Spoke today in a Westminster Hall adjournment debate I had secured to focus attention on the Motor Insurance Database (MID), which is used by police forces throughout the country to help determine whether or not cars are being driven without insurance.
There can be no doubt that there is a major problem of uninsured driving in the United Kingdom. Horrifyingly, an estimated one in every twenty cars on the road is being driven without proper insurance – one of the worst records of any European country. The consequence of this is to push up insurance premiums for honest motorists, to the tune of £15-£20 per person per annum. It is therefore vital that we do all we can to put uninsured drivers off the road, and the MID has proven enormously helpful to the police in their efforts to catch them.
However, problems can arise. I was prompted to apply for the debate by the experience of my constituent, Mrs Maureen Smith, of Rhos-on-Sea. Her story illustrates the difficulties that can arise from a database which is not properly maintained.
Mrs Smith recently loaned her car to her daughter, Mrs Helen Parry. Mrs Parry has her own motor insurance policy with a well-known UK motor insurer which permits her to drive a vehicle owned by another person, with that person’s consent.
One her way home, Mrs Parry was stopped by police officers who were carrying out a routine check. They told her that a search on the MID indicated that she was not insured to drive the vehicle. Mrs Parry explained that, although the car belonged to her parents, she was insured to the drive the vehicle under the terms of her own policy. The officers checked the database again and told Mrs Parry that this was not the case. So far as they could establish, she was uninsured, and they proceeded to seize the car.
Mrs Parry, understandably distressed, was relieved of the keys and obliged to stand in the rain at the side of the road, until her mother, who she had called on her mobile phone, appeared on the scene. I should also mention that Mrs Parry, who is a 29 year-old nurse, was at the time 20 weeks pregnant.
Mrs Smith, when she arrived, told the police that, irrespective of their views of the legality with which Mrs Parry was driving the car, they were aware from their database check that she, Mrs Smith, was insured to drive it and asked for her keys back.
The officers refused to return the keys and sent Mrs Smith to Llandudno police station, where she had to pay a fee of £105 to obtain the release of her own car. At the same time, Mrs Parry produced her own documents to prove that she was indeed insured to drive it. By then, she had been issued with a £200 fixed penalty notice and her licence had been endorsed with six points.
To the credit of North Wales Police, when they discovered the error, they arranged for Mrs Parry’s endorsement and penalty to be cancelled and for Mrs Smith’s £105 to be returned to her. They even gave her a bouquet of flowers.
The fault lay with Mrs Parry’s insurers. They had not uploaded details of her policy to the database, so that she appeared to be uninsured.
I have since discovered that the details of around 400,000 motorists insured by the same insurance company had not been provided to the database within the required timeframe; it is unclear how many other policyholders have experienced similar difficulties.
I put it to Rosie Winterton, the Minister replying to the debate, that police officers should be told not to regard the database as infallible; it is, rather, just a useful tool. Furthermore, insurance companies who do not supply details of policy changes to the MID promptly, and whose delay results in the seizure of their policyholders’ cars, should be required to pay compensation. To her credit, she promised to write to the motor insurance industry and keep me informed of developments.
I was grateful to have had the opportunity to raise the issue in Parliament; I suspect it is a far bigger problem than even the Government realises.
It also highlights the danger of over-reliance on computer systems: bad enough when it results in the loss of your car, but infinitely worse if, as may be the case when we get the unwanted ID cards, it results in the loss of your very identity.
There can be no doubt that there is a major problem of uninsured driving in the United Kingdom. Horrifyingly, an estimated one in every twenty cars on the road is being driven without proper insurance – one of the worst records of any European country. The consequence of this is to push up insurance premiums for honest motorists, to the tune of £15-£20 per person per annum. It is therefore vital that we do all we can to put uninsured drivers off the road, and the MID has proven enormously helpful to the police in their efforts to catch them.
However, problems can arise. I was prompted to apply for the debate by the experience of my constituent, Mrs Maureen Smith, of Rhos-on-Sea. Her story illustrates the difficulties that can arise from a database which is not properly maintained.
Mrs Smith recently loaned her car to her daughter, Mrs Helen Parry. Mrs Parry has her own motor insurance policy with a well-known UK motor insurer which permits her to drive a vehicle owned by another person, with that person’s consent.
One her way home, Mrs Parry was stopped by police officers who were carrying out a routine check. They told her that a search on the MID indicated that she was not insured to drive the vehicle. Mrs Parry explained that, although the car belonged to her parents, she was insured to the drive the vehicle under the terms of her own policy. The officers checked the database again and told Mrs Parry that this was not the case. So far as they could establish, she was uninsured, and they proceeded to seize the car.
Mrs Parry, understandably distressed, was relieved of the keys and obliged to stand in the rain at the side of the road, until her mother, who she had called on her mobile phone, appeared on the scene. I should also mention that Mrs Parry, who is a 29 year-old nurse, was at the time 20 weeks pregnant.
Mrs Smith, when she arrived, told the police that, irrespective of their views of the legality with which Mrs Parry was driving the car, they were aware from their database check that she, Mrs Smith, was insured to drive it and asked for her keys back.
The officers refused to return the keys and sent Mrs Smith to Llandudno police station, where she had to pay a fee of £105 to obtain the release of her own car. At the same time, Mrs Parry produced her own documents to prove that she was indeed insured to drive it. By then, she had been issued with a £200 fixed penalty notice and her licence had been endorsed with six points.
To the credit of North Wales Police, when they discovered the error, they arranged for Mrs Parry’s endorsement and penalty to be cancelled and for Mrs Smith’s £105 to be returned to her. They even gave her a bouquet of flowers.
The fault lay with Mrs Parry’s insurers. They had not uploaded details of her policy to the database, so that she appeared to be uninsured.
I have since discovered that the details of around 400,000 motorists insured by the same insurance company had not been provided to the database within the required timeframe; it is unclear how many other policyholders have experienced similar difficulties.
I put it to Rosie Winterton, the Minister replying to the debate, that police officers should be told not to regard the database as infallible; it is, rather, just a useful tool. Furthermore, insurance companies who do not supply details of policy changes to the MID promptly, and whose delay results in the seizure of their policyholders’ cars, should be required to pay compensation. To her credit, she promised to write to the motor insurance industry and keep me informed of developments.
I was grateful to have had the opportunity to raise the issue in Parliament; I suspect it is a far bigger problem than even the Government realises.
It also highlights the danger of over-reliance on computer systems: bad enough when it results in the loss of your car, but infinitely worse if, as may be the case when we get the unwanted ID cards, it results in the loss of your very identity.
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