System to check motorists' insurance details 'really is a gamechanger'  

The new technology has seen the seizure of 7,307 vehicles since the start of the year, gardaí said, including 1,840 vehicles in April alone, with all of those seizures relating to no insurance being in place.

The introduction of a new mobile system to allow gardaí check motorists’ insurance details will be a “gamechanger” in terms of roads policing, the head of the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) has said.

The new system sees daily data sharing between the MIBI and the gardaí, coupled with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology, and a smartphone system allowing gardaí to check a vehicle’s insurance status while it is in motion, The new will predominantly be deployed at checkpoints, however.

There were roughly 190,000 uninsured vehicles on Ireland’s roads in 2022. Driving such a vehicle is an offence, punishable by fines, five penalty points, and the vehicle in question being seized on the spot, together with a potential court summons.

The system, which has been used since January 2024 but is only now being officially launched, means the roughly 13,000 gardaí in the country can check insurance, together with NCT and car tax status, using the Garda mobility app.

The new technology has seen the seizure of 7,307 vehicles since the start of the year, gardaí said, including 1,840 vehicles in April alone, with all of those seizures relating to no insurance being in place.

The system is particularly useful, not just in expediting checkpoints, but in terms of preventing drivers from paying for insurance, then seeking a refund after receiving their display disc, sources said — which is a problem particularly common among younger drivers.

In launching the system at the Millennium Park in Blanchardstown, West Dublin, gardaí from the road policing unit demonstrated how the technology works, both on an android smartphone and via an in-car app in a traffic cruiser.

Chief executive of the MIBI David Fitzgerald said the system was “really going to be a gamechanger”.

We’re passing the details of three million vehicles and five million drivers to the gardaí every evening. Ireland is effectively going to be closed to uninsured driving now with this new powerful technology.

Mr Fitzgerald said the new system would likely eventually have an impact in terms of lowering the insurance premiums of drivers.

“It should help. We don’t set insurance premiums, but what is under our control is what we pay to victims, and if we can reduce the number of accidents, the number of uninsured drivers out there, that’s going to help,” he said. 

Mr Fitzgerald said people were currently paying €30-€35 on an average motor policy at present “to compensate the victims of uninsured vehicles”.

MIBI is a non-profit aimed at assisting drivers with claims involving situations such as accidents involving uninsured drivers.

Assistant Garda Commissioner Paula Hilman said she expected the new system would make the roads safer, but said, in terms of why people might drive uninsured in the first place, that “only the people themselves can answer that”.

“I think it is for everyone about feeling safe on the road, that includes having a safe vehicle, and that includes having your vehicle insured,” she said.