Motor Vehicle databases,are they reliable?

[ivan edake 13]

I have always failed to see why the government,the DVLA and the police have the right to use automatic number plate recognition cameras and stop drivers whose vehicles appear to have no tax,test or insurance when the databases are nowhere near accurate.Whenever I have changed insurance companies it has taken anything up to 2 weeks for the car to re appear on the database.I recently taxed a vehicle and it took 6 days for it to appear on the database.If I had been stopped in these circumstances my vehicle would have been impounded even though I was fully legal.This is happening time and time again but drivers do not seem to get any compensation for their inconvenience or their losses.Both the DVLA and the insurance companies can take my money in 10 seconds flat,why can't they update the databases in the same time.It really is time the motorist got a fair deal and those concerned were made to put their house in order.

[RonJeremy 10]

Can't fault your post here pal.

Nothing to dispute.

[geared 321]

You're wrong there pal, they won't take it just on the strength of 'the database'.

 

I had a similar worry when I bought a car recently, so phoned the DVLA.

 

They could see I'd successfully applied for, and paid for tax and assured me the car was legal to drive from the minute I finished on the website.

It took a few days to 'update' online, but it was perfectly legal to drive.

[ivan edake 13]

Sorry Geared you've got things wrong yet again.Whilst your comments do apply to road tax, rest assured if your insurance company hasn't put your car details on the database, and you can't prove to the police you are insured,your car will be impounded.Ringing the DVLA will not help.This effectively means that in most cases if you are stopped after 6pm or on a Sunday,you will not be able to contact your insurance company to prove you are insured.(I know some companies open longer hours)Similar contact hours will be available for the DVLA so the same thing applies.The sensible thing to do is to tax the car at a post office and carry your receipt,also carry your insurance certificate.However if you have just changed your vehicle it can take a couple of weeks for the documents to arrive, and this is what causes the problems.

[wysiwyg 10]

If your car isn't showing on the motor insurers' database and you insist that it is insured the police would contact the alleged insurer to check. They don't just impound your vehicle on the MID result. OP is having a rant over nothing.

[watchcoll 10]

Agree with the above. They can't just simply take your car without good enough evidence of wrongdoing. Personally, I carry my insurance documents everywhere - they are emailed to me within minutes of me paying for my insurance & as well as a printed copy at home I can access the email on my phone there & then.

[ivan edake 13]

If your car isn't showing on the motor insurers' database and you insist that it is insured the police would contact the alleged insurer to check. They don't just impound your vehicle on the MID result. OP is having a rant over nothing.

 

As I said in my post if you can't prove you are insured your car will be impounded.If you are stopped at 10o'clock at night and the police cannot contact your insurance company they will accept the evidence of the database.

[Cyclone 10]

I have always failed to see why the government,the DVLA and the police have the right to use automatic number plate recognition cameras and stop drivers whose vehicles appear to have no tax,test or insurance when the databases are nowhere near accurate.Whenever I have changed insurance companies it has taken anything up to 2 weeks for the car to re appear on the database.I recently taxed a vehicle and it took 6 days for it to appear on the database.If I had been stopped in these circumstances my vehicle would have been impounded even though I was fully legal.This is happening time and time again but drivers do not seem to get any compensation for their inconvenience or their losses.Both the DVLA and the insurance companies can take my money in 10 seconds flat,why can't they update the databases in the same time.It really is time the motorist got a fair deal and those concerned were made to put their house in order.

 

Presumably there are lots of stories in the media about people having their cars wrongly impounded?

 

---------- Post added 31-05-2015 at 17:09 ----------

 

As I said in my post if you can't prove you are insured your car will be impounded.If you are stopped at 10o'clock at night and the police cannot contact your insurance company they will accept the evidence of the database.

 

More than likely they will give you a producer.

[geared 321]

Sorry Geared you've got things wrong yet again.Whilst your comments do apply to road tax, rest assured if your insurance company hasn't put your car details on the database, and you can't prove to the police you are insured,your car will be impounded.Ringing the DVLA will not help.This effectively means that in most cases if you are stopped after 6pm or on a Sunday,you will not be able to contact your insurance company to prove you are insured.(I know some companies open longer hours)Similar contact hours will be available for the DVLA so the same thing applies.The sensible thing to do is to tax the car at a post office and carry your receipt,also carry your insurance certificate.However if you have just changed your vehicle it can take a couple of weeks for the documents to arrive, and this is what causes the problems.

 

oh I'm sure I have :roll::roll:

 

You cannot tax a car if it is not insured, the cars details need to be 'the database' before the DVLA will issue tax.

 

but I'm sure we should all listen to your inane ramblings, I'm sure you know tons more about it than the DVLA themselves. :roll::roll:

[Obelix 11]

Presumably there are lots of stories in the media about people having their cars wrongly impounded?

 

Yes. 30 seconds googling gives me these going back years.

 

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/10207845._Police_made_me_pay___150_after_seizing_car_for_nothing_/

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2771134/Motorist-furious-police-wrongly-accused-driving-without-insurance-posted-picture-seized-car-Twitter-cost-150-release-it.html

 

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=66274

 

For good measure here they suspended his licence as well so it cost him even more money....

 

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4143723

 

More than likely they will give you a producer.

 

No they will seize. That's the default position of the police - if there is no proof of insurance they will seize.

 

I've had the police try this one and despite producing the insurance cert they said no it's no on database that cert must be a fake and seized the vehicle.

 

Report the incorrect details to the ICO *every* time you find them, *every* day they havn't updated the database. It'll be the only way you get anywhere in sorting this shambles out.

 

---------- Post added 01-06-2015 at 10:15 ----------

 

oh I'm sure I have :roll::roll:

 

You cannot tax a car if it is not insured

 

You can provided you have a drive any vehicle policy. You have to do it at the post office counter though and it confuses them as they expect a policy to attach to a vehicle.

 

You also don't technically need insurance either - a lot of large companies don't have it and have a bond deposited instead. Not soemthing the average punter can do now though.

[Cyclone 10]

Looks like a producer is how they would have dealt with it in the past (based on the comments of the ex traffic police officer in the first link).

 

Still seems like a very rare occurrence, although I'll accept that it does happen.

[Obelix 11]

If you look at the various TV programs as soon as they find a none insured vehicle, they will seize it. Granted most of those will actually not be insured, but it's basically no insurance on database, insurer not answering phone, car taken.

 

The police seem to consider that the 7% or so of incorrect entries on the databases (yes really - 7% is considered "acceptable" to have wrong!) are just collateral damage and they won't mind paying the £150+ fee to get your car out.