Is that car insured?

Enter the UK registration number above. CarOkay queries the official Motor Insurance Database (MID) — the same database the police and DVLA use — and tells you whether the vehicle has live cover. No sign-up, no card details, no stored data.

The MID is the UK's central record of every insured vehicle, run by the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB). Every company selling motor insurance in the UK must be an MIB member and supply its policy data to the database. The police use it at the roadside to spot uninsured cars, and the DVLA compares it against keeper records to catch vehicles that are neither insured nor SORN'd. When you check a reg here, the MID is the source being queried.

Yes — it queries the same Motor Insurance Database run by the MIB. CarOkay just wraps the lookup in a faster, mobile-friendly interface and shows tax and MOT status alongside in one result. The underlying insured-or-not answer is identical to askMID's free own-vehicle check.

Common reasons: confirming a car you've just bought or sold is insured, making sure your own new policy has gone live on the MID before you drive, checking a car you're about to borrow or lend, or confirming a SORN'd vehicle is properly off the road so the DVLA's insurance-enforcement checks don't flag it.

New policies normally appear on the MID within seven days of cover starting, and often within a day. If you've just bought a policy and it isn't showing yet, give it 24–48 hours, then chase your insurer if the gap persists.

First, don't panic — a brand-new or renewed policy normally takes up to seven days to appear on the MID. Check your policy documents to confirm cover has actually started, then contact your insurer and ask them to confirm the vehicle is on the MID. If the DVLA has sent you an advisory letter about the car appearing uninsured, act on it promptly: keepers of vehicles that stay off the MID without a SORN can be issued a £100 fixed penalty, and the vehicle can be clamped or impounded.

Yes. If the police catch you driving uninsured you can get a £300 fixed penalty and 6 points (endorsement code IN10), and if the case goes to court the fine is unlimited, with possible disqualification. The police can also seize — and ultimately destroy — the vehicle at the roadside. Cover must be at least third-party.

Yes, unless it's declared off the road. Under continuous insurance enforcement it's an offence just to keep an uninsured vehicle: the DVLA regularly compares its keeper records against the MID, writes to keepers of vehicles that appear uninsured, and can issue a £100 fixed penalty if nothing changes. If the car is genuinely off the road, make a SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) — then no insurance is required until it returns to the road.

You can run a free status check on any UK reg here. Privacy rules mean the result doesn't tell you who the policyholder is or which insurer covers the car, only whether cover exists. If you need the other driver's insurer after an accident, askMID offers a separate paid search (£10 one-off) for exactly that situation, or your own insurer can trace it for you when you report the claim.

You're not on your own. Report it to the police and your insurer, and note the reg, time and location. If the driver was uninsured or can't be traced (a hit-and-run), the Motor Insurers' Bureau runs a compensation scheme — funded by a levy on every UK motor insurer — that can pay out for injury and vehicle damage. Claims go through mib.org.uk.

CarOkay doesn't store the registration you check and doesn't link it to your account or device. The check itself is answered live by the Motor Insurance Database — that's what makes the result authoritative — and isn't used for anything else.