This post was published a couple of years ago, so it might be a little out of date. We'll be taking another look at it soon.

Insurance is a complicated business. One of our goals is to help provide clarity, so that drivers can make more informed decisions as to which is the best product for them - in a recent post we tackled some of the most common misconceptions about car insurance. Today, we want to inform people about a law that sometimes catches people out.

Introducing the CIE law

CIE stands for Continuous Insurance Enforcement, which applies to all types of motor vehicles in England, Scotland and Wales - including cars, vans, motorbikes, motorhomes or HGVs.

Why is CIE in place?

CIE came into effect in 2011, and was introduced to help tackle the high numbers of uninsured drivers on the road. If an individual is the registered keeper of a vehicle which does not have insurance, they will receive an Insurance Advisory Letter, and could then face a £100 penalty, a clamped or seized vehicle and a court prosecution. 🚗

What does this mean for me?

If you are the registered keeper of a vehicle, it must be (continuously) insured at all times.

This means that your vehicle must be insured whether it is parked, being driven (by you or someone else) or kept on private land. It's not legal to insure your vehicle just when you are driving it. It needs to be insured for all the times in between too❗

Is there any alternative?

To be the keeper of a vehicle without insurance, you must have notified the DVLA with a Statutory Off Road Notice (SORN). GOV.UK states that you must make a SORN for the following:

• an untaxed vehicle
• an uninsured vehicle
• to break a vehicle down to produce parts to sell
• to buy/receive a vehicle that will be kept off the road

If you need to declare a vehicle SORN, you can do so here.

Just remember that SORNing your car won't automatically cancel your car insurance.

If you have any other questions you can message us in the app. 😊