The number of private motorists driving without insurance has almost halved over the last two years, with much of the decline attributed to the new Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID) system making it harder for people to evade detection.
However, it is a different story when it comes to commercial vehicles, with more than one in six found to be in breach of motor insurance laws last year, according to research from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI).
It recorded 101,881 uninsured private vehicles within the overall 2.4 million private vehicles being driven on Irish roads in 2024. In 2022 the number of uninsured private vehicles stood at 187,803 within an overall private vehicle total of 2.25 million.
The 2024 figure represents about 4.2 per cent of all private vehicles, which points to a fall of close to 50 per cent since the last time the MIBI carried out research in 2022.
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Following the development of the IMID, the MIBI has been able to examine the number of uninsured non-private motor vehicles, broadly categorised as “commercial vehicles”, through the availability of enhanced insurance data.
Within the commercial vehicles category, there are generally two different means by which insurance is provided: on an individualised basis with specific vehicles tied to each policy or on fleet or motor trade policies, which allow the cover to be transferred from one vehicle to another within a specific group of vehicles.
Since November 2023, fleet and motor trade policy holders who do not provide the required information to the NFD are committing an offence and are liable to be prosecuted and subjected to fines of up to €500 per vehicle.
The MIBI estimates about 425,000 fleet and motor trade vehicles should be listed on the National Fleet Database. So far, the details for 364,889 have been provided.
The MIBI’s analysis shows that within the combined commercial vehicles category, there are 710,708 vehicles on Irish roads and 108,671 of those vehicles are either uninsured or have not yet been added to the NFD.
This means 15.3 per cent of commercial vehicles or more than one in six are breaking motor insurance laws.
The chief executive of the MIBI, David Fitzgerald, said it was “very encouraging to see the impact that the new detection system is already having on the number of private uninsured vehicles on our roads”.
He said it is “a powerful weapon in the battle against uninsured driving”.
Following the introduction of this system, gardaí were able to seize 18,676 vehicles in 2024 and issue 26,094 summonses and charges.
“This system allows gardaí to see in seconds if a vehicle is uninsured or has not been added to the database, allowing them to act quickly in apprehending any offenders,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
However, he said there is “clearly additional work to do to combat illegal uninsured driving”.
