Set up in 1946 after the Cassel report, the MIB consisting of all the major Car Insurance Companies, entered into an agreement with the Government (Ministry of Transport) whereby it undertook to satisfy judgements in respect of personal claims injuries made to third parties under the compulsory car insurance provisions of the Road Traffic Act - where no car insurance policy was in force.

This is called the Principle Agreement. In addition each individual Car Insurance Company has undertaken under a 'Domestic Agreement' controlled by the MIB - that where at the time of the accident a car insurance policy was in force, it will deal with the claim as 'Insurer Concerned'
This means that third party claim payments are always paid, notwithstanding that a policyholder may have been in breach of a car insurance policy condition at the time of the car accident.
As 'Insurer Concerned' the Car Insurance company carries the loss and are not reimbursed by the Motor Insurers Bureau although they have a right of recovery against the uninsured driver himself through the courts.

Consequently the MIB only deals with cases where car insurance was never issued or cannot be verified, or where a non-member fails to meet it's 'obligations'.

The MIB is funded by a levy on the Car Insurance companies, and also has a right to pursue an uninsured motorist for it's losses.

In 1969 the MIB entered into the Compensation of Victims of Untraced Drivers Agreement to bring the victims of untraced drivers into the scheme.The MIB accepts such claims, but does charge an excess. It does not accept property damage claims regarding untraced drivers.

Membership of the MIB became compulsory for all Car Insurance Companies under the Road Traffic Act of 1974

In 2001 the MIB became responsible for the establishment of the Motor Insurance Database

The Motor Insurance Database is a frontline weapon in the fight against car insurance fraud.
The MID was created by the Motor Insurers' Bureau in the first quarter of 2000. After development and testing, it went live in September 2001.

It is a database of every privately insured vehicle in the country. In total, there are about 29 million vehicles, of which 23 million are privately owned. The rest are fleet and motor trade vehicles.

The data held includes personal client and client address information, vehicle information and cover details.

The database was created to tackle the problem of uninsured driving. The MIIC (Motor Insurers' Information Centre), a wholly owned subsidiary of the MIB, says that the UK has one of the worst records in Europe for uninsured driving, with one in every 20 cars either uninsured or under-insured. It is estimated that this adds between £15 and £30 to every motorist's premium.

The Motor Insurers' Information Centre maintains the database and has now completed phase one of its development: to capture all the details of the individually insured vehicles.

Phase two, was completed during the first quarter of 2003, will capture the details of those vehicles not included in phase one - the fleet and motor trade vehicles.

This will also go a long way to meeting the Fourth EU Motor Insurance Directive, which aims to assist drivers who have accidents in EU states.

All members of the MIB update the database on either a daily or weekly basis. This keeps the information in the database up to date and allows insurers to check any vehicle's insurance details instantly.

The police also access it directly, either from trafffic cars onboard computers, the roadside using handheld computers, or from police stations.

This means the police can check whether or not a driver is insured almost immediately.

It is also an aid to insured drivers: if they are not carrying their insurance details with them, they no longer have to report to a police station within seven days of being stopped

You can visit the MIB at http://www.mib.org.uk/