What is the Untraced Driver’s Agreement?
If a driver who causes an accident can’t be found, the MIB will consider claims for losses – including injury, death and damage – as long as those losses are not covered by any other type of insurance
What is the Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN)?
Since 2011, all motor vehicles must be insured unless they’ve been declared to the DVLA as ‘off the road’ and have a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN).
If you’re using your vehicle when it has been declared ‘off the road’ and you’re not insured, your vehicle policy record won’t appear on the Motor Insurance Database. As it is an offence to drive without insurance, you should expect a warning letter, followed by a fixed penalty fine.