IBM, DVLA and Motor Insurers' Bureau join forces to reduce uninsured driving

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) have introduced a new system to help identify uninsured vehicles, which will improve road safety and reduce the cost of uninsured driving across the UK. The development was delivered with the support of IBM consultants and developers.

The new system works by comparing the Motor Insurance Database with DVLA’s vehicle database. The system is the foundation of the recently launched Continuous Insurance Enforcement initiative; a collaboration between DVLA, the Department for Transport, and MIB to reduce the number of vehicles being driven on UK roads without insurance.

To link the insurance and vehicle databases IBM started by analysing big data on vehicles registered with the DVLA and data on insured vehicles from the Motor Insurance Database.

By making sure the data was accurate and compatible, this reduced the risk of incorrectly identifying vehicle keepers as being uninsured. The next step was integrating both sets of data in line with the data sharing requirements for Government. MIB and the DVLA now have a more robust view of uninsured vehicles which will allow enforcement action to be taken.

Paramount to the success of the initiative is taking steps to ensure that keepers of potentially uninsured vehicles are correctly identified and given the opportunity to take steps to comply with the law.

Under the new system, if a vehicle is suspected as being uninsured, the registered keeper will receive a letter from the MIB advising them to get insurance or declare the vehicle off-road. If they fail to do this enforcement action will be taken by DVLA consisting of a fixed penalty of £100, wheel clamping or court prosecutions.

The project builds on the successful partnership between DVLA and IBM. Previous projects include creating the online channel for vehicle licensing to offer better customer access and choice round the clock. The EVL channel dramatically improved operational efficiency and reduced the time taken for DVLA to process a licensing transaction.