How to find out if your car is insured

Cars, motorbikes or vans – whatever you drive, the onus is on you to make sure you have the right vehicle insurance and level of cover.

How to find out if a car is insured

The easiest way to check if your car – or any other vehicle – is insured is to go online. To check insurance, the DVLA recommends using the Motor Insurer's Database (MID). This free tool holds information on every insured vehicle in the UK and will also tell you the make and model.

If you're involved in an accident, you can also use MID to check if the other person's car is insured by running their number plate through the Other Vehicle Look Up service – this will cost you £4.50.

What happens if you drive without insurance?

It's illegal to drive a car without a minimum of third party car insurance in place. If you're caught driving without valid insurance you face:

• Six penalty points added to your driving licence
• A £300 fixed penalty
• Losing your car if it's seized by the police
• Collection fees to reclaim your car
• A crushed car if it's not reclaimed within 14 days
• Potential court prosecution – if this happens you can get an unlimited fine and be disqualified from driving.

Even if you don't use your car that often, or never drive it, you'll still need car insurance unless you've declared it as SORN and it's kept off the road. MID and DVLA impose Continuous Insurance Enforcement – the legislation which makes it an offence to be the registered keeper of a vehicle without insurance unless you've notified the DVLA of it being SORN.

If your car doesn't have valid insurance you could face:

• A £100 fixed penalty
• Having your car clamped, seized and crushed
• Court prosecution with a fine up to £1,000

Sometimes people drive without insurance due to a simple admin error like forgetting to renew their cover, but they'll still face the same stiff penalties as someone who's deliberately flouting the law. To help our customers stay on the right side of the law, we automatically renew our car insurance policies.

Driving without insurance: convictions

If you're convicted for driving without insurance you'll get an IN10 endorsement (using a vehicle uninsured against third party risks) on your licence. It'll stay on your driving licence for four years but you must tell insurers about it for five years. Magistrates' courts can also impose an unlimited fine.

Can I get insurance with an IN10 on my licence?

If you've been convicted for driving without insurance and have an IN10 endorsement on your licence you may find it difficult to get insurance in the future. Some insurance companies won't offer a quote for motorists who've driven uninsured in the past. If you can get cover, you'll likely face higher prices as you'll be viewed as a higher risk.

Our article on penalty points explains how motoring convictions can affect your insurance.