Ensuring your car’s got active insurance is hugely important in many cases, especially if you’re not quite sure whether the insurance went through or if it’s expired. Luckily, there are ways to check whether your car is insured. Following this thought, today’s brief guide outlines some of the key things you should know to help you check whether your car is insured.
In line with this, if you have any concerns about a vehicle you’re hoping to purchase, always run a car history check before handing over any money to give you further insights into whether the vehicle is genuine. A car check can provide several useful pieces of information, including the insurance status, stolen data and the car’s write-off status, so you don’t accidentally end up purchasing a car that’s not necessarily roadworthy.
How Can I Check If My Car Is Insured
Insurance is a legal requirement to run a car on the road. Luckily, if you need to check whether your car is insured, there are several options you could potentially consider.
Of course, you could always call your insurance company and ask them when the policy ends or ended, or otherwise look through your bank records to see if any payments have been taken and when the first payment was; alternatively, a potentially simpler solution would be to check on the Motor Insurance Database instead.
Sometimes abbreviated to the MID, the Motor Insurance Database is a completely free to use search tool that allows you to quickly verify whether a car is insured or not. The tool is somewhat limited in that it only provides an overview (either “yes” if it’s insured or “no” if it’s not). However, it’s a great place to start as part of your authentication efforts. You’ll also be given a brief summary of the car in question’s features, such as the make and model.
How to Submit a Request Through the Motor Insurance Database
A key reason that the Motor Insurance Database is so popular is that it’s incredibly easy to use. Indeed, compared to some other tools, you won’t need to worry about providing a huge range of different documents and verification forms; all you’ll need is the vehicle’s number plate, and you’ll be able to submit the request.
Can Anyone Submit an Insurance Check Through the MID?
One important point to keep in mind here is that an insurance check through the Motor Insurance Database can only be submitted by the owner of the vehicle (or an employee of the vehicle’s owner, with permission). You will need to declare that you are the owner before you’ll be able to progress with the check, and if you do not meet the declaration, you won’t be able to progress further.
Final Thoughts
Checking whether a car is insured is hugely important. Most often, this will be for personal reasons; however, you may also want to check whether the car is insured to help your employer.
It’s worth noting that, if a car is uninsured, this may bring up some warning flags that the vehicle might not be genuine. For example, if you are looking to buy a second-hand car it’s important for you to check the history and insurance status before driving off or even taking it for a test drive.
