OVER 19K VEHICLES SEIZED FOR DRIVING WITHOUT INSURANCE IN 2025 – MIBI
26k charges and summons issued Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID) Annual Report reveals
Special focus to be placed on targeting Fleet Vehicles in 2026
A total of 19,673 vehicles were seized by An Garda Síochána for driving without insurance in 2025, a new report published by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) has revealed.
The Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID) Annual Report 2025 shows that the Gardaí have now detained a total of 38,546 vehicles for breaking the law by driving without insurance in the first 24 months since they began using the new insurance database. The IMID system allows Gardaí to check the insurance status of a vehicle in seconds, using ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) technology or through their mobile device.
A further 51,024 charges and summons have been issued to those who were apprehended for driving without insurance in that period, with 25,009 of those charges and summons occurring in 2025.
The IMID Annual Report 2025 also shows that by the end of the year a total of 4,589,494 valid driver numbers had been added to the database, with more numbers to be added over the coming months as additional policy renewals occur.
By the end of last year, details for a total 3,646,638 vehicles were included on IMID. Every day, An Garda Síochána receive an update from IMID containing the following information:
- Name of Insurance Policyholder
- Address of Insurance Policyholder
- Driver Number
- Insurance Policy Number
- Insurance Policy Dates of Validity
- Vehicle Registration Number associated with insurance policy
- Named Drivers covered by insurance policy
- Date of Birth of Drivers covered by insurance policy
- Name of the Insurance Company
Within IMID there is also a special subsection called the National Fleet Database (NFD). Motor fleet insurance policies provide cover for multiple vehicles under a single insurance policy, typically used by businesses, motor traders, and organisations operating several vehicles. The flexibility of such policies allows policy holders to add or remove vehicles frequently throughout the lifetime of the policy.
Since November 2023, fleet owners and motor traders have been required by law to ensure all the vehicles covered by insurance policies of this type were uploaded to the NFD. Those who do not comply risk prosecution and fines of up to €500 per vehicle.
The IMID Annual Report shows that by the end of 2025, a total of 384,247 individual vehicles have been added to the NFD. However, the MIBI estimates that there are thousands of fleet vehicles still missing from the NFD and whose owners are breaking the law. They have warned they plan on working with An Garda Síochána and other stakeholders this year to help address this issue.
“We are very pleased to see the contribution and impact that IMID is making towards law enforcement,” said David Fitzgerald, CEO of the MIBI. “Driving without insurance is against the law and it has been a problem in this country for quite a while. That is why IMID was set up – to make it easier for An Garda Síochána to identify those who are breaking the law. So it is very pleasing to see that more than 38,000 vehicles have been seized by the Gardaí since we began using this system and over 51,000 charges and summons have been issued during that same period.
“IMID allows the Gardaí to identify uninsured vehicles in seconds and that has changed the whole uninsured policing picture completely. Fake insurance certs or suggestions of mistaken identity can no longer be used by drivers to try to get away with breaking the law. In fact, the addition of driver numbers to IMID since last March has made it a waste of breath for drivers to even try the mistaken identity angle, with every driver number being tied to one specific individual for life. We are very pleased to see IMID now includes more than 4.5 million validated driver numbers and we expect that number to grow even further over the coming months.
“One note of concern though relates to fleet and motor trader vehicles. We believe there are still a significant number of individuals that are yet to fulfil their obligations to add their vehicles to the National Fleet Database section of IMID, and who, as a result are breaking the law. We hope to work with An Garda Síochána and other IMID stakeholders this year to target that group and to remind all offenders that if you do not meet your legal motor insurance obligations you face the real risk of being prosecuted, a process that IMID has made easier than ever for the Gardaí,” Mr. Fitzgerald concluded.
