The details of tens of thousands of vehicles insured under fleet policies are missing from the Motor Insurance Database (MID).

As a result, drivers of these vehicles are at much greater risk of being stopped under suspicion of driving without insurance.

The Motor Insurers’ Bureau, which operates the database, said thousands of fleet policies are not up to date.

“At the end of November, there were more than 26,000 unpopulated policies on the MID, that is those with no vehicle details attached,” explained a bureau spokesman.

This is despite fleet managers and their insurers being legally obliged to provide details of all vehicles on their policies so they can be added to the database.

The police have direct access to the database and use it to identify uninsured vehicles.

During the festive season, there will be additional police road checks as well as the usual automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, which alert officers if a passing vehicle is not on the database.

“If your vehicles are insured but not on the MID, then your drivers are at risk,” said Neil Drane, head of MID operations at the Motor Insurers’ Bureau.

“And even if your no-drink-and-drive policy has been a complete success, your drivers may still find themselves failing to make that crucial Christmas delivery while your vehicle sits in a police pound.”

So far this year, the police have carried out more than 30 million checks of the database and have seized a record 120,000 vehicles at the roadside.

While the MIB says it is unlikely that fleet drivers will have their vehicle seized because their details are not on the insurance database, they are still running that risk.

“Like drink-driving, uninsured driving is unacceptable under any circumstances, but the increased police presence on our roads over the Christmas period is a very timely reminder to fleet managers to make sure every single one of their vehicles is on the MID today,” said Mr Drane.