Keep proof of insurance in the car

Drivers who do not keep a copy of their insurance certificate in the car are risking an unnecessary fine and confiscation if they get stopped by police, according to the insurance comparison website, Insurancewide.com.

Insurers are required to submit a driver's insurance details to the Motor Insurance Database within 10 days of purchase, but the recent case of a Direct Line customer having her father's car wrongly confiscated due to a system error highlights the importance of staying one step ahead of sluggish insurers.

James Harrison, chief executive, said: "This is a case of guilty until proven innocent. If an insurer is late in reporting a new policy owner's details to the Motor Insurance Database then the unsuspecting driver could mistakenly be deemed 'uninsured' and then fined if stopped by police. Every driver can avoid this hassle and embarrassment by simply keeping photocopied proof of insurance in the glove compartment as soon as they receive the certificate from the insurer.

"Ideally more insurers will offer customers the option of requesting an electronic copy of the policy as soon as it has been purchased. Swiftcover are one of the very few who already do this. This will reduce the risk of being wrongly perceived as uninsured in the first couple of days while the certificate is still in the post."

The Motor Insurance Database has urged insurers to notify the Motor Insurance Bureau of 95% of all changes to motor insurance within 14 days.

From January this will be cut to seven days.

The Motor Insurance Bureau said insurers achieve 97.5% within 14 days and 80% within 48 hours. The organisation claims that as many as 100,000 uninsured vehicles have been taken off the road as a result.