Gardaí now have access to insurance data

The Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) has begun providing motor insurance details to An Garda Síochána on a daily basis. This follows the official signing of the data sharing agreement between the two organisations.

Details for three million vehicles and five million drivers are being provided from the Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID) each day as part of the efforts to identify vehicles being driven illegally without insurance.

These data sharing provisions were a key elements of the recently enacted Road Traffic and Roads Act (2023).

An Garda Síochána will now receive comprehensive insurance records every night, providing a real time picture of the insurance details for every private vehicle in the country.

The data which An Garda Síochána will now have access to includes:

• Name and address of the insurance policy holder
• The insurance policy number and validity dates of that policy
• Insurance company that issues policy
• Vehicle registration number covered by the policy
• Named drivers included on the insurance policy and the class of driver covered (e.g., open driving policies)
• Date of birth of driver(s)

So if a vehicle’s insurance was to lapse, law enforcement would have access to information providing that detail.

The signing of this agreement and the provision of the insurance data is the culmination of years of collaboration between the MIBI, An Garda Síochána as well as the Department of Transport, Insurance Ireland, the insurance industry and other stakeholders all aimed at reducing the number of uninsured vehicles being driven in Ireland.