From 31st March 2025, all motorists will be required to provide their driver number, and those of any named drivers, to their vehicle insurer when taking out motor insurance policies.
The new legislation, which has been signed off by Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan, will also require all insurers, and intermediaries acting on their behalf, to ensure driver number data is collected by them and validated against the Department of Transport’s National Vehicle and Driver File.
This must be done prior to the issue of a policy of motor insurance, and the data must subsequently be transferred to the Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID ).
Insurers and intermediaries acting on their behalf can apply to the Department of Transport for access to the driver number validation service and, once approved, will sign up to a data sharing agreement.
The driver number can be found in section 4(d ) of an Irish driver licence or learner permit.
Earlier this year Gardaí were granted access to the IMID through their mobility devices, and can currently detect drivers operating without insurance on Irish roads. The key aim of this database is to remove uninsured drivers from the roads.
When this legislation comes into effect on 31st March next year, validated driver numbers will also be available to Garda members at the roadside.
