Following a change in legislation, from March 31^st 2025 anyone wishing to buy or renew their motor insurance must provide the Driver Number for any named drivers on their policy.

From April this year onward it will be an offence for any insurer or broker to provide motor insurance in Ireland to anyone who does not provide that information. Many insurers have already begun collecting this legally required information.

All insurers and brokers will have to ensure they follow this step for all motor insurance policies issued from March 31^st 2025. After that date they will be legally forbidden from issuing insurance to anyone who does not provide the necessary Driver Number information.

Other driver information already available via the IMID includes the name and address of the policy holder, the insurance policy number and validity dates for that policy, the vehicle registration number covered by that policy, the named drivers included on the policy and the class of driver covered, the date of birth of the driver and the name of the insurance company that provides the motor insurance policy.

These details, which cover more than 3.4 million vehicles and 5.6 million drivers, can be accessed by Gardaí in seconds through handheld mobile devices or via their Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems.

“The additional feature of having a person’s driver-number data available to gardaí through the IMID will further strengthen our ability to keep road users safe,” said garda assistant commissioner Paula Hilman.

Last year, 18,676 vehicles were seized by gardaí for being driven without insurance, following the introduction of the IMID system.

Speaking about the new driver number legal requirement, CEO of the MIBI (Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland) , David Fitzgerald, said, “We would advise anyone who is renewing their motor insurance or taking out a new policy to make sure they have the driver numbers to hand for all the named drivers on their policy.

“From now on, if they don’t have that information then they won’t be able to get motor insurance. It’s that simple.”

Fitzgerald said that the inclusion of driver numbers will allow gardaí to know exactly who they are dealing with and what offences may have been committed by the driver.

“Before, certain drivers may have claimed that the offences were attributed to their namesake. The use of the driver number avoids situations like that arising and we have no doubt this will make it even more difficult for anyone who engages in serial, illegal driving activity to escape the legal consequences of their law breaking actions,” Fitzgerald said.

 

NB – This is a guide for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have an issue requiring legal advice, please contact any of the team at Nolan Farrell & Goff LLP, whose numbers can be found on our website www.nfg.ie, or email info@nfg.ie.