Can I check the car insurance cover on a friend’s car?
Using the MID service, you can check whether a car has valid insurance if you’re insured on that car. You don’t need to be the registered owner to do so.
The askMID search tool can be used to check if someone else’s car is insured in the following situations:
- The car was in an accident and you were involved
- You are representing someone involved in the accident
You should be aware that to use this service there is a £10 fee.
What do you need to check whether a car you’ve been in an accident with is insured?
There are a number of details that you’ll need to provide to check if a car in an accident is insured. Make sure you have all of the following to hand prior to using the service:
- Your name and email address
- Your registration number
- The registration number of the third-party vehicle you’re checking the insurance for
- Date of the incident and how you were involved in the incident
What to do if a car in an accident is not insured?
If you’ve been involved in an accident with an uninsured driver, thankfully you can still make a claim against them. Through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), you may make a claim if you’ve been injured or your property has been damaged.
Collect as much information as possible, such as date, time and registration number, and also take as many photos and videos if you can. It is not guaranteed that you’ll be able to claim, so as much evidence as possible will give you the best chance.
You may lose your no-claims discount. Some providers offer an uninsured driver promise which protects your no-claims bonus in such events, check with your car insurance provider if they offer this.
What happens to my insurance after an accident?
After a car accident, your fault or not, your car insurance will inevitably go up because you’re then viewed as a higher-risk.
Making a claim on your policy, more often than not, increases your premium. If you’ve made a non-fault claim – meaning the accident wasn’t your fault – then it won’t increase as much as an at-fault claim.
Even if you don’t make a claim after an accident, your insurance premium might still increase.
Why does this happen? If another driver made a claim, your provider may need to recoup the costs of that claim. Your provider could increase the costs because they think you are more liable to have another accident.
What about if my car is written off?
If your car is written off, the ownership of the vehicle is automatically transferred to your car insurance provider. Following this, you should receive a settlement payout. This settlement is usually equal to the amount it was worth before the accident took place.
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