car insured 3 months but not on mid!

vikkimumof3

Hi all,
Bought a car end of Feb insured it straight away through performance direct.
Got pulled by police today as not showing insurance police man was really nice spoke to insurance broker who confirmed we are insured but could offer no reason why car not on mid.
Police officer said they will put a note on saying its insured but is that enough for now?
Thanks

Inch_High_2

vikkimumof3 wrote: »

Hi all,
Bought a car end of Feb insured it straight away through performance direct.
Got pulled by police today as not showing insurance police man was really nice spoke to insurance broker who confirmed we are insured but could offer no reason why car not on mid.
Police officer said they will put a note on saying its insured but is that enough for now?
Thanks

Start carrying your certificate until it's on in case mib or the office are closed.

vikkimumof3

I have it downloaded to my phone as its all done through email.
I can sort it tomorrow as my actual insurer are closed for bank holiday.
Broker said its probably just human error

vikkimumof3

So a cert of insurance is enough in case I get pulled again?

poet123

Is it the Co-op by any chance? I changed insurers as they are very lax in updating the system and I didn't want any of my sons being pulled whilst driving.

Imdaewen

MID/PNC is a bit crap and doesn't update straight away. (But only by a day or so) If you received a fixed penalty notice, attend the police station with a copy of your certificate, you may also wish to write to the central ticket office (address on court hearing slip) with a cover letter and copy of certificate. But from your post I assume he was sensible and didn't issue a ticket as he phoned them.

Even if you are carrying your certificate it will not guarantee you will be able to drive away, they have to confirm it, which may be impossible outside office hours!
(A lot of people will get an insurance certificate and cancel the actual policy thinking this is enough.)

Once the police can confirm through your insurance company that you are insured then the fine (if issued) will be cancelled. If you are able to get a letter of indemnity from the insurer that will be good - but they will only issue this if you have had a fine.

You can check yourself if your vehicle is on the MID at:

http://ownvehicle.askmid.com/

But probably advisable to do on Wednesday afternoon so you know for defo you need to contact the insurer and see what is going on. (Check your certificate for any numbers/letters mistakes on the VRM, transposed numbers are easy to do).

If your details are not on that database, then the insurance company is being very naughty. There is a certain amount of information that needs to be submitted to the database to prevent this kind of rubbish happening.

Inch_High_2

Imdaewen wrote: »

MID/PNC is a bit crap and doesn't update straight away. (But only by a day or so) If you received a fixed penalty notice, attend the police station with a copy of your certificate, you may also wish to write to the central ticket office (address on court hearing slip) with a cover letter and copy of certificate. But from your post I assume he was sensible and didn't issue a ticket as he phoned them.

Even if you are carrying your certificate it will not guarantee you will be able to drive away, they have to confirm it, which may be impossible outside office hours!
(A lot of people will get an insurance certificate and cancel the actual policy thinking this is enough.)

Once the police can confirm through your insurance company that you are insured then the fine (if issued) will be cancelled. If you are able to get a letter of indemnity from the insurer that will be good - but they will only issue this if you have had a fine.

You can check yourself if your vehicle is on the MID at:

http://ownvehicle.askmid.com/

But probably advisable to do on Wednesday afternoon so you know for defo you need to contact the insurer and see what is going on. (Check your certificate for any numbers/letters mistakes on the VRM, transposed numbers are easy to do).

If your details are not on that database, then the insurance company is being very naughty. There is a certain amount of information that needs to be submitted to the database to prevent this kind of rubbish happening.

It can't be lawfully seized if you produce a certificate of insurance, unless they can verify it's not valid.

Imdaewen

poet123 wrote: »

Is it the Co-op by any chance? I changed insurers as they are very lax in updating the system and I didn't want any of my sons being pulled whilst driving.

They also trade under a lot of names. Budget and Post Office are the ones that spring to mind. So you might not have 'got rid of them' unless you went for Admiral.

Co-Op is also very good at responding to police requests for information when things do go wrong.

poet123

Imdaewen wrote: »

They also trade under a lot of names. Budget and Post Office are the ones that spring to mind. So you might not have 'got rid of them' unless you went for Admiral.

Co-Op is also very good at responding to police requests for information when things do go wrong.

I did;) initially at least, but they were repeatedly months out of date updating the system.

Imdaewen

Inch_High wrote: »

It can't be lawfully seized if you produce a certificate of insurance, unless they can verify it's not valid.

Unfortunately I can't pinpoint an answer to that one based on my knowledge around lawful seizures, (I have not dealt with that side of things). But a fixed penalty may still be issued if they are erring on the side of caution.

I know that if we receive an insurance certificate we have to check it out, even if it is a 'my cousins brothers friends trade insurance' certificate after producing a fakey. All fun!

It depends if the officer really wants to seize the car and I suppose to an extent if the driver is giving out a vibe (2am with cannabis in the car might spring up suspicion) . I would never ever say 'don't worry about it!' as there is always a chance.

Hopefully OPs insurance will be showing up on the system and this will be the only time they see an officer.

dacouch

Imdaewen wrote: »

Unfortunately I can't pinpoint an answer to that one based on my knowledge around lawful seizures, (I have not dealt with that side of things). But a fixed penalty may still be issued if they are erring on the side of caution.

I know that if we receive an insurance certificate we have to check it out, even if it is a 'my cousins brothers friends trade insurance' certificate after producing a fakey. All fun!

It depends if the officer really wants to seize the car and I suppose to an extent if the driver is giving out a vibe (2am with cannabis in the car might spring up suspicion) . I would never ever say 'don't worry about it!' as there is always a chance.

Hopefully OPs insurance will be showing up on the system and this will be the only time they see an officer.

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2011/749.html

If you produce a "relevant Certificate" of Insurance and the police seize the vehicle then they have not acted lawfully. You can then sue them.