CAR INSURANCE-3

Insurance is more expensive in Northern Ireland than in other parts of the UK.[vague][citation needed] In 2010 the cost of car insurance rose by an average of 33%.
Prior to 1 October 2014, all motorists in the UK were required to prominently display a vehicle
excise licence (tax disc) on their vehicle when it was kept or driven on public roads. This helped to ensure that most people had adequate insurance on their vehicles because insurance cover was required to purchase a disc, although the insurance must merely have been valid aat the time of purchase and not necessarily for the life of the tax disc.[16] Post 1 October 2014 it is no longer a requirement to display a vehicle excise licence (tax disc) on a vehicle.

The Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) compensates the victims of road accidents caused by uninsured and untraced motorists. It also operates a number of Motor Insurance Databases, which contain details of every insured vehicle in the country and acts as a means to share information between Insurance Companies.


On 1 March 2011 the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled that gender could no longer be used by insurers to set car insurance premiums. The new ruling will come into action from December 2012.

In June 2011 a new law known as Continuous Insurance Enforcement came into force in the UK meaning that a vehicle must have a valid insurance policy if it has a tax disc, whether or not it is kept on public roads and whether or not it is driven.[18] If the car is to be "laid up" for whatever reason, the tax disc must be surrendered and a SORN declaration completed to say that it is off the public roads.