How to Check Car Insurance
12 March 2025 | 
Matt Wood
Before driving any vehicle, you must ensure it’s insured. In the UK, driving without valid insurance is illegal – whether you’re aware of it or not. Whether you need to check your own insurance, confirm a car’s insurance status, or check your temporary cover, here’s everything you need to know about checking car insurance.
How to Check If Your Car is Insured
You don’t need to check your insurance status every time you drive, but if you’re ever unsure—or if you want to verify a policy is legitimate—it’s important to know how.
Checking your insurance status is quick and easy using askMID, now known as Navigate:
- Visit the askMID or Navigate website.
- Enter your vehicle’s registration number.
- Confirm your vehicle’s insurance status.
Important: Even if a car is insured, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can legally drive it. In the UK, you must be specifically insured to drive a vehicle.
If you have Drive Other Cars (DOC) cover as part of a comprehensive policy, don’t assume you can drive any vehicle. This feature typically only provides third-party cover and comes with restrictions. Always double-check your policy before getting behind the wheel.
Why You Might Not Show Up as Insured When You Check
If you’ve recently purchased insurance, your details might not appear on askMID straight away. Insurers update the database at different intervals, so there can be a delay.
At GoShorty, we update the MID twice daily, 365 days a year—but this doesn’t mean every policy will show up instantly.
For example, if you’ve taken out hourly insurance, your vehicle might not appear as insured when you check. But don’t worry—as long as you have your certificate of insurance (we email this directly to you), you’re legally covered and safe to drive. You don’t need to wait for the MID to update.
How to Check If a Car is Insured That’s Not Yours
If you need to check another vehicle’s insurance status, you can still use askMID, but access is more restricted. This is meant to only be used if you’ve been in an accident with another car and want to check it’s insured.
The Other Vehicle Look-Up Service lets you confirm if a third-party car has insurance. To access this service, you need to:
- Provide your contact information.
- Enter your vehicle registration number.
- Enter the third party’s registration number.
- Submit incident details (date and accident description).
- Pay a £10 enquiry fee.
If the car is insured, you’ll receive details including the policy number, insurer name, and claims contact information to help with any necessary follow-up.
What to Do If Your Car Isn’t Insured
Driving without insurance isn’t just illegal—it can leave you personally responsible for major financial costs if an accident occurs. If caught driving uninsured, you could face:
- A minimum fine of £300.
- Six penalty points on your licence.
- Vehicle seizure, with the risk of it being scrapped.
- A driving ban in severe cases.
- An unlimited fine if the case goes to court.
If you realise your car is uninsured, the quickest way to get back on the road legally is by taking out temporary insurance. This gives you instant cover while you arrange a long-term policy.
Need to borrow someone else’s car? If you’re not insured to drive it, a short-term policy lets you legally drive a friend’s car with comprehensive cover in place.
If your car is uninsured and you don’t plan on driving it, you must declare it SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification). Even if the vehicle is parked and unused, it’s illegal to leave it uninsured unless it’s officially SORN’d.
If you need time to move or store the car, taking out temporary insurance for a few days can cover you while you declare it SORN and find a secure place to keep it.
How to Check Your Car Insurance Details
If you need to check who your insurer is or when your policy expires, here’s how to find out.
How to Check Who You’re Insured With
If you’re unsure who your car is insured with, try the following:
- Search your email inbox for “car insurance” – your insurer should have sent a policy confirmation.
- Check your paperwork for any physical documents.
- Look at your bank statements for any recent insurance payments.
- Log into your price comparison site account if you used one.
- Contact your insurance broker if you arranged your policy through one.
Ideally, you should never be in a position where you don’t know who your insurer is. Your certificate of insurance is essential proof of cover and should always be easily accessible.
At GoShorty, we email your insurance documents instantly after purchase, and you can always find them in your YourGoShorty account—so you’re never left without proof of insurance.
How to Check When Your Insurance Expires
Finding out when your policy expires is straightforward too:
- Check your insurance certificate—it will clearly state the policy’s expiry date.
- Log into your online insurance account to view your policy details.
- Contact your insurer directly if you can’t access your online account.
Most insurers send renewal reminders, but relying on auto-renewal can often cost more than switching providers. To get cheaper car insurance, check when your policy expires ahead of time and start shopping around early. Comparing quotes before your renewal date gives you the best chance of securing a better deal before your current policy ends.
Why Regularly Checking Your Car Insurance Matters
Knowing how to check car insurance ensures you’re never caught out by:
- Unintentional lapses in cover.
- Uninsured driving penalties.
- Overpaying for automatic renewals.
Whether you need temporary cover to bridge the gap between policies, to drive a new car home, or to borrow a friend’s car, we have you covered, so you never have to be left uninsured. Get a quote today and be on the road in minutes.
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