In line with insurers' opening hours, our Police Helpline is available on 0800 999 4165 9am - 5pm, Monday to Saturday (excluding bank holidays). But how do you submit an enquiry outside of these times?

Out-of-hours service

When we're not able to speak to insurers to verify a vehicles insurance status, you can submit an enquiry using our online form. This form is also suitable for use when your enquiry relates to a roadside stop that is not currently ongoing. 

We aim to respond as quickly as possible. In most cases this will be within three working days but we will update you if, for any reason, your enquiry will take longer than usual. The outcome of your enquiry will be sent to the email address you provide on the online form.  

Completing the form

To enable us to be as efficient as possible in responding to your enquiry with a first-contact resolution, please ensure all relevant information is captured. This may include:

• Details of the stop
  • Time and date
  • Whether the vehicle was seized

• Enquiry reason - You can choose all that apply. For any option chosen over and above 'General', you'll be asked to submit more details.
  • General
  • Class of use
  • RTC
  • Age/address of driver
  • Driver not on policy 
  • Cherished transfer
  • Convictions
  • Drive other vehicles
  • Licence issues
  • Fraud 
  • Modifications

• Vehicle details
  • VRM
  • Make and model

• Policy holder, registered keeper and/or owner details, where known
  • Name
  • DOB
  • Address

• Policy details
  • Policy number
  • Policy type
  • Insurer and/or broker

• Journey purpose

If the driver stopped is not the policy holder, there is no policy showing on the MID, they are not listed on a policy that is showing but they believe they should be, or they are driving under a company policy, it is vital that the driver is able to provide the policy holders details. Without this information, we will not pass data protection with the insurer to gain an outcome. They will need to provide:

• Name on policy 
• Date of birth of policyholder (not required for company policies)
• Address policy is held at 
• Insurer the policy is with

If the driver stopped is claiming their own vehicle policy covers them to drive other vehicles (DOV), we will need the details relating to their policy rather than the policy holder details of the vehicle they are stopped in.

Establishing if insurance is in place

To support your roadside stop, it can be useful to try and establish whether insurance is in place before reaching out to the MIB Police Helplline. You can consider asking the driver for evidence through the following routes:

• Emails
  • Is there a confirmation of policy email?
  • What details are provided in any attached documents?

• App
  • Does the driver/policy holder have their insurers app? If so, what details / documents are available to view?
  • If the driver states they have a top-up policy (e.g. for delivery drivers, such as Deliveroo), the policy is usually issued via an app - what details / documents are available to view?

• Phone call
  • If an insurer is open, the policy holder can call their insurer and give permission for you to speak with them directly 
  • Does the insurer offer a Live Chat function?

• Online banking
  • Can the policy holder demonstrate when a payment was last made and who to?
  • Please note: This should be used to then contact the insurer via Police Helpline or directly, to ensure the policy relates to the vehicle that has been stopped and it is adequate for the journey type.

• Policy commencement / update date
  • How old is the policy? Insurers have 7 days to update the MID for all new policies. If the policy was taken out within this 7 day period, it may not yet be on the MID. 
  • Was the policy was recently updated? This may have caused the policy to drop off the MID and not yet be replaced with the updated details. 

• Cherished plates 
  • Does the policy holder have DVLA confirmation what the plate can be changed?
  • Has the policy holder updated their insurance policy?
  • Is there a live policy on the MID for the original VRM?

Ghost brokers

If the driver claims to be insured with any of the below companies, they will not have legal motor insurance cover in place. All of these organisations are Ghost Brokers, not authorised to see insurance and are not registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). 

• Coverfastinsurance.com
• Tempcovernow.com
• Kwikinsure.co.uk
• Go Annually
• Insurance Doctor
• Insured Solutions

Find out more about Ghost Brokers in our recent article.