Insurer to cut off commercial motor customers who fail to update motor database
Norwich Union (NU) will drop commercial motor customers who do not meet the Motor Insurers' Inform-ation Centre (MIIC) deadline for updating its database.
NU intermediary business director Ken Wallace warned a number of fleet operators and motor traders were not geared up to hit the deadline. The target set by MIIC is 95% compliance on updating the Motor Insurers' Database (MID) on policy changes within 14 days.
Wallace said: "If insurers do not comply with the requirements they will not be compliant. The ultimate sanction could be the removal of the licence.
"If they [fleet operators and motor traders] do not allow us to meet requirements we will have no option but to stop trading with them."
The MIIC target is due to come into force in January. The Greenaway report into uninsured driving requires 100% compliance within seven days by the end of 2006, and that the industry should be updating the database in real time by the end of 2008.
Wallace said: "I just don't believe that all the motor traders and fleet operators are aware of what the requirements are.
"Everyone has been preoccupied with FSA requirements meaning that this issue has been largely ignored."
The other issue facing the commercial motor market was the removal of 'days of grace', which Wallace said had not been adequately explained to customers.
He said: "We need to go to some lengths to explain what this means. In effect people will be uninsured if they do not update their records."
