Over 19k vehicles seized for driving without insurance in 2025

A total of 19,673 vehicles were seized by An Garda Síochána for driving without insurance in 2025, a new report has revealed.

The Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID) Annual Report 2025 shows that gardaí detained 38,546 vehicles for driving without insurance in the first two years since they began using the new insurance database.

A further 51,024 charges and summons have been issued to those who were apprehended for driving without insurance in that period, with 25,009 of those charges and summons occurring in 2025.

The IMID system allows gardaí to check the insurance status of a vehicle in seconds, using ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) technology or through their mobile device.

The report shows that by the end of the year, a total of 4,589,494 valid driver numbers had been added to the database, with more numbers to be added over the coming months.

David Fitzgerald, CEO of the MIBI, said:  “Driving without insurance is against the law, and it has been a problem in this country for quite a while. That is why IMID was set up – to make it easier for An Garda Síochána to identify those who are breaking the law.

"So it is very pleasing to see that more than 38,000 vehicles have been seized by the gardaí since we began using this system, and over 51,000 charges and summons have been issued during that same period.

“IMID allows the Gardaí to identify uninsured vehicles in seconds and that has changed the whole uninsured policing picture completely. Fake insurance certs or suggestions of mistaken identity can no longer be used by drivers to try to get away with breaking the law."