The new legal requirement for motorists to provide their driver number when renewing or taking out motor insurance is in effect.
It is now an offence for any insurance provider or broker to issue motor insurance to anyone if the driver numbers for all the named drivers on their policy are not provided.
Drivers who do not provide those details will not be able to take out or renew motor insurance policies.
Over two million driver numbers have already been collected by insurers, which will be added to the Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID).
This information will be accessible by gardaí to check if drivers have committed any road-traffic offences and make it easier to detect uninsured drivers.
The Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland estimates that in 2022 there were more than 187,000 uninsured vehicles on Irish roads.
A driver number is listed under section 4d on all driver licences.
Many drivers may already have provided their driver number to insurers, as some providers ask for a photo of a licence before issuing a motor policy, while others have previously requested this specific information from drivers.
Other driver information already available via the IMID includes the name and address of the policy holder, the insurance policy number and validity dates for that policy, the vehicle registration number covered by that policy, the named drivers included on the policy and the class of driver covered, the date of birth of the driver and the name of the insurance company that provides the motor insurance policy.
These details, which cover more than 3.4 million vehicles and 5.6 million drivers, can be accessed by Gardaí in seconds through handheld mobile devices or via their Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems.
Around 18,676 vehicles were seized last year due to a driver not being insured.
Chief Executive of the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland David Fitzgerald said the inclusion of driver numbers “represents another important data point for the Irish Motor Insurance Database.
“As every individual has their own unique driver number that never changes, it allows An Garda Síochána to know exactly who they are dealing with and what offences may have been committed by that driver,” he said.
“Before, certain drivers may have claimed that the offences were attributed to their namesake. The use of the driver number avoids situations like that arising and we have no doubt this will make it even more difficult for anyone who engages in serial, illegal driving activity to escape the legal consequences of their law breaking actions,” Mr Fitzgerald added.
Article Source – Driver number needed for new car insurance from today – RTE
