All companies underwriting motor insurance in Ireland must be members of MIBI, as provided for under Section 78 Road Traffic Act, 1961 and fund MIBI by means of payment of an annual levy contribution.

There is a once-off non-refundable application fee of €5,000 to be paid when the application for membership is submitted to member.services@mibi.ie . There is also an annual membership fee of €5,000 (this will be reduced pro-rata for the initial year of joining for members joining part-way through the year) and the MIBI levy which is based on your company’s prior year Gross Written Premium.  The membership fee will be allowed as a credit towards the levy in the same year

All companies underwriting motor insurance in Ireland must be members of MIBI, as provided for under Section 78 Road Traffic Act, 1961 and fund MIBI by means of payment of an annual levy contribution. The MIBI levy is based on the company’s prior year Gross Written Premium.  The membership fee will be allowed as a credit towards the levy in the same year.

Insurance Ireland operates a Declined Cases Agreement, which must be adhered to by all motor insurers in Ireland. This is a requirement of the Central Bank of Ireland under the General Good Requirements for Insurance Undertakings. More details here

The Council of Bureaux (CoB) is the organisation acting for the protection of cross-border road traffic victims by coordinating the activities of the Green Card System and the EU Motor Insurance Directives. www.cobx.org 

The MIBI act as Green Card Bureau in Ireland which ensures persons who sustain damage and/or injuries in a road traffic accident caused by a vehicle registered outside the State are not disadvantaged.  The Council of Bureaux Internal Regulations governs the investigation and settlement of such claims
The Green Card system is a protection mechanism for victims of cross-border road traffic accidents consisting of 48 member countries represented by 47 National Insurers' Bureaux

Stimulated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the system was founded in 1949, on the basis of Recommendation No. 5 adopted by the Working Party on Road Transport of the Inland Transport Committee, in order to facilitate cross-border traffic. www.cobx.org 

The five EU Motor Insurance Directives (EU MID) were established in order to further enhance the protection system of road traffic victims within the European Economic Area (EEA). The MID was further amended on 24 November 2021 following the MID REFIT by EU Directive 2021/2118, and will be transposed into Members National Legislation over the next 18 to 24 months. Please click here for more details.

The Insurance Compensation Fund ("ICF"), is administered by the Central Bank of Ireland. In the case of third-party motor insurance claims, where an insurer is insolvent, the ICF will meet 100% of losses incurred.

However, the Insurance (Amendment) Act 2018 (the "2018 Act") also imposes a statutory obligation on the MIBI to establish, maintain and administer an ex-ante fund known as the Motor Insurers Insolvency Compensation Fund (the "MIIC Fund"), which is funded by mandatory contributions from its Members.  In the event of a future motor insurance insolvency the ICF are entitled to drawn down funds from the MIIC fund in accordance with the provisions of the 2018 Act. 

MIBI Members are required under the 2018 Act to submit a Declaration of all Motor Gross Written Premium (GWP) and pay a contribution of between 0% to 3% of GWP to the MIBI by 30 June each year.  The MIICF Contribution rate is set by the Minister of Finance each October and is currently 2% of GWP.
More details here

New (and existing) MIBI Members are required to upload certain motor policy information (for their customers) to a central insurance information database that is managed by the MIBI on behalf of the motor insurance industry. This requirement is set out in Section 78A of the Irish Road Traffic Act.
ANPR Database
Insurers are currently required to upload information to the existing “Automated Number Plate Recognition” (ANPR) database which records the: 

• Vehicle registration number 
• The name of the insurer 
• The policy effective dates

MTPL Database

The ANPR database is currently being replaced by the “Motor Third Party Liability” (MTPL) database and the existing NFD will be replaced by a new NFD.  These systems will be used to collect policy information from insurers and Fleet Owners & Motor Traders as specified in Section 78A of the Irish Road Traffic Act (RTA).   More details here
 

The purpose of the TRR is to protect consumers of insurance products by ensuring that existing policies can continue to be serviced after 31 December 2020. 

The UK withdrew from the EU on 31 January 2020 and entered an 11 month implementation period until 31 December 2020. During that time, EU law continued to apply to and in the UK but not thereafter. This means that UK and Gibraltar (GI) insurers and insurance intermediaries, who previously provided insurance products and services to Irish customers, can no longer, from 31 December 2020, avail of the European passport and must have put in place other arrangements, if they wished to continue to provide these products and services.  Recognising the potential impact on policyholders, where firms had not put in place alternative arrangements, the Central Bank and the Department of Finance worked together to establish a Temporary Run-Off Regime (TRR) for insurers and insurance intermediaries (including ancillary insurance intermediaries).  Read more here

In order to cease your membership please send us a brief email from an appropriately authorised individual confirming same to member.services@mibi.ie  The member must also advise the Insurance Supervision section of the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI). 

Please note that as per the MIBI constitution article 10 any such Member ceasing to be a Member... 'shall nevertheless remain liable for its share (pro rata or otherwise) of all Levy obligations (including but not limited to the Levy obligations of a Member under Regulation 46.3) and all MIICF Contribution obligations arising prior to such cessation of membership and during that current year in which the cessation of membership takes effect.’

Should you wish to re-join the MIBI in the future, you will need to reapply, and go through the application process again which would include an application fee.