The CIE (Continuous Insurance Enforcement) legislation has now commenced, with warning letters being issued to registered keepers of uninsured vehicles from the end of June 2011. 

What does this actually mean?

 The new CIE law makes it an offence to keep an uninsured vehicle, unless it is SORN (Statuatory Off Road Notification) or otherwise exempt.

What will happen if your vehicle doesn’t have insurance?

From the end of June 2011 Insurance Advisory Letters (IAL) will be issued by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau to the registered keepers of uninsured vehicles. This will be following a check of the Motor Insurance Database (MID) – the UK’s central record of vehicle insurance. The IAL will advise the registered keeper that their vehicle appears to have no insurance and what actions to take to avoid receiving a fixed penalty from DVLA.

If a vehicle does not have insurance, the registered keeper could:

• receive a fixed penalty of £100
• have their vehicle wheel-clamped, impounded, or destroyed 
• face a court prosecution, with a possible maximum fine of £1000

Payment of a penalty does not replace the need for motor insurance.

Please refer to the Motoring Section of the Direct Gov website for further details: www.direct.gov.uk

For more information, contact David J Crowther, 0116 272 0770.