Electronic motor insurance certificates: "AA Insurance is ready"

AA Insurance has welcomed the news that the Order to allow for the introduction of electronic motor insurance certificates was laid before Parliament today (31st March 2010) and will become law on 30th April.

AA Insurance has developing its system to enable certificates to be issued electronically and last month, it started offering customers the option to receive their home insurance documentation in this way.

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, says: "We're delighted that the promise, made by Transport Minister Paul Clark MP last November, has been fulfilled when he said that the necessary legislation, which had already been drafted, would be made law in April 2010.  Specifically, the law will recognise electronic delivery as a ‘durable medium'.

"There has been a lengthy consultation period but solutions have been found to the security issues.  In fact, the certificate is simply tangible evidence that the Motor Insurance Database has been updated and in most cases, police can confirm that a car is insured while tax discs can be applied for online without the certificate," he says.

AA Insurance customers who wish to receive their documents electronically will be invited to open a password-protected account from where they can download their documents, including a pdf of the certificate which they can then print if they wish.

"This is good for the industry because will reduce the huge amount of paperwork, administration and postage costs involved.  It is good for customers because their documents will be available promptly and it overcomes the necessity to apply for a duplicate if the original is lost.      

"However, there are still some occasions when a paper certificate must be produced, for example, when buying a new car or taxing your car at a Post Office, and it's an anachronism that in today's electronic world the certificate can only be delivered to a customer by post."  

Douglas added that one of the most common questions asked by customers relates to electronic delivery of their insurance documents.  "They are rightly mystified by the fact that they can only receive the certificate via an increasingly uncertain postal system."